This paper documents the pervasiveness of job polarization in 16 Western European countries over the period 1993-2010. It then develops and estimates a framework to explain job polarization using ...routine-biased technological change and offshoring. This model can explain much of both total job polarization and the split into within-industry and between-industry components.
Since start‐ups often own cutting‐edge technology and knowledge, acquiring a start‐up can provide buyers with a unique opportunity to boost their radical innovativeness. As a result, start‐up ...acquisitions have increasingly gained importance. Acquirers, however, face difficult decisions on target autonomy and integration, which often constitute a dilemma. We analyzed survey data from 118 M&A and integration managers in charge of corporate start‐up acquisitions. Our results show that a start‐up's decision‐making autonomy supports acquirer's radical innovativeness. The structural integration of the target reinforces the positive effect of decision autonomy. Our work with the focus on post‐merger integration and the start‐up context contributes to M&A literature in several ways. We uncover a hybrid integration approach, showing that a combination of high target decision autonomy and the full absorption (i.e., structural integration) of the start‐up by the acquiring organization is most beneficial for acquirer's radical innovativeness.
Abstract
Fiscal deficits, elevated debt-to-GDP ratios, and high inflation rates suggest hyperinflation could have potentially emerged in many European countries after World War I. We demonstrate that ...economic policy uncertainty was a key driver pushing a subset of European countries into hyperinflation shortly after the end of the war. Germany, Austria, Poland and Hungary (GAPH) suffered from frequent uncertainty shocks—and correspondingly high levels of uncertainty—caused by protracted political negotiations over reparations payments, the apportionment of the Austro-Hungarian debt and border disputes. In contrast, other European countries exhibited lower levels of measured uncertainty between 1919 and 1925, allowing them more capacity with which to implement credible commitments to their fiscal and monetary policies. Impulse response functions show that increased uncertainty caused a rise in inflation contemporaneously and for a few months afterwards in GAPH, but this effect was absent or much more limited for other European countries.
Insbesondere seit dem ,,PISA-Schock" nach der ersten PISA-Veröffentlichung im Jahr 2001 hat die Forschung umfassende Einzelbefunde zu sozialer Ungleichheit, vor allem in der schulischen Bildung, ...vorgelegt. Soziale Ungleichheiten des Bildungserwerbs wurden dabei in allen Bildungsbereichen, von der frühkindlichen Bildung bis zur Weiterbildung im Erwachsenenalter, aufgezeigt. Diese Studie systematisiert erstmals das über knapp 20 Jahre hinweg gewachsene Forschungswissen zu den Erscheinungsformen sozialer Ungleichheit des Bildungserwerbs im deutschsprachigen Raum (Deutschland, Österreich und Schweiz). Die erstellte Forschungssynthese umfasst Befunde zu sozialer Ungleichheit in den Bereichen der vorschulischen Bildung, schulischen Bildung, beruflichen Bildung und Hochschulbildung sowie den Aspekten der Kompetenzen, der Bildungsbeteiligung und der Bildungsabschlüsse. Die Studie gibt einen Überblick über das vorhandene Forschungswissen und zeigt Forschungslücken auf. Zudem wird die verfügbare Evidenz aus Einzelstudien synthetisiert, um so verlässlichere Aussagen zum Bestehen sozialer Herkunftseffekte treffen zu können. Der Band stellt damit eine umfassende Vermessung der Forschungslandschaft dar. (DIPF/Orig.)
This paper discusses the influence of Israel Kirzner on the field of entrepreneurship research. We review Kirzner's work and argue that it contains two distinct approaches to entrepreneurship, termed ...Kirzner Mark I and Kirzner Mark II. Mark I with its focus on alertness and opportunity discovery has exerted a strong influence on entrepreneurship research in the last decade, and helped catapult the field forward. We propose that Mark II, with its emphasis on time, uncertainty, and creative action in pursuit of imagined opportunities, complements the discovery view and can provide an alternative conceptual grounding for the decade to come.
Die Grundschule ist eine einzigartige Keimzelle des sozialen Zusammenhalts. Hier ist die Vielfalt der Bevölkerung zum letzten Mal gemeinsam vertreten, bevor sich die Wege mit dem Übertritt in die ...Sekundarstufe trennen - vor allem in sozial so ungleichen Bildungssystemen wie dem österreichischen und deutschen. Das Buch widmet sich im ersten Teil ganz dieser Vielfalt, ausgehend von 160 Wiener Müttern und Vätern, deren Kinder knapp vor dem Ende der Grundschulzeit stehen. In vielsprachigen autobiografischen Erzählungen geben die Eltern kontroverse, kraftvolle Einblicke in ihre Familiengeschichte, Sprachenbiografie, Migration oder Flucht und erheben die Stimme gegen erfahrene Ungleichheit sowie für die Zukunft ihrer Kinder. Im zweiten Teil folgen die Lehrkräfte mit ihren Wahrnehmungen und dem Druck, den die ,,soziale Auslese" am Ende der Grundschulzeit ausübt. Der dritte und letzte Teil des Buches betrachtet das Resultat: den Erfolg oder Misserfolg der Kinder und sein konkretes Zustandekommen: Wie wurde auch hier wieder eklatante soziale Ungleichheit hergestellt, obwohl dies niemand wollte? Welche elterlichen Biografien, welche Kompetenzen der Kinder waren erfolgreich, wurden also von den Lehrkräften gehört und gewürdigt, und welche blieben - trotz vergleichbarer Leistung - erfolglos? Was hat die Schule von der familiären Geschichte, der Stimmenvielfalt überhaupt wahrgenommen, und was hat zu den Verzerrungen im institutionellen ,,Hören" geführt? Der Klang der Ungleichheit dokumentiert die Vielsprachigkeit und Vielstimmigkeit unserer globalisierten Zeit sowie die Verantwortlichkeiten des Bildungssystems, indem empirische Zeugnisse einander in herausfordernder Weise gegenübergestellt werden. Den durchaus schwerwiegenden Folgen stellt die Autorin interdisziplinäre Perspektiven gegenüber, die das Lehren und Lernen in seiner Funktion stärken, Keimzelle einer solidarischen Migrationsgesellschaft zu sein. (DIPF/Orig.)
•First systematic study of the night sky brightness (NSB) in Eastern Austria with a focus on the county of Upper Austria.•Detailed investigation of the circalunar periodicity of the NSB at 26 urban ...to alpine sites.•Study of the variation of urban night sky brightness with population, cloud coverage and aerosol content.•Investigation of nocturnal gradients and long-term changes in the NSB.•Recommendations for the establishment of a dark sky reserve in the examined region.
We present an analysis of the zenithal night sky brightness (henceforth: NSB) measurements at 26 locations in Eastern Austria focussing on the years 2015–2016, both during clear and cloudy to overcast nights. All measurements have been performed with ‘Sky Quality Meters’ (SQMs). For some of the locations, simultaneous aerosol content measurements are available, such that we were able to find a correlation between light pollution and air pollution at those stations. For all locations, we examined the circalunar periodicity of the NSB, seasonal variations as well as long-term trends in the recorded light pollution. The latter task proved difficult, however, due to varying meteorological conditions, potential detector ‘aging’ and other effects. For several remote locations, a darkening of the overcast night sky by up to 1 magnitude is recorded – indicating a very low level of light pollution –, while for the majority of the examined locations, a brightening of the night sky by up to a factor of 15 occurs due to clouds. We present suitable ways to plot and analyze huge long-term NSB datasets, such as mean-NSB histograms, circalunar, annual (‘hourglass’) and cumulative (‘jellyfish’) plots. We show that five of the examined locations reach sufficiently low levels of light pollution – with NSB values down to 21.8 magSQM/arcsec2 – as to allow the establishment of dark sky reserves, even to the point of reaching the ‘gold tier’ defined by the International Dark Sky Association. Based on the ‘hourglass’ plots, we find a strong circalunar periodicity of the NSB in small towns and villages ( < 5.000 inhabitants), with amplitudes of up to 5 magnitudes. Using the ‘jellyfish’ plots, on the other hand, we demonstrate that the examined city skies brighten by up to 3 magnitudes under cloudy conditions, which strongly dominate in those cumulative data representations. Nocturnal gradients of the NSB of 0.0–0.14 magSQM/arcsec2/h are found. The long-term development of the night sky brightness was evaluated based on the 2012–17 data for one of our sites, possibly indicating a slight ( 2%) decrease of the mean zenithal NSB at the Vienna University Observatory.
The liberalization of electricity markets and the development of renewable energy sources has led to new challenges for decision makers. These challenges are accompanied by an increasing uncertainty ...about future electricity price movements. The increasing amount of papers, which aim to model and predict electricity prices for a short period of time provided new opportunities for market participants. However, the electricity price literature seem to be very scarce on the issue of medium- to long-term price forecasting, which is mandatory for investment and political decisions. Our paper closes this gap by introducing a new approach to simulate electricity prices with hourly resolution for several months up to three years. Considering the uncertainty of future events we are able to provide probabilistic forecasts which are able to detect probabilities for price spikes even in the long-run. As market we decided to use the EPEX day-ahead electricity market for Germany and Austria. Our model extends the X-Model which mainly utilizes the sale and purchase curve for electricity day-ahead auctions. By applying our procedure we are able to give probabilities for the due to the EEG practical relevant event of six consecutive hours of negative prices. We find that using the supply and demand curve based model in the long-run yields realistic patterns for the time series of electricity prices and leads to promising results considering common error measures.
•There are no long-term probabilistic electricity price forecasting models yet.•Literature on probabilistic forecasting is sparse and heterogeneous.•Extending the X-model provides remarkable long-term forecasts.•Statististical methods and fundamental methods combined provide forecast stability.•Bootstrapping forecasted prices shows high accuracy for density forecasts.
Today's children will need a balanced set of cognitive, social and emotional skills in order to succeed in modern life. Their capacity to achieve goals, work effectively with others and manage ...emotions will be essential to meet the challenges of the 21st century. While everyone acknowledges the importance of socio-emotional skills such as perseverance, sociability and self-esteem, there is often insufficient awareness of 'what works' to enhance these skills. Teachers and parents don't really know whether their efforts at developing these skills are paying off, and what they could do better. Policies and programmes designed to measure and enhance socio-emotional skills vary considerably within and across countries. This report presents a synthesis of the OECD's analytical work on the role of socio-emotional skills and proposes strategies to raise them. It analyses the effects of skills on a variety of measures of individual well-being and social progress, which covers aspects of our lives that are as diverse as education, labour market outcomes, health, family life, civic engagement and life satisfaction. The report discusses how policy makers, schools and families facilitate the development of socio-emotional skills through intervention programmes, teaching and parenting practices. Not only does it identify promising avenues to foster socio-emotional skills, it also shows that these skills can be measured meaningfully within cultural and linguistic boundaries. (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ".
We hypothesise that the Habsburg Empire with its well-respected administration increased citizens' trust in local public services. In several Eastern European countries, communities on both sides of ...the long-gone Habsburg border have shared common formal institutions for a century now. We use a border specification and a two-dimensional geographic regression discontinuity design to identify from individuals living within a restricted band around the former border. We find that historical Habsburg affiliation increases current trust and reduces corruption in courts and police. Falsification tests of spuriously moved borders, geographic and pre-existing differences and interpersonal trust corroborate a genuine Habsburg effect.
PDF
