IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/tsa/wpaper/0050eco.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Whither Germany and the EMU In a Challenging Environment?

Author

Listed:
  • Lila J. Truett

    (University of Texas at San Antonio)

  • Dale B. Truett

    (University of Texas at San Antonio)

Abstract

While the German economy may currently be a bright spot in Europe, it has faced substantial challenges in recent years. Moreover, tensions are rising regarding Germany’s responsibilities and opportunities as a member of the European Monetary Union. Other studies have documented the difficulties that Germany has encountered as a result of the unification and the further integration of Europe. This paper adds to that literature by using an aggregate translog cost function approach to examine the relationships among inputs of domestic capital and labor and imports. Our findings indicate that the input pairs of capital-labor and labor-imports are substitutes. The substitutes relationship between labor and imports, which has become stronger over time, suggests that increasing globalization will add to Germany's unemployment woes. Capital and imports appear to be weak complements, but that relationship is not statistically significant. The results also suggest that imports are playing an increasingly important role in Germany's aggregate production, accentuating the role of the international environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Lila J. Truett & Dale B. Truett, 2011. "Whither Germany and the EMU In a Challenging Environment?," Working Papers 0019, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    • Handle: RePEc:tsa:wpaper:0050eco
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://interim.business.utsa.edu/wps/eco/0019ECO-101-2010.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Binswanger, Hans P, 1974. "The Measurement of Technical Change Biases with Many Factors of Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(6), pages 964-976, December.
    2. Kohli, Ulrich, 1982. "Production theory, technological change, and the demand for imports," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 369-386.
    3. Eckhard Hein & Achim Truger, 2005. "What ever happened to Germany? Is the decline of the former european key currency country caused by structural sclerosis or by macroeconomic mismanagement?," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 3-28.
    4. Christensen, Laurits R & Jorgenson, Dale W & Lau, Lawrence J, 1973. "Transcendental Logarithmic Production Frontiers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 55(1), pages 28-45, February.
    5. BARTEN, Anton P., 1969. "Maximum likelihood estimation of a complete system of demand equations," LIDAM Reprints CORE 34, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    6. Barten, A. P., 1969. "Maximum likelihood estimation of a complete system of demand equations," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 7-73.
    7. Hans‐Werner Sinn, 2002. "Germany’s Economic Unification: An Assessment after Ten Years," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 113-128, February.
    8. Jorg Bibow, 2005. "Germany in crisis: the unification challenge, macroeconomic policy shocks and traditions, and EMU," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 29-50.
    9. Wendy Carlin & David Soskice, 1997. "Shocks to the System: the German Political Economy Under Stress," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 159(1), pages 57-76, January.
    10. Lechner Michael & Miquel Ruth & Wunsch Conny, 2007. "The Curse and Blessing of Training the Unemployed in a Changing Economy: The Case of East Germany After Unification," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 8(4), pages 468-509, December.
    11. Griffin, James M & Gregory, Paul R, 1976. "An Intercountry Translog Model of Energy Substitution Responses," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 66(5), pages 845-857, December.
    12. Ulrich R. Kohli, 1978. "A Gross National Product Function and the Derived Demand for Imports and Supply of Exports," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 11(2), pages 167-182, May.
    13. Caves, Douglas W & Christensen, Laurits R & Tretheway, Michael W, 1980. "Flexible Cost Functions for Multiproduct Firms," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 62(3), pages 477-481, August.
    14. Burgess, David F., 1974. "Production theory and the derived demand for imports," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 103-117, May.
    15. Burgess, David F., 1975. "Duality theory and pitfalls in the specification of technologies," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 105-121, May.
    16. Ulrich Kohli, 1994. "Canadian Imports and Exports by Origin and Destination: A Semi-flexible Approach," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 27(3), pages 580-603, August.
    17. Kohli, Ulrich R, 1983. "The Le Chatelier Principle and the Demand for Imports in the Short Run and the Medium Run: Australia, 1959-60--1978-79," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 59(165), pages 149-165, June.
    18. Aw, Bee Yan & Roberts, Mark J, 1985. "The Role of Imports from the Newly-industrializing Countries in U.S. Production," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(1), pages 108-117, February.
    19. Wales, Terence J., 1977. "On the flexibility of flexible functional forms : An empirical approach," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 183-193, March.
    20. Mohabbat, Khan A & Dalal, Ardeshir & Williams, Martin, 1984. "Import Demand for India: A Translog Cost Function Approach," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(3), pages 593-605, April.
    21. Berndt, Ernst R & Wood, David O, 1975. "Technology, Prices, and the Derived Demand for Energy," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 57(3), pages 259-268, August.
    22. W. Erwin Diewert, 1986. "Export Supply and Import Demand Functions: A Production Theory Approach," NBER Working Papers 2011, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Snower, Dennis J. & Merkl, Christian, 2006. "The caring hand that cripples: The East German labor market after reunification (detailed version)," Kiel Working Papers 1263, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    24. Oberhofer, W & Kmenta, J, 1974. "A General Procedure for Obtaining Maximum Likelihood Estimates in Generalized Regression Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 42(3), pages 579-590, May.
    25. Sinn, Hans-Werner, 2002. "Germany's Economic Unification: An Assessment after Ten Years," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 113-128, February.
    26. Burgess, David F, 1974. "A Cost Minimization Approach to Import Demand Equations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 56(2), pages 225-234, May.
    27. Caves, Douglas W & Christensen, Laurits R, 1980. "Global Properties of Flexible Functional Forms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 422-432, June.
    28. Dennis J. Snower & Christian Merkl, 2006. "The Caring Hand that Cripples: The East German Labor Market after Reunification," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 375-382, May.
    29. Burgess, David F, 1976. "Tariffs and Income Distribution: Some Empirical Evidence for the United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(1), pages 17-45, February.
    30. Guilkey, David K & Lovell, C A Knox & Sickles, Robin C, 1983. "A Comparison of the Performance of Three Flexible Functional Forms," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 24(3), pages 591-616, October.
    31. Hans P. Binswanger, 1974. "A Cost Function Approach to the Measurement of Elasticities of Factor Demand and Elasticities of Substitution," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 56(2), pages 377-386.
    32. Ernst R. Berndt & Laurits R. Christensen, 1973. "The Internal Structure of Functional Relationships: Separability, Substitution, and Aggregation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 40(3), pages 403-410.
    33. Michael Lechner & Ruth Miquel & Conny Wunsch, 2007. "The Curse and Blessing of Training the Unemployed in a Changing Economy: The Case of East Germany After Unification," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 8(4), pages 468-509, November.
    34. Berndt, Ernst R. & Christensen, Laurits R., 1973. "The translog function and the substitution of equipment, structures, and labor in U.S. manufacturing 1929-68," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 81-113, March.
    35. Kohli, Ulrich, 1993. "A Symmetric Normalized Quadratic GNP Function and the U.S. Demand for Imports and Supply of Exports," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 34(1), pages 243-255, February.
    36. Eakin, B Kelly & McMillen, Daniel P & Buono, Mark J, 1990. "Constructing Confidence Intervals Using the Bootstrap: An Application to a Multi-Product Cost Function," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(2), pages 339-344, May.
    37. Ryan, David L. & Wales, Terence J., 2000. "Imposing local concavity in the translog and generalized Leontief cost functions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 253-260, June.
    38. Douglas W. Caves & Laurits R. Christensen & Michael W. Tretheway, 1984. "Economies of Density versus Economies of Scale: Why Trunk and Local Service Airline Costs Differ," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(4), pages 471-489, Winter.
    39. Houthakker, Hendrik S & Magee, Stephen P, 1969. "Income and Price Elasticities in World Trade," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 51(2), pages 111-125, May.
    40. Ruth Hoekstra & Cecile Horstmann & Juliane Knabl & Derek Kruse & Sarah Wiedemann, 2008. "The Stability and Growth Pact – Germanising the Euro," International Journal of Public Policy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(1/2), pages 100-117.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Truett, Lila J. & Truett, Dale B., 2003. "A cost function analysis of import demand and growth in South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 425-442, April.
    2. Truett, Lila J. & Truett, Dale B., 2002. "The demand for imports in Italy: A production analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 393-409.
    3. Truett, Lila J. & Truett, Dale B., 1998. "The demand for imports in Korea: a production analysis approach," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 97-114, June.
    4. Lila J. Truett & Dale B. Truett, 2005. "European Integration and Production in the French Economy," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 23(2), pages 304-316, April.
    5. Lila J. Truett & Dale B. Truett, 2023. "The impacts of imports and trade liberalization in Brazil: Insights from an aggregate cost function," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 1013-1033, May.
    6. Lila J. Truett & Dale B. Truett, 2009. "Challenges For France In The Emerging International Environment: A Dynamic Analysis," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 27(4), pages 566-573, October.
    7. Truett, Dale B. & Truett, Lila J., 1996. "Trade liberalization and the Mexican steel industry," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 429-447.
    8. Truett, Dale B. & Truett, Lila J., 1998. "Production, cost, and input substitution in the Mexican petroleum industry," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 67-87.
    9. Lila J. Truett & Dale B. Truett, 2005. "Nafta¡¯S Impact On The Mexican Automotive Sector," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 155-176, December.
    10. Lila J. Truett & Dale B. Truett, 2008. "The South African Textile Industry: Challenges and Opportunities," Working Papers 0044, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    11. Eric Wang, 1998. "Sensitivities of Import Demand and Export Supply in an Open Developing Economy: the Evidence from Taiwan, 1961-1994," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 121-139.
    12. William A. Barnett & Ikuyasu Usui, 2007. "The Theoretical Regularity Properties of the Normalized Quadratic Consumer Demand Model," International Symposia in Economic Theory and Econometrics, in: Functional Structure Inference, pages 107-127, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    13. Cahill, Sean & Hazledine, Tim, 1989. "Structure, Costs and Performance in Canadian Food and Beverage Industries: Intra-Industry and Inter-Industry Studies," Working Papers 244044, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
    14. Lila J. Truett & Dale Truett, 2009. "A Bacon of Hope? Another Look at the Italian Textile Industry," Working Papers 0060, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    15. Ulrich R. Kohli, 1983. "The Le Châtelier Principle and the Demand for Imports in the Short Run and the Medium Run: Australia, 1959–60–1978–79," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 59(2), pages 149-165, June.
    16. Merkl, Christian & Snower, Dennis J., 2008. "Escaping the unemployment trap: The case of East Germany," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 542-556, December.
    17. Lila J. Truett & Dale B. Truett, 2003. "The Italian Automotive Industry and Economies of Scale," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 21(3), pages 329-337, July.
    18. Lila J. Truett, 2010. "The Korean Textile Industry: Still Competitive, After All These Years?," Working Papers 0004, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    19. Lila J. Truett, 2010. "The Korean Textile Industry: Still Competitive, After All These Years?," Working Papers 0004, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    20. Feng, Guohua & Serletis, Apostolos, 2008. "Productivity trends in U.S. manufacturing: Evidence from the NQ and AIM cost functions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 281-311, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Globalization; Germany;

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:tsa:wpaper:0050eco. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wendy Frost (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cbutsus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.