Our purpose here is to challenge the big-bang approach to economic history in which some alleged institutional imposition - a deus machine - is claimed to launch a series of new economic behaviors. This so-called prime mover is then carried forward by the inexorable forces of path dependency to...

Up to the end of World War II, the political-economic framework had been relatively similar all over Germany. However, the farm structure was different. While in both parts, the West and the East, about 90 per cent of all farms cultivated less than 20 ha and about one per cent more than 100 ha,...

Kosovo's small economy substantially relies on money from abroad: an extraordinarily high number of migrants contribute to foreign capital inflow through remittances; remittances represented around 13% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009. This means that the well-being of many Kosovar...

Central Asian governments frequently express the goal of economic diversification, and specifically of diversifying their agricultural sector, but with little actual impact. Diversification has not happened because high trade costs discourage farmers, potential foreign investors and others from...

Long-only-Indexfonds stehen seit geraumer Zeit unter Verdacht, für die Preisanstiege an landwirtschaftlichen Warenterminmärkten, insbesondere für Getreide, verantwortlich zu sein. Diese Arbeit untersucht anhand partieller Gleichgewichtskonzepte die langfristige Marktwirkung von...

Since the work of FEENSTRA (2002), the standard ANDERSON & VAN WINCOOP (2003) Gravity Model has been estimated using a fixed effects approach. However, a fixed effects approach has a major drawback: it does not allow for the estimation of exporter- and importer-invariant variables. Thus,...

Diese Untersuchung befasst sich mit der Rolle der Landwirtschaft im Bereich der ländlichen Daseinsversorgung. Zum einen wird untersucht, ob und wenn ja, inwieweit der landwirtschaftliche Sektor von dem demographischen Wandel tangiert wird. Zum anderen wird analysiert, in welchem Rahmen...

For a considerable time, long-only index funds have been suspected of being responsible for price increases on agricultural futures markets, particularly those for grain. Utilizing partial equilibrium concepts, we analyze the market impacts of long-only index funds. Our analysis reveals that...

Indexfonds sind aufgrund ihrer Terminmarktgeschäfte mit Agrarrohstoffen ins Zentrum öffentlicher Aufmerksamkeit und Kritik geraten. Hierzu kursieren in den Medien zahlreiche Falschinformationen, deren Korrektur sich durch klar identifizierbare Forschungslücken der empirischen Literatur...

Searching for possible viable economic pathways for small-scale farms in Eastern Europe, this study is concerned with Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). We are mainly interested in the costs and benefits for both sides, the farmers and the consumers, when entering into a direct, trust-based...