Volume 213, Issue 1

The paper discusses the construction of a new measure of association for ordinal variables in contingency tables. The association is measured under the condition of given marginal distributions of these variables because these marginal distributions essentially determine the association between the variables. For that reason the construction of the measure is based on suitable modified distances (on the position) of the given two-dimensional frequency distribution to the two-dimensional frequency distributions which are derived from the given marginal distributions and which are characterized by complete monotone positive and negative respectively association. The suggested measure possesses the desirable properties.

In this paper the relationship between state-mandated codetermination and efficiency is examined. The paper starts from the theoretical point that there must be some market failure preventing freely contracting individuals from setting up efficient labour contracts. These market failures are identified as some forms of strategic behavior and externalities. In neither case codetermination can be regarded as a useful state intervention opening up productivity gains that couldn't be achieved by private action. The empirical evidence of Germany confirms this theoretical point. Zusammenfassung Staatlicherseits institutionalisierte Mitbestimmung galt lange Zeit als Ausdruck sozialpolitischer Ziele und der Stärkung demokratischer Elemente im Wirtschaftsleben. In zunehmendem Maße haben Mitbestimmungsbefürworter auch Effizienzargumente in die Diskussion eingebracht. Soweit diese auf den Marktversagensmomenten „Strategisches Verhalten“ und „Externe Effekte“ beruhen, können sie nicht überzeugen. Das zeigt der vorliegende Aufsatz, in dem einige Ausprägungen dieser Argumente vor dem Hintergrund möglicher Pareto-Verbesserungen untersucht werden.

The article deals with Adolph Lowe's contributions to economic theory. First, his careful analysis of business cycle theory which he carried out in the twenties of this century is reexamined. During the Weimar Republic in Germany he was one of the leading economists in business cycle research. After his emigration to England (1933) and later to the United States (1940) Lowe's subjects were growth theory and traverse analysis. The paper outlines his major ideas in both fields of theoretical analysis. His approach is based on a three-sectoral model of production, which is very much rooted in the tradition of classical economic theory.

The western German (1st quarter 1968 to 3rd quarter 1992) real gross national product and the indices for net industrial output of eastern (July 1990 to November 1992) and western (January 1978 to December 1992) Germany were examined by time-series spectral analysis. The analysis revealed that the series includes constant cycles not appearing in the charts. This is explained by weekly oscillation, which is obviously a seasonal effect. The frequencies are thus not induced by economic trends.

This paper discusses recent contributions to the so-called new growth theory which attempt to provide an explanation for endogenous growth processes. Special attention is paid to the specification of technology in the R&D sector as well as the incorporation of new technological knowledge in an aggregated production function. The paper also presents two models that examine the effects pf international trade on national growth rates. The main line of argumentation focuses on the economic rationale behind the results of the model which are shown to be sensitive to specific assumptions of the production factor of technological know-how. Zusammenfassung Dieses Papier beinhaltet eine Diskussion in jüngster Zeit erschienener Beiträge, die sich zur sogenannten neuen Wachstumstheorie zählen lassen und deren Anliegen es ist, eine Erklärung für endogene Wachstumsprozess zu liefern. Das kritische Augenmerk gilt dabei insbesondere der Spezifikation der Technologie im R&D-Sektor sowie der Inkorporation neuen technologischen Wissens in die aggregierte Produktionsfunktion. Es werden ferner zwei Modelle dargestellt, die sich mit den Wirkungen des internationalen Handels auf die nationalen Wachstumsraten befassen. Dabei wird insbesondere auf die ökonomische Ratio der Modellergebnisse abgestellt und herausgearbeitet, wie spezifische Annahmen über den Produktionsfaktor technologisches Wissen die Modellergebnisse determinieren.