19.01.2012

Call for Papers: SEEK/CEPR Workshop on News, Sentiment, and Confidence in Fluctuations (March 5-6, 2012, Mannheim, Germany)

We invite submissions for the SEEK/CEPR Workshop on the role of news, sentiment, and confidence in business cycle fluctuations. The objective of the workshop is to discuss recent scientific contributions in the subject area and to provide a platform for an exchange of ideas within a small group of researchers. Late-stage PhD students as well as young post-docs are particularly welcome to submit papers for presentation. The workshop is organised within the framework of the research programme "Strengthening Efficiency and Competitiveness in the European Knowledge Economies" (SEEK) by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim (Germany), the University of British Columbia in Vancouver (Canada), the Toulouse School of Economics (France), and the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in London (United Kingdom). Please submit extended abstracts or full papers as PDF to seymen@zew.de no later than February 1, 2012.

Additional information on the conference

26.01.2012

Second SEEK Conference: The Green Growth Challenge (9-10 March, 2012, Mannheim, Germany)

The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) is pleased to announce the second conference of the research programme "Strengthening Efficiency and Competitiveness in the European Knowledge Economies" (SEEK), funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg and implemented by ZEW. The conference will take place on 9-10 March, 2012, in Mannheim, Germany.

This conference will bring together decision-makers from politics, business and public institutions and researchers from across the world to discuss the challenges and chances arising from green innovations for Europe's economies. We are pleased to welcome a number of outstanding speakers, including:

• Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) and former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),
• Franz Untersteller, Minister of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector of Baden-Württemberg,
• Robert N. Stavins, Harvard University, United States,
• Richard G. Newell, Duke University, United States,
• Georg Müller, Chairman of the Board of Directors, MVV Energie AG, Germany,
• Peter Terwiesch, Chief Executive Officer, ABB AG Germany,
• Fritz Vahrenholt, Chief Executive Officer, RWE Innogy GmbH, Germany, and
• Georg Zachmann, Research Fellow on Energy and Climate Change, BRUEGEL, Belgium.

Furthermore, scholars from various economic disciplines will present their research results on the topic of the conference:"The Green Growth Challenge".

For additional information, please visit the conference website

18.11.2011

International SEEK Workshop on "Entry, Pricing, and Consumer Search in Online Markets" at ZEW

Within the framework of the research programme "Strengthening Efficiency and Competitiveness in the European Knowledge Economies", the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim (Germany), and the Johannes Kepler University, Linz (Austria), organized a workshop on "Entry, Pricing, and Consumer Search in Online Markets". The workshop's objective was to discuss recent scientific contributions to questions related to the economics of online markets as well as firms' strategies and consumers' search behaviour in online markets. Fourteen speakers from international universities presented their on-going theoretical and empirical research in the field of online markets.

Among other matters, the topics discussed on the first day of the workshop covered the impact of online search on the used car market, the willingness to contribute to online platforms using a two-tiered free-premium business model or a case study on how application providers of a very prominent social network reacted to a policy change of the platform provider. The keynote speaker of that day was Professor Gautam Gowrisankaran from the University of Arizona. He presented a dynamic model for estimating consumer purchase decisions in markets for long-lived consumption goods with significant technological progress, such as the market for camcorders. As opposed to static models, this model allows to take into account fluctuations in demand over time.

The contributions on the second day were concerned with the question on how the reduced cost of conducting an online search may affect investments in quality, sales concentration or the provision of information on products. Furthermore, several empirical investigations geared at better understanding of the strategic interaction of firms in the airline industry or in the setting of a price comparison site were presented. The rich and high frequency information in such sites allows investigating shop and consumer behaviour very closely and also allows a look at the product-life cycle of relatively short-lived products.

The second keynote speaker of the workshop, Professor Sara Fisher Ellison from MIT, presented her most recent work on shop strategies in price comparison sites, where prices can be updated with very high frequency. Her research results showed clearly what earlier contributions had already suggested: the investigation of online markets offers a wide range of new possibilities to study repeated interactions of economic players.

27.09.2011

Call for Papers: 2nd SEEK Conference "The Green Growth Challenge" (March 9-10, 2012, Mannheim, Germany)

Due to the remarkably high level of interest in the first SEEK Conference in 2011, the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) is pleased to announce the second conference of its research programme "Strengthening Efficiency and Competitiveness in the European Knowledge Economies" (SEEK), taking place in Mannheim from March 9-10, 2012. The prime goal of the conference is to elucidate the challenges to pursuing a smart and sustainable growth path in the economies of Europe. Since this issue has been receiving increasing attention in the worlds of politics and academia, a second aim is to bring together policy makers and scientists to discuss the hurdles to developing green innovations within innovation ecosystems. We encourage researchers from various economic and managerial disciplines to submit contributions (full paper including an abstract of 100-200 words). Submissions should be sent as DOC or PDF (preferably PDF) to Nicole Gürtzgen (seek@zew.de) by November 30, 2011.

Submissions should cover the following topics:

• the generation of knowledge and innovations
• diffusion and adoption of knowledge and innovations
• the use of knowledge by entrepreneurs and industries
• impacts of innovations on competiveness, growth and employment
• the role of innovation in tackling societal challenges
• challenges to and impacts of innovation and environmental policies

Key-Note Lectures

• Richard G. Newell (Duke University)
• Robert N. Stavins (Harvard University)

Additional Information and Call for Papers

30.05.2011

SEEK Research Programme: Awarding of Projects 2011

The second round of competition of the SEEK research programme was successfully concluded with the selection of eight research projects. Now the research teams of the projects, which will be funded within the programme, are going to begin their work. Altogether, 25 project proposals were developed by ZEW employees in cooperation with internationally renowned researchers. The proposals were externally evaluated by the scientific board of the SEEK research programme.

Members of the scientific board, amongst others, are Daron Acemoglu (MIT), Bronwyn Hall (University of California at Berkeley & Maastricht University), Kai Konrad (MPI Munich), Josh Lerner (Harvard Business School), Steve Machin (University College London), Pierre Mohnen (UNU-MERIT & Maastricht University) and Fabrizio Zilibotti (University of Zurich).

In the second funding period 2011 the following eight projects will be funded within the SEEK research programme:

• Fostering Competitiveness of the European Car Industry
• Estimating the Macroeconomic Elasticity of Substitution between Clean and Dirty Production
• The Division of Tasks, Offshoring and the Competitiveness of Europe's Knowledge Economy
• The Effect of (Relative) Wages and Human Capital on Fertility Choices: Lessons From East Germany's Fertility Decline After Unification
• Incentives and Creativity – Enhancing Innovation in Europe's Knowledge Economies
• Diffusion of Climate-Friendly Technologies – The Role of Intellectual Property Rights, Human Capital and Environmental Policy
• How Philanthropy Affects Corporate Competitiveness in Europe
• Private Funding of Higher Education – Human Capital as an Asset Class

Additional information on SEEK