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- 2016 (2) (entfernen)
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- Englisch (2) (entfernen)
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- Wirtschaftswissenschaften (2) (entfernen)
The equity premium (Mehra and Prescott, 1985) is still a puzzle in the sense that there are still no convincing explanations for the size of the equity premium. In this dissertation, we study this long-standing puzzle and several possible behavioral explanations. First, we apply the IRR methodology proposed by Fama and French (1999) to achieve large firm level data on the equity premia for N = 28,256 companies in 54 countries around the world. Second, by using preferences data from the INTRA study (Rieger et. al., 2014), we could test the relevant risk factors together with time cognition to explain the equity premium. We document the failure of the Myopic Loss Aversion hypothesis by Benartzi and Thaler (1995) but provides rigorous empirical evidence to support the behavioral theory of ambiguity aversion to account for the equity premium. The observations shed some light on the new approach of integrating risk and ambiguity (together with time preferences) into a more general model of uncertainty, in which both risk premium and ambiguity premium play roles in asset pricing models.
Globalization and the emergence of global value chains have not only changed the way we live, but also the way economists study international economics. These changes are visible in various areas and dimension. This dissertation deals " mostly empirically " with some of these issues related to global value chains. It starts by critically examining the political economy forces determining the occurrence and the extent of trade liberalization conditions in World Bank lending agreements. The focal point is whether these are affected by the World Bank- most influential member countries. Afterwards, the thesis moves on to describe trade of the European Union member countries at each stage of the value chain. The description is based on a new classification of goods into parts, components and final products as well as a newly developed measure describing the average level of development of a countries trading partners. This descriptive exercise is followed by critically examining discrepancies between gross trade and trade in value added with respect to comparative advantage. A gravity model is employed to contrast results when studying the institutional determinants of comparative advantage. Finally, the thesis deals with determinants of regional location choices for foreign direct investment. The analysis is based on a theoretical new economic geography model and employs a newly developed index that accounts for the presence of potentially all suppliers and buyers at all stages of the value chain.