Publications

The KCG has various series of publications to provide research findings and policy implications to different interested groups, e.g., students, academics, policy makers and the public.

FAZ Article on Corporate Morality and Manager Behaviour by Ludger Heidbrink

15th March 2018
KCG Secretary
Publications
Publications
Business ethics has been a widely discussed topic for years. The need for further research to gain more insights into this area has been enhanced particularly against the background with more and more business scandals emerged in the real life like VW’s software manipulation in diesel powered vehicles and diesel emissions tests on monkeys and humans[…]

KCG Working Paper No. 9: Markups of Exporters and Importers: Evidence from Hungary

8th March 2018
KCG Secretary
Publications
Publications
Authors: Cecilia Hornok and Balázs Muraközy

This paper studies the relationship between firm-level markups and trade status using balance sheet information linked to detailed trade data from Hungary between 1995-2003. We find that importing is strongly positively correlated with markups both across and within firms. We argue that this correlation can reflect three channels: self-selection, higher physical productivity resulting from access to a larger variety of inputs and quality upgrading based on high-quality imported intermediate inputs[…]

Markups of Exporters and Importers: Evidence from Hungary

1st March 2018
KCG Secretary
Authors: Cecília Hornok and Balázs Muraközy (The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 2019, Vol. 121(3), 1303-1333)

This paper studies the relationship between different proxies of firm-level markups and trade status using balance sheet information linked to detailed trade data from Hungary between 1995-2003. We find that importing is strongly positively correlated with markup measures both across and within firms. We argue that this correlation can reflect three channels: self-selection, higher physical productivity resulting from access to a larger variety of inputs, and quality upgrading based on high-quality imported intermediate inputs[…]

Holger Görg Joined the KAS-BKU Expert Conference “Grenzen des Handel(n)s (Limits to Trade/Action)” as a Panelist in January

15th February 2018
KCG Secretary
Publications
Publications
Prof. Holger Görg, Ph.D., Managing Director of the Kiel Centre for Globalization was invited to be a panelist at the 11th KAS-BKU Expert Conference of Development and Economics on January 26-27, 2018 in Bonn. The overarching topic of the Expert Conference this year was “Grenzen des Handel(n)s (Limits to Trade/Action)”. The Conference started with opening remarks by Prof. Dr. Dr. Ulrich Hemel (Chairman of BKU) and Dr. Peter Fischer-Bollin (Deputy Head of the Dept. “European and International Cooperation” at KAS), followed by speeches and three panel sessions[…]

Environmental Regulation and Sustainable Competitiveness: Evaluating the Role of Firm-Level Green Investments in the Context of the Porter Hypothesis

30th January 2018
KCG Secretary
Authors: Jana Stoever and John P. Weche (Environmental and Resource Economics, 2018, Vol. 70(2), 429-455)

We investigate the impact of environmental regulation on firm performance and investment behavior. Exploiting the case of a German water withdrawal regulation that is managed on the state level, we analyze firms’ reactions to an increase in the water tax using a regression-adjusted difference-in-differences approach. We analyze the individual firm’s response to a change in environmental regulation, distinguishing between add-on and integrated environmental investments […]

KCG Working Paper No. 8: How Global is FDI? Evidence from the Analysis of Theil Indices

31st December 2017
KCG Secretary
Publications
Publications
Authors: Frank Bickenbach, Wan-Hsin Liu and Peter Nunnenkamp

It is open to question whether the intensified worldwide competition for FDI has reduced its traditionally strong concentration in a few large and relatively advanced host countries We calculate and decompose Theil indices to track changes in absolute and relative concentration of FDI during the period 1970-2013[…]

Ethical Products = Less Strong: How Explicit and Implicit Reliance on the Lay Theory Affects Consumption Behaviors

21st December 2017
KCG Secretary
Authors: Robert Mai, Stefan Hoffmann, Wassili Lasarov and Arne Buhs (Journal of Business Ethics, 2019, Vol. 158, 659–677)

Many consumers implicitly associate sustainability with lower product strength. This so-called ethical = less strong intuition (ELSI) poses a major threat for the success of sustainable products. This article explores this pervasive lay theory and examines whether it is a key barrier for sustainable consumption patterns. Even more importantly, little is known about the underlying mechanisms that might operate differently at the implicit[…]

The Tenure-Based Customer Retention Model: A Cross-Cultural Validation

21st December 2017
KCG Secretary
Authors: Carolin Krauts and Stefan Hoffmann (Journal of International Marketing, 2017, Vol. 25(3), 83-106)

International businesses and their marketing managers face complexity in the targeting of different customer groups in multiple countries, with different purchase histories and brand relationship tenures. Thus far, no customer retention model has been suggested to sufficiently reduce such complexity. To fill the gap, this study distinguishes three global customer groups—brand stayers, brand switchers, and category novices[…]

Consumer Response to Unethical Corporate Behavior: A Re-Examination and Extension of the Moral Decoupling Model

21st December 2017
KCG Secretary
Authors: Kristina Haberstroh. Ulrich Orth, Stefan Hoffmann and Berit Brunk (Journal of Business Ethics, 2017, Vol. 140(1), 161-173)

This research replicates Bhattacharjee et al. (J Consum Res 39(4):1167–1184, 2013) moral decoupling model and extends the original along the dimensions of theory, method, and context. Adopting a branding perspective and focusing on the corporate domain rather than the public figures investigated by Bhattacharjee and colleagues, this research examines the proposition that consumers dissociate judgments of morality from judgments of performance to justify purchasing from companies deemed to act immorally[…]