This paper examines for the first time the relationship between the net issue values of aggregate bonds, as well as the different bond sectors separately, and economic growth. The other new feature of this study is the usage of quarterly data. Granger causalities are calculated for time series of 15 European countries, the USA, and Japan in order to test if there is a positive relationship between the development of bond markets and economic growth also for shorter time periods. The significant Granger causalities found show the following tendency: Economic growth is causal for net issue values of government bonds, and net issuance of corporate and financial institutions bonds are causal for economic growth. That finding is important for the future architecture of the financial sector, in particular in emerging markets and the new EU member countries. (author's abstract) / Series: EI Working Papers / Europainstitut

Distinguishing between profit led and growth led demand regimes, we analyze the conditions of existence and stability of long run equilibrium of unemployment. The model we employ has at its center the relation between growth and distribution. Growth can be either wage led or profit led. Distribution itself is a function of the unemployment rate, with higher unemployment leading to a higher profit share. We use Okun's Law to close the model, making the change of the rate of unemployment a function of growth. The interesting result of our analysis is that in profit led demand regime the short run and long run equilibrium are stable. However, if the demand regime is wage led, the same conditions that guarantee stability of the goods market equilibrium in the short run render impossible the existence of a long run equilibrium rate of unemployment, and vice versa. Thus, if Kalecki's proposition that higher wages lead to higher growth is true, there will be no equilibrium rate of unemployment in the long run that serves as an anchor for the economic system. (author's abstract) / Series: Working Papers Series "Growth and Employment in Europe: Sustainability and Competitiveness"

We use annual real GDP and the volume of the bond, stock and credit markets to assess the causal relationship between the aggregate bond market development and economic growth in the USA, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, France and the Netherlands over the 1950 to 2001 period. The literature on the real - financial nexus to date has focused on the credit and stock markets, with few exceptions. Partially due to data availability problems, the impact of bond markets on economic growth has not yet been examined in the same way. To fill this gap we provide empirical evidence for long-run equilibrium and Granger causality in at least one direction in the relationship among real GDP and bond, credit and stock markets in seven economies with large bond markets. The supplyleading hypothesis that development of the financial markets enhances growth is supported in all countries except for Germany. The demand-leading hypothesis that economic development pulls the development of the financial markets is supported only for Germany. A feedback between domestic credits and output is found in Japan. There is evidence for a feedback between the equity markets and real output in Japan and the Netherlands. (author's abstract) / Series: EI Working Papers / Europainstitut

Panel data analysis has become an important tool in applied econometrics and the respective statistical techniques are well described in several recent textbooks. However, for an analyst using these methods there remains the task of choosing a reasonable model for the behavior of the panel data. Of special importance is the choice between so-called fixed and random coefficient models. This choice can have a crucial effect on the interpretation of the analyzed phenomenon, which is demonstrated by an application on research and development spillover. (author's abstract) / Series: Forschungsberichte / Institut für Statistik

El sector bancario español ha experimento profundas transformaciones a lo largo de la última década como consecuencia de los fenómenos de desregulación, desintermediación, innovación y del inicio de la Unión Monetaria Europea. Ante tales transformaciones, las empresas bancarias se han visto en la necesidad de rediseñar sus estrategias y reorganizar sus estructuras para hacer frente a las nuevas condiciones de la competencia. Cabe plantearse, sin embargo, si los sistemas de información contable para la gestión de estas entidades se han adaptado a estas nuevas condiciones competitivas. En el trabajo que se presenta se pretenden evaluar las características de los sistemas de contabilidad de gestión de las cajas de ahorros españolas. Para ello se ha llevado a cabo una investigación empírica en la que se han revisado los distintos componentes de sus sistemas de contabilidad de gestión, tanto aquellos considerados como tradicionales como, asimismo, la difusión de los desarrollos más recientes de esta disciplina. Ello ha permitido identificar las limitaciones y proponer las características más idóneas de los sistemas de contabilidad de gestión aplicables a estas empresas. / The Spanish banking sector has experienced large-scale transformations throughout the last decade as a consequence of factors such as: deregulation, disintermediation, innovation, and the European Monetary Union. Faced with these changes, banks have been forced to redesign their strategies and reorganise their structures in order to meet the new conditions of competition. It must be determined, however, if the accounting information systems for the management of these organisations have been adapted to these new competitive conditions. This investigation tries to evaluate the management accounting systems in Spanish savings banks. In order to do this, an empirical investigation has been carried out which has reviewed the different components of management accounting systems, both the traditional systems and those using the most recent developments in that area. This has enabled us to identify limitations and propose the most ideal characteristics of management accounting for these companies.

Driving sustainable development through new products, services, techniques and organisational modes that substantially reduce environmental impacts, or ecopreneurship, is especially important for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as they have a vital role to play in managing limited environmental and social resources. Reaping the benefits associated with ecopreneurship, however, requires a fundamental qualitative change process at the firm level. However, there remains considerable uncertainty as to how ecopreneurs will discover, develop and realise sustainabilityrelated opportunities in their organisations. Thus, the purpose of this article is to address this gap by analysing how this qualitative change process associated with a shift to sustainable development actually unfolds in SMEs. To do so it examines small and medium-sized wineries in Austria. Based on the results of a Delphi study, a multi-layer process model that differentiates between unfreezing, changing and refreezing processes is developed. The framework shows that the unfreezing of the status quo is mainly accomplished by the business owner's attitude towards sustainability. In the course of the changing process, change related to the adoption of greener business practices follows a hierarchical order, starting with business activity (the first layer). Then, four dimensions of capital resources (the second layer) must be revised in order to implement the change successfully. After that, relevant stakeholders (the third layer) must be integrated into this iterative learning process. Finally, in the course of refreezing, change is embedded in the organisation by the ongoing commitment of the business owner and future sustainable expansion strategies. The developed framework may serve as a guideline for small and medium-sized wineries, but also for a broader set of SMEs implementing sustainable organisational change in the future. The framework could also be used by national governments or certification authorities uncertain of how best to support the change process in SMEs. (authors' abstract)

The standard Keynesian view predicts that equalization of the income distribution leads to an increase in aggregate consumption. We revisit the analysis carried out by the seminal empirical contributions which test such a hypothesis using modern econometric methods and the most comprehensive dataset existing on income distribution measures. Our results indicate that there is no substantive empirical evidence of an effect of income inequality on aggregate consumption. (authors' abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

The standard Keynesian view predicts that equalization of the income distribution leads to an increase in aggregate consumption. We revisit the analysis carried out by the seminal empirical contributions which test such a hypothesis using modern econometric methods and the most comprehensive dataset existing on income distribution measures. Our results indicate that there is no empirical evidence of a negative effect of income inequality on aggregate consumption.

This paper examines how managers at the top of a public institution, central bank executives, allocate their working time. Using detailed Information from personal diaries of the six members of the European Central Bank's Executive Board over a period of two years, we codify and analyze more than 3,700 reported activities and compare the results with recent findings on the time use of CEOs in the private sector. We report four additional observations. First, the daily schedule of central bankers is dominated by routine tasks; variations in economic uncertainty have, on average, no significant effect on the number of activities. Second, there are sizable differences in the scope of activities across board members. Third, the change in publication rules of diary entries from 'on request' to 'regular' was associated with a significant decline in reported activities. Fourth, nationality matters: Board members interact disproportionately often with fellow nationals. / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

With this study, we will test the interrelations between the psychological concept of self-efficacy of managers and its influences on the resistance to change. The results show that it makes a qualitative difference, if change in competences occurs in a positive or a negative direction and that there is a clear predisposition of managers concerning change. Both results have to be taken into account in designing changes processes.