Gleichmäßige Bewertung von Mietwohngrundstücken durch das neue steuerliche Ertragswertverfahren? Eine empirische Analyse

This paper deals with the question if the new valuation procedure for rental property established by the German Inheritance Tax Reform Act 2009 provides more consistent tax values than the previous valuation procedure which has been abolished as a result of the jurisdiction of the German Federal Constitutional Court. Our empirical findings show no improvement of the valuation results in terms of statistical spread. The only effect of the new valuation procedure is increasing tax values on average, and hence, tax values often exceed market values. But higher tax values could have been achieved with less effort by simply raising the multiplier of the previous valuation procedure. The findings of this contribution and the results of other papers suggest there is no standardised valuation procedure for rental property which provides a proper performance. Valuation of real estate remains one of the unsolved and presumably permanent problems of the inheritance tax in particular and of capital-based taxation in general.     

Die Wirkung ausländischer Direktinvestitionen auf die Beschäftigung im Heimatmarkt: Eine empirische Analyse des deutschen Mittelstands

Outbound FDI of German SMEs is often assumed to have a negative impact on domestic employment due to job replacement into low wage countries. In this context research often disregards, that FDI can be of horizontal or vertical nature and therefore has different effects on domestic employment. We analyze domestic employment effects using a sample of 1.106 German SMEs. The results show, that a differentiated view is appropriate and necessary to generate a more complete picture of the effects of FDI on job development in the domestic market. Whereas horizontal FDI has complementary effects on domestic employment, vertical FDI is linked to substitutional employment effects.     

Bayesian semi-parametric analysis of Poisson change-point regression models: application to policy-making in Cali,Colombia

A Poisson regression model with an offset assumes a constant baseline rate after accounting for measured covariates, which may lead to biased estimates of coefficients in an inhomogeneous Poisson process. To correctly estimate the effect of time-dependent covariates, we propose a Poisson change-point regression model with an offset that allows a time-varying baseline rate. When the non-constant pattern of a log baseline rate is modeled with a non-parametric step function, the resulting semi-parametric model involves a model component of varying dimensions and thus requires a sophisticated varying-dimensional inference to obtain the correct estimates of model parameters of a fixed dimension. To fit the proposed varying-dimensional model, we devise a state-of-the-art Markov chain Monte Carlo-type algorithm based on partial collapse. The proposed model and methods are used to investigate the association between the daily homicide rates in Cali, Colombia, and the policies that restrict the hours during which the legal sale of alcoholic beverages is permitted. While simultaneously identifying the latent changes in the baseline homicide rate which correspond to the incidence of sociopolitical events, we explore the effect of policies governing the sale of alcohol on homicide rates and seek a policy that balances the economic and cultural dependencies on alcohol sales to the health of the public.     

?Hegemoniale M?nnlichkeiten‘ alsnarrative Distinktionspraxis im Wissenschaftsspiel

The paper focuses theoretically and methodologically on the analysis of narrative constructions of gender from the perspective of sociology of science. It contributes to discussions about extending discourse analytical perspectives by impulses from theories of social practice. Thus it suggests analyzing scientific narratives as routinized ??strategic fictions?? in the context of gendered boundary work. Additionally, it draws on recent discussions on the concept of ??hegemonic masculinity?? as a generative principle and asks theoretically about practices in the course of which multiple, complex and context-specific versions of hegemonic masculinity are drafted as the outcome of discursive struggles and also of the competition among men. The empirical analysis thus reconstructs narrative practices of symbolically distinguishing and situating gendered actors in the social field of science. This is illustrated at the example of the professionalization of modern German engineering in the time period from the 1870ies until the turn of the century. In their writings engineering scholars initially composed the ??scientist of machinery?? as the symbolically neutralized position of objectivity by following a narrative of progress. Later the engineer as the ??man of action?? displaced the former concept by now stressing a narrative of a prehistorical origin of technological man whose competence is a gift of the nature of his sex. Both narratives are interpreted as an, in each case, specific mode of masculinity construction in order to struggle for a dominant position not only with respect to women but also to other social groups of men.     

Auswirkungen der IFRS-Umstellung auf die Risikoprämie von Unternehmensanleihen – Eine empirische Studie für Deutschland, Österreich und die Schweiz

Does an IFRS-adoption reduce the information asymmetry between firms and providers of debt capital and therefore the risk premium of corporate bonds? Contrary to prior empirical studies we examine the relationship between disclosure and cost of capital for debt financing. We analyse the impact of an IFRS-adoption on the risk premium of German, Austrian, and Swiss corporate bonds between 1997 and 2005. Our results indicate that the change in risk premium declines after an IFRS-adoption by 40%. However, the effect occurs with a time-lag.     

Betriebsinterne Arbeitsmärkte, Hierarchien und Neueinstellungen: Eine empirische Untersuchung mit Personaldaten

Many empirical studies which deal with internal labour markets are related to the work of Doeringer and Piore (1971). The majority of these studies cannot find closed internal labour markets with entry positions at the lower end of a firm’s hierarchy. Most of these studies, however, use data from financial and service industries, managerial or other white-collar workers. Doeringer and Piore (1971) state that closed internal labour markets with clearly defined entry positions should be found especially for blue-collar workers in the manufacturing industry, because firm specific human capital is of large importance in these industries. In this paper, a large data set of a manufacturing company with blue-collar and white-collar workers is used. We show that the internal labour market of blue-collar workers is more closed than that of white-collar workers. Moreover, we find that firm specific human capital plays a major role in determining the hierarchical position of blue-collar workers. Entries of white-collar workers, however, appear at all hierarchical positions. Furthermore, formal education plays a major role in allocating the white-collar workers.     

Standardisierte Qualitätsinformationen und ihr Einfluss auf die Wahl von Leistungsanbietern – Ergebnisse einer empirischen Studie am Beispiel der Qualitätsberichte von Krankenhäusern

This study analyses the impact of standardized quality information of complex services on decisions, exemplified for Germany’s hospital quality reports. The presumed impact of quality information on decisions is based on theoretical considerations and hypotheses are developed accordingly. Though results of two experiments show that simplified quality indicators used in the quality reports for hospitals basically lead to consistent decisions, results also show that the impact of standardized quality information on decisions is not stable. It is disturbed and superimposed by the effects of additionally presented quality information. Implications for competition on hospital markets and for the effectiveness of standardized quality information as they are used in the hospitals’ quality reports are discussed as well as general conclusions about standardized information of complex services are drawn.     

Illiquide Assets in der Portfoliooptimierung

When optimizing a portfolio, which comprises liquid as well as illiquid assets, under the constraint of a liquidity requirement, one has to take into account the particular characteristics of illiquid assets. Illiquid assets in this context have the constituting property that they can only be sold as a whole and – if sold on a short term basis – selling leads to losses. Performing the analysis of a single period model in a mean downside risk framework with one liquid and one illiquid asset, significant differences are proven in comparison to the results of an optimization concerning solely liquid assets. For example, although the return on assets is safe in the first scenario, the portfolio value is already risky due to the uncertain liquidity requirement and situations arise where the allocation to both the liquid and the illiquid asset is optimal. Furthermore, when asset returns are uncertain, the expected portfolio value depends on the assets’ variances and can even be increased by positive correlations.     

Wertschöpfungs- und Werteinforderungsnormen im Rahmen der „Plural Form Governance“: Ein empirischer Test in Key-Account- und Nicht-Key-Account-Dyaden

In order to secure against uncertainty in vertical business relationships, actors dispose of different mechanisms. This article focuses on the influence of contracts, specific investments, value-creating norms, value-claiming norms, and trust on customer satisfaction and commitment. An empirical study lead to the result that governance mechanisms have high explanatory power for the outcome variables. Value-creating norms and trust play a key role. In addition, the article differentiates between key account and non key account relationships. It shows that only value-creating norms contribute to the explanation of both outcome variables across both types of relationships.     

Evaluation des systemischen Verfahrens High Profiling Coaching

High Profiling Coaching? is a method which is based on a biographical interview of the coachee. The interview is then analysed hermeneutically by a team of experts resulting in a competence profile. This profile is handed over to both the coachee and the coach before the start of the coaching process. Thus the face-to-face interaction in the coaching process will be reduced. Methods of qualitative research were used to conduct the evaluation of High Profiling Coaching. The criteria ?reason for coaching“ (voluntarily vs. involuntarily) and ?way of learning“ (Single-, Double-Loop or Deutero learning) were shown to be essential for the evaluation of the method. Using this approach, it was possible to identify the optimal range for applying the method and to assess its sustainability.