TY - RPRT A1 - Moritz, Karl-Heinz A1 - Schöber, Timo A1 - Stadtmann, Georg T1 - Product differentiation in video games: a closer look at Fortnite's success N2 - Fortnite is the most successful video game in terms of revenues generated. Since it belongs to the 'free-to-play games', the company has to optimize the in-game-shop to generate revenues. Product differentiation is one possibility to optimize the profitability of the game. In this paper, we use a microeconomic approach in order to highlight the implications of product differentiation for the profit maximization problem. N2 - Fortnite ist gemessen an den erzielten Einnahmen das erfolgreichste Videospiel. Da es zu den "Free-to-Play-Spielen" gehört, muss das Unternehmen den In-Game-shop optimieren, um Einnahmen zu generieren. Die Produktdifferenzierung ist eine Möglichkeit, die Rentabilität des Spiels zu optimieren. In diesem Beitrag verwenden wir einen mikroökonomischen Ansatz, um die Auswirkungen der Produktdifferenzierung auf das Problem der Gewinnmaximierung hervorzuheben. T3 - Discussion papers of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics - 419 KW - Fortnite KW - gaming KW - Freemium KW - product differentiation KW - market segmentation Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-6984 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Benti, Behailu Shiferaw A1 - Stadtmann, Georg T1 - Borders in Motion: An application related to the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons N2 - In 2020, the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons was listed among the top ten in terms of revenue. We analyze the game by relying on an interdisciplinary framework of border studies. Borders can be interpreted not only in a geographical sense but also in terms of a temporal dimension as well as a cultural dimension. We highlight how the game blurs the borders between the real and virtual world. T3 - Discussion papers of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics - 423 KW - Border KW - Animal Crossing KW - real versus virtual world Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-10279 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Stadtmann, Georg A1 - Kämpf, Vanessa A1 - Zimmermann, Lilli T1 - Swiss National Bank: Is the recent loss a threat to monetary policy? N2 - The Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced to refrain from profit distribution in 2022 owing to the accumulation of a huge loss. We examine the key determinants of the SNB's loss and shed light on the implications to conduct monetary policy. N2 - Die Schweizerische Nationalbank (SNB) hat angekündigt, im Jahr 2022 auf eine Gewinnausschüttung zu verzichten, da ein zu hoher Verlust entstanden ist. Wir untersuchen die wichtigsten Determinanten für den Verlust der SNB und beleuchten die Auswirkungen auf die Geldpolitik. T3 - Discussion papers of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics - 429 KW - Swiss National Bank KW - central bank KW - monetary policy KW - intervention KW - Schweizerische Nationalbank KW - Zentralbank KW - Geldpolitik KW - Interventionen Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-12956 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Stadtmann, Georg A1 - Russnak, Jan A1 - Zimmermann, Lilli T1 - Does Okun's law suffer from COVID-19? Evidence from Europe and the US - A Research Note N2 - We analyse the effect of COVID-19 on the Okun's law relationship for several EU countries and the US. Results are based on regressions and a systematic DF-Beta analysis. Our results indicate that the year 2020 is an outlier in the Okun relationship. However, the direction of change is different in the European countries compared to the US. T3 - Discussion papers of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics - 428 KW - Okun's law KW - Covid-19 KW - Outliers Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-12945 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Benti, Behailu Shiferaw A1 - Stadtmann, Georg T1 - Animal Crossing: New Horizons meets ‘Maslow’s pyramid’ N2 - Relying on Maslow's needs-based theory of motivation, we analyze the role of the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) in satisfying needs. We use an interdisciplinary framework involving both psychology and gaming. While ACNH creates a virtual world, we highlight its role in satisfying the needs of the real person. In doing so, we reflect on the interdependence between the real world and the virtual one. T3 - Discussion papers of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics - 424 KW - Maslow's theory of motivation KW - Animal Crossing KW - Maslow's pyramid KW - seven-stage model KW - virutal world needs Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-11555 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Stadtmann, Georg A1 - Tosun, Aynur Dilan A1 - Pierdzioch, Christian T1 - Are female skins sold for a lower price? Evidence from the Fortnite game N2 - Much significant research has been done to shed light on discrimination of females in, for example, labor markets. Less is known, in contrast, about the amount of discrimination in the virtual world of online gaming. In an early study, Castronova (2004) finds that female avatars receive about 10\% lower prices in online auctions. In this research note, we re-examine the pricing of avatars sold in the Fortnite game. We cannot reject the null hypothesis that female and male avatars are sold at the same prices. We also account for the impact of a Fortnite sex scandal on the price differential between female and male avatars. T3 - Discussion papers of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics - 420 KW - gender discrimination KW - market segmentation KW - gaming KW - Freemium KW - product differentiation Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-7738 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Schöber, Timo A1 - Stadtmann, Georg A1 - Parshakov, Petr T1 - Survival of professional CS:GO teams: What matters? A Research Note N2 - We analyse Esport data of professional CS:GO teams to shed light on the question of whether diverse teams survive longer. We also control for the prize money as a time dependent covariate. Another focus is on the liability of newness hypothesis. T3 - Discussion papers of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics - 425 KW - Diversity KW - survival KW - gaming KW - e-Sports KW - liability of newness Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-12231 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Moritz, Karl-Heinz A1 - Stadtmann, Georg T1 - To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? This is the question! Delay the Booster, maybe you get a Bratwurscht! N2 - A game-theoretic setting is used to illuminate the conflict between vaccination proponents and vaccination opponents. A central result is that vaccination proponents could in principle persuade vaccination opponents to vaccinate by means of subsidization. Such a subsidy could increase benefits for both groups. Deeper analysis provides numerous further insights regarding the stability of these results. T3 - Discussion papers of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics - 426 KW - Covid KW - Corona KW - Vaccine KW - Game Theory KW - Coase Theorem KW - Moral Hazard Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-12317 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Pierdzioch, Christian A1 - Schöber, Timo A1 - Stadtmann, Georg T1 - Law of one price: BigMac versus Fortnite – A note N2 - We analyze the law of one price (LoP) based on BigMac and Fortnite prices. We find a positive but less than perfect correlation between the over-/undervaluations of the two indices. While we cannot reject the LoP for the Fortnite data, we find that it does not hold for the BigMac data. N2 - Wir analysieren das Gesetz des einheitlichen Preises (LoP) anhand von BigMac- und Fortnite-Preisen. Wir finden eine positive, aber weniger als perfekte Korrelation zwischen den Über-/Unterbewertungen der beiden Indizes. Während wir das LoP für die Fortnite-Daten nicht zurückweisen können, finden wir, dass es für die BigMac-Daten nicht gilt. T3 - Discussion papers of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics - 421 KW - Fortnite KW - BigMac KW - law of one price Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-8540 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Benti, Behailu Shiferaw A1 - Haß, Dominik A1 - Stadtmann, Georg T1 - Money illusion in free-to-play games N2 - Regularly, free-to-play games use their own virtual currency for in-game store purchases. We analyze the money illusion phenomenon by examining free-to-play games and their virtual currency exchange rate policies. We find that above pari exchange rates and advertising bonus packs instead of price discounts lead to money illusion on the side of the customer. Based on our findings, we derive managerial and policy implications. T3 - Discussion papers of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics - 422 KW - Money illusion KW - free-to-play games KW - virtual currency exchange rate KW - price incentives KW - bonus pack versus price discount Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-10281 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Benti, Behailu Shiferaw A1 - Stadtmann, Georg T1 - B|Orders in Motion in the Video Game Industry: An analysis based on Animal Crossing: New Horizon N2 - In 2020, the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons was listed among the top ten in terms of revenue. We analyze the game by relying on an interdisciplinary framework of border studies. Borders can be interpreted not only in a geographical sense but also in terms of a temporal as well as a cultural dimension. We highlight how the game blurs the borders between the real and virtual world. T3 - Working Paper Series B/ORDERS IN MOTION - 9 KW - Border KW - Animal Crossing KW - real versus virtual world Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-11706 ER -