Inaug.-Diss. Univ. Eberhard Karls Univ. Tübingen, 2007.

Zugl.: Marburg, Univ., Diss.

Zugl.: Regensburg, Universiẗat, Diss., 2007.

Bachelor-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2009.

Bachelor-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2009.

Teilw. zugl.: Warwick, University, Diss.

This thesis analyzes the relationship between market concentration and efficiency of the market outcome in a differentiated good context from different points of view. The first chapter introduces the objectives of competition policy and antitrust authorities and outlines the importance of market concentration. Chapter 2 analyzes the relationship between social surplus and market heterogeneity in a differentiated Cournot oligopoly. Market heterogeneity is due to differently efficient firms, each of them producing one variety of a differentiated good. All firms exhibit constant but different marginal costs without fixed costs. Consumers preferences are given by standard quadratic utility originated by Dixit (1979). Since preferences are quasi-linear social surplus is the measure for Pareto-optimality. The main finding is that consumer suprlus as well as producer surplus increase with the variance of marginal costs. The third chapter analyzes the relationship between the cost structure and market concentration measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index. Market concentration increases with the variance of marginal costs as well as the mean of marginal costs. Chapter four analyzes welfare implications of present antitrust enforcement policy on basis of the same theoretical model. European as well as the US Merger Guidelines presume a negative impact of market concentration on the competitiveness of the market and, therefore, on the efficiency of the market outcome. The results of the previous chapters indicate that this assumption is false. The main finding is that post-merger joint profit of the insider increase with the size of the merger. Moreover, there is a negative relationship between the size of the merger and efficiency of the market outcome. Present antitrust enforcement policy increases the disparity of output levels and enforces the removal of the least efficient firm of the market. The welfare gains can be traced back on these two effects. Therefore, neither a minimum of market concentration nor a maximum of product diversity is necessarily welfare enhancing even in absence of fixed costs. / Die Dissertation untersucht den Zusammenhang zwischen der Marktkonzentration und der Effizienz des Marktergebnisses in einem differenzierten Güter Modell aus unterschiedlichen Gesichtspunkten. Das erste Kapitel gibt eine Einführung in die Ziele der Wettbewerbspolitik und macht hierin die Bedeutung der Marktkonzentration deutlich. Das zweite Kapitel analysiert den Zusammenhang zwischen sozialem Überschuss und der Marktheterogenität in einem differenzierten Güter Oligopol. Die Heterogenität ergibt sich hierbei aus unterschiedlich effizienten Unternehmen, die jeweils eine Variante eines differenzierten Gutes herstellen. Alle Unternehmen weisen konstante aber unterschiedliche Grenzkosten ohne Fixkosten auf. Die Präferenzen der Haushalte werden durch einen quadratischen Standard-Nutzen abgebildet, der auf Dixit (1979) zurückgeht. Da die Präferenzen quasi-linear sind, ist der soziale Überschuss Maßstab für die Paretianische Effizienz. Die zentrale Erkenntnis ist, dass sowohl die Konsumenten- als auch die Produzentenrente mit der Varianz der Grenzkosten steigen. Das dritte Kapitel untersucht den Zusammenhang zwischen der Kostenstruktur und der Marktkonzentration gemessen durch den Herfindahl-Hirschman Index. Es lässt sich zeigen, dass die Konzentration mit der Varianz der Grenzkosten und dem arithmetischen Mittel steigt. Kapitel vier analysiert wohlfahrtstheoretische Implikation der aktuellen Fusionsrichtlinien auf Grundlage des gleichen theoretischen Modells. Sowohl die Europäischen als auch die US Amerikanischen Fusionsrichtlinien gehen von einem negativen Einfluss der Konzentration auf die Wettbewerbsintensität und somit auf die Effizienz des Marktergebnisses aus. Die vorangegangenen Untersuchen zeigen, dass die Vermutung falsch ist. Die Untersuchungen zeigen, dass der Gewinn der am Zusammenschluss beteiligten Unternehmen tatsächlich mit der Größe des Zusammenschlusses steigt. Weiterhin besteht ein negativer Zusammenhang zwischen der Größe des Zusammenschlusses und der Effizienz des Marktergebnisses. Die aktuellen Fusionsrichtlinien erhöhen die Disparität der Ausbringungsmengen und führen unter gewissen Umständen zur Entfernung des ineffizientesten Unternehmens aus dem Markt. Die Effizienzgewinne beruhen genau auf diesen beiden Effekten. Abschließend lässt sich festhalten, dass weder eine größtmögliche Gleichverteilung der Marktanteil noch eine größtmögliche Produktvielfalt notwendigerweise Effizienz steigernd ist.

Zugl.: Chemnitz, Techn. Univ., Diss., 2005. / Ersch. im Verl. Kovač, (ISBN 3-8300-1884-3, 978-3-8300-1884-1), in der Schriftenr.: Chemnitzer Beiträge zur Sozialpädagogik, Bd. 2.

Konstanz, Univ., Dipl., 2008.

As the baby boomer generation reaches retirement age in the coming decades, American metropolitan areas face the serious problem of an increased demand for supportive services. This situation is complicated by the fact that many of the elderly will have limited financial resources, leading to a growing number of seniors struggling with poverty and financial insecurity. At the same time, federal funding for social services is shrinking, and local organizations will play a key role in supporting the low-income elderly in American metropolitan areas. The concept of social resilience offers a useful starting point for understanding the mechanisms that hinder or enable local communities and individuals, in order to recognize and cope with the slow, continuous changes that these demographic changes present. A resilient metropolitan area is one in which markets, local political structures, communities, and individuals continually adapt to changing conditions. This research focuses on the adaptive resilience of the Phoenix metropolitan area through the ability of systems to support low-income seniors to age in place, independently, for as long as possible. Phoenix is an attractive retirement location, and the case study aims to understand if and how the metropolitan area is preparing for the impending demographic changes, viewed as a lasting disturbance. The research uses a descriptive quantitative approach based on triangulation of an online survey of local governments, expert interviews with representatives of local organizations working with the aging population, and document analysis. The major findings for the research period from 2012 to 2014 show that local level actors of public and nonprofit sectors demonstrated involvement in the network of support for the aging population, where nonprofit actors are mainly dependent on the decisions and funding of the public sector and rely increasingly on volunteer support. The current study found that only a few of the participating actors from the public sector expressed clear recognition of the extent of financial insecurity among seniors. Research also revealed an understanding of poverty as predominantly focusing on the personal faults of members of society, which does not require any proactive action from the government. The existing network of services is targeted to reactive support services, which promotes individual resilience and responsibilization. Community services, which can provide prolonged independent aging in place, are less developed or in the early stages of development; operation of these services anticipates significant involvement of volunteers as well. Funding shortages challenge the ability of the public and nonprofit sectors to maintain the existing level of support services for a growing population, and actors need to compensate through local partnerships and innovations. From a theoretical perspective, the research results show that adaptation to the growing number of aging people is emerging in the Phoenix metropolitan area, while financial insecurity is widely considered the personal responsibility of seniors. A reliance on public engagement also refers to individual resilience and can be seen as the next step of a responsibilization process in American society. Thus, the role of individual resilience is growing in American society compared to the role of social or community resilience. A balance should be found that recognizes the power of and limits to both individual and social resilience in creating a social realm that benefits all citizens.