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This paper examines the effect of ownership on strategic reasoning in the classical p-beauty contest game. While much literature focused on cognitive ability as the foundation for higher-order strategic play, we investigate whether a more motivational perspective can serve as a foundation for strategic reasoning as well. This is to be induced via the endowment effect by combining two market simulations with a p-beauty contest game in three experimental sessions. We conclude that while an endowment effect does not have a significant influence on first-round behavior, there are indications that it can influence the learning of endowed players as early as round two of a repeated p-beauty contest game. We find that possible differences in the degree of commitment substantially affect strategic behavior. The analyses ultimately suggest that strategic behavior possibly could occur not only on a cognitive level but also on a motivational level, provided that the motivation is powerful enough.
In recent decades, the topic of increasing wealth and income inequalities has received growing attention in research. The focus was frequently placed on examining past developments and influencing factors, which might have produced the present distributions.
This thesis attempts to summarize the effects of past developments and tendencies on the distribution of income and wealth of households based on the findings of existing academic literature. An understanding of the underlying forces is particularly important to respond correctly and effectively to rising inequality. In addition, this thesis aims at presenting the distribution of income and wealth in the euro area with respect to similarities and differences across euro area countries. For this purpose, data provided through the Household Finance and Consumption Survey has been used. Furthermore, the observations have been compared to corresponding data on income and wealth distributions in the United States, allowing for a better assessment of the circumstances in the euro area. The Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Census Bureau published data on household wealth and income in the United States, which has been utilized in this thesis. The observed points in time are 2010 and 2014.
The conducted investigations and analyses yielded the result that relevant developments have been the process of globalization, the technological advancement, the evolution of labour markets, the growing importance of capital, the changes in governmental policies and societal developments. Furthermore, it could be shown that both income and wealth tend to be unequally distributed within and between euro area countries. In fact, wealth appeared to be much more concentrated than income. Large heterogeneity across countries was detected. Nevertheless, the degree of inequality is less severe than the one observed in the United States.
The study analyses the German immigration profile and its impact on the labour market, put into a global context. An extensive literature review and an empirical analysis provide insights into the current situation of migration in Germany and on a global level. Furthermore, profiles of a global migrant and German immigrant will be created. For the analysis of the labour market, selected research articles provide econometric results that are being used to determine the impact of immigrants on the labour market on a global level as well as in Germany.
These two main areas of immigration are then basis for the comparison of Germany and the global level. The main goal is to find out, whether Germany is in a particularly challenging situation with migration and its impact on the labour market.
The results indicate firstly, it faces the second highest number of immigration worldwide as of 2019. Secondly, the recent high inflow of asylum-seekers has to be absorbed in society and labour markets and thirdly, Germany has to compete against other countries with more attractive pull-factors for highly-skilled workers. Indeed, it can be concluded that Germany is in a challenging situation regarding migration. Nontheless, the labour market impact results show little variation comparing Germany and the global level and indicate positive effects of immigration on certain skill-levels. However, there is no ultimate consensus reached so far.
The contributions of migrants will then be further elaborated, connected to migration patterns observed and result in an outlook on migration and in recommendations for policymakers.
Agriculture in Tanzania is not only the biggest employer, but also it is the highest contributor of the GDP. Apart from being an important sector in the country, it is characterized by small scale subsistence farming which is not mainly profitable. In order to transform the agriculture from traditional to commercial, young people, who make 35% of the entire population, are the main driver however they are facing many challenges. Having that in mind, Tanzanian government has enacted several policies whose main aim is to make it easy for young people to engage in agriculture.
In this bachelor thesis, the agricultural policies which have been enacted by the government to attract young people will be discussed and it will be analyzed if they have brought the impacts desired by the government. In order to do that, a survey was conducted in a district called Bukombe in Tanzania and in one agricultural university which is found in Eastern Tanzania.
The results of the above mentioned studies show that majority of youth policies which have been enacted in Tanzania do not involve youth from the beginning of the preparation. Also, there the general studies found that not many young people are aware of the policies which have been enacted to protect them or make their farming activities easier.
The limitation for this study is that the study sample which is used is from only one district and one university so it may be difficult to compare that the results represent the whole country. Also another limitation is that there are still not many studies which have been conducted in Tanzania for this matter so it is difficult to find the up to date resources. This leads to the resources used to be a bit older and in most of the time to depend on only resources from the websites of government institutions.
The title for this thesis “An Economic Analysis of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)” has been selected due to its topicality and its explosiveness. The stimulus to write this paper originates in the wish to get a deeper insight into the topic, which has been treated majorly under exclusion of the public, and to be able to make a clear statement whether to support or to oppose the partnership. In order to answer this final question, it is also tested whether results from former agreements like NAFTA or Mercosur can serve as a guideline to what can be expected of TTIP. Additionally, the paper aims at making a final statement about the implications of the partnership for the future. To do this, the present paper covers two main subjects. First, it provides an overview of the history of free trade, the different forms of agreements, as well as an insight into the experiences made with NAFTA and Mercosur. This first part is concluded with an estimation of the results and motivations of and for free trade agreements, as well as a transition to the second main subject by naming the impacts of the findings for the planned TTIP treaty. Secondly, after providing a broad overview of TTIP by giving an insight into the definition and the process of formation of the partnership, the benefits and concerns of the deal are revealed. This part is followed by a broad study of ten indicators, which outline the real effects of TTIP on the economy, by distinguishing between three different scenarios. The thesis is concluded by presenting the findings from the former analysis. Although NAFTA and Mercosur do not provide applicable experiences, they still serve as points of orientation and suggest that free trade should be supported. Thus, the planned partnership should also be agreed upon in order to go with the pace of time and to stay competitive. If this is the case, TTIP will be a leading example in the future, motivating more nations to either join the partnership or to form ones by themselves.
The present research sought to deepen the debates about how the collector of recyclable material, a subject that has built his political resistance in the Brazilian scenario from the process of re-signification of garbage and his profession. Its empowerment observed from the end of the 20th century was concomitant with the growth of environmental discussions and the strengthening of the solidarity economy as an alternative for economic emancipation in Brazil. In this context, the individual who used to live on the margins of society established himself as a fundamental factor in the recycling chain and became an environmental agent. The question that guided the investigation was "how has the pandemic influenced waste pickers' solidarity organizations, given their challenges and opportunities?". In this context, two specific objectives were determined to be answered in the course of the research. The first sought to understand the relationship between the solidarity economy and the formation of waste picker collectives; the second aimed to identify the challenges and opportunities that could arise from these solidarity organizations' experiences. A vast theoretical analysis was conducted to understand the
foundations of the Solidarity Economy, an alternative to the informal economy and a form of economic empowerment especially considered for vulnerable populations, as a
way to include them economically. Using the case study of Belo Horizonte, a city with a history of alternative economic expressions and strengthened waste pickers' movements, we approached various actors of the recycling chain through qualitative research, using
the in-depth interviews approach.
Among other findings, the research noted that one of the greatest challenges of the post-pandemic Solidarity Economy is related to the expansion of the capitalist market to areas traditionally aggregated by the Solidarity Economy, because they were previously considered to be on the “margins of society”. However, these threats also
give room for opportunities, from responses that reinforce the legitimacy of cooperatives and associations, through their contractual adequacy with the City Hall for
the payment of the environmental service rendered, disconnected from the number of solid waste collected. We have learned that in the daily struggles and achievements of
the waste pickers, challenges and opportunities go hand in hand.
Analyse des Fintech-Sektors - Reaktionen der Banken und Auswirkungen auf die Finanzstabilität
(2017)
This Bachelor Thesis provides an overview of the growing Fintech-sector and analyses banks’ reactions and impacts on the financial stability. The examined aspects include findings about differences between banks and Fintech-companies, main success factors, banks’ reaction to new market participants and consequences for the financial stability.
Fintech describes the combination of innovative technology and financial services. Fintech-companies provide alternative financial services for private and corporate clients, which accelerate and simplify the access to financial resources, the investment of assets or the execution of transactions.
Both Fintech-companies and banks show a high degree of willingness to cooperate, which enables to benefit from synergy effects. Fintech-companies are the innovative driver, whereas banks provide the necessary expertise and a big customer base. In 2016 banks’ venture capital subsidiaries invested $ 13.6 billion in cooperation projects with Fintech-companies.
From today’s perspective, there are no concrete risks, which could imply foreseeable dangers for the financial stability. However, there are risks which could destabilize the financial system in the long-term, if the growth of the Fintech-sector continues steadily. At the same time, innovation in financial technology could have stabilizing implications for the financial system, because of higher efficiency, decentralisation, diversification and transparency.
Analyse von Fusionen im Hinblick auf wettbewerbsökonomische und wettbewerbsrechtliche Auswirkungen
(2018)
The rising number of mergers between companies over the past decades indicates their growing importance on economic behaviour. Nevertheless, their consequences can influence competition and need to be regulated. This work answers to the question on how mergers can impact competition, thus actual and potential competitors, customers, consumers and upstream- or downstream firms. It is investigated how merger control laws and procedures are influenced by economic theories on merger effects. In the end, latest cases are checked for real application of theoretical statements and for authorities’ challenges. To find results, competition laws and control methods of authorities are compared to traditional economic literature and empirical studies on merger effects. A synthetisation of this comparison is made by analysing three up-to-date merger case examples. The results show that the most important impacts result from market power and efficiencies which can influence mainly prices and innovation activities of a market. Depending on specific structural characteristics of each market, methods and outcomes can be different case-by-case. Competition authorities are emphasizing the use of a combination of traditional economic models and flexible analysis methods to decide whether a merger can potentially harm competition and needs to be prohibited. Current cases show the importance of specific market structures and companies’ characteristics on the way decisions are made. Efficiencies and market power effects are weighed up against each other to evaluate mergers. Especially the emergence of new markets represents a challenge for future merger control. The complexity of defining each market’s specific theory of harm is also emphasized. To sum up, merger control nowadays is based mainly on economic approaches and exact merger evaluation methods always depend on specific market conditions.
A response to the Global Financial Crisis was the introduction of the Basel III regulatory requirements. The newly adapted Basel accord should incorporate lessons learned such as the need for counteracting the procyclicality of the previous Basel II regulation and the missing liquidity and leverage standards. Spain, however, had already implemented a countercyclical macroprudential instrument as well as granular credit register, for monitoring unfavourable credit developments before this regulation and was still not able to mitigate the double-tip recession that started in 2008.
Therefore, this thesis discusses the financial stability protection potential of macroprudential instruments like the ones implemented with Basel III and macroprudential statistic such as the new credit register AnaCredit. Spain has been taken as an empirical example for examining the instruments’ efficiency due to the pioneering steps towards macroprudential measures.
The results show that Spain had already implemented very useful measures which definitely have the potential of contributing to financial soundness. The amendment to the efficiency of these measures is the prerequisite of continuous improvement and complementary policy actions. Otherwise excessive credit growth developments, which can initiate financial instability, cannot be detected or controlled sufficiently as it was the case in Spain.
The limitation to this analysis is the need for further observation of the developments in the Euro system. This is important especially for the Liquidity and Leverage components of Basel III, as there have not been similar measures implemented in Spain. In the future it has to be monitored if the Basel III instruments and AnaCredit actually detect the vulnerabilities before a systemic collapse or whether the financial development of the countries remains similar to the Spanish development.
According to the United Nations, more than 70% of the world trade is carried out by the multinational companies which represent nearly 250% increase in the last four decades. This also represents the extended number of inter-company transactions such as transfer of money as well as transfer of goods and services from parent company to daughter company and vice versa. This issue of transfer of goods and more specifically transfer of money – as in transfer of profits – gave rise to debates in ‘Transfer Pricing’ in the international context. The companies use number of complex business models such as the Principal Company model as their supply chain network and move profits between different entities and create the tax advantages on basis of corporate tax rates in the different tax jurisdictions by allocating all the sales and profits to the principal company. The entities in high-tax jurisdictions, however, perform business activities on contractual basis and remunerated on cost plus mark-up by the principal company. This results several tax saving benefits for the group as a whole.
Under this behavior of the MNCs, the finance ministers of G20 and the authorities in OECD developed a 15 Action Plan under Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (hereafter “BEPS”) Agenda to develop ways to avoid tax evasions by the multinational corporations in the high-tax jurisdictions. The Action 7 of BEPS Agenda – artificial avoidance of Permanent Establishment status – was introduced for the change of wordings in the Article 5 of the OECD Model Tax Convention which explains the definition of a Permanent Establishment. By doing so, the contractual entities in high-tax jurisdictions, performing business activities on behalf of their cross-border parent in a low-tax jurisdiction, will be given a status of a PE and the sales and profits generated by these entities will be allocated to them and subjected to be taxed accordingly in a high-tax jurisdiction.
The analysis of the profit distribution and taxation of the contractual entities of the cross-border principal company in Germany is conducted by the author in this piece of research and shows the effect on the taxation of a company if the Action 7 of BEPS Agenda carries forward as a local legislation in the OECD countries.