Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät
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1. Dual holdings and shareholder-creditor agency conflicts: Evidence from the syndicated loan market
We examine implications from the expansion of private equity (PE) firms into the CLO (i.e. leveraged lending) business. Due to similarities in the investment universes of CLO managers and PE firms, asset management groups running both of them frequently hold debt and equity claims of the same company. Our results indicate lower credit costs for these companies through mitigation of shareholder-creditor agency conflicts. The lower funding costs imply increased equity returns for the sponsoring PE firms. In addition, our findings suggest that PE-affiliated CLO managers benefit from informed trading in the secondary leveraged loan market.
2. Affiliated investment bias in collateralized loan obligations
Collateralized loan obligation (CLO) managers are often part of asset management groups that also operate private equity (PE) firms. This paper examines whether these CLO managers exhibit a bias towards loans to companies sponsored by their affiliated PE firms. We find that CLO managers overweight these affiliated investments in their portfolios. Purchase level analyses reveal that the positive relationship between affiliation and investment is highly concentrated in primary market trades. Evidence suggests that the affiliated investment bias is partially explained by group-level incentives to support the funding of the PE firm’s portfolio companies. Moreover, preferential allocations by loan arrangers contribute to the observed bias.
3. Revisions to the Basel securitization framework and their impact on CLOs
In December 2017, the European regulation on capital requirements for securitizations was comprehensively revised. This paper examines the impact of these revisions on collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). A comparison of the results of risk weight calculations for a typical CLO under the previous and revised frameworks shows an overall increase in capital requirements. The increase is particularly pronounced under the new standardized approach (SEC-SA). However, difference-in-difference analyses of credit spreads indicate no effect of the higher capital requirements on the interest rates of CLO tranches. These results suggest that the cost of regulatory capital requirements for banks is limited.
This dissertation explores key challenges and innovations in contemporary asset management through three self-contained empirical essays. Each paper examines a distinct but interrelated topic in portfolio construction, contributing to a more resilient and practically viable approach to investing.
Paper 1: The Performance of Risk-Based Asset Allocation in Downward Markets – An Empirical Examination
The first paper investigates the effectiveness of risk-based portfolio strategies – such as minimum variance, equal risk contribution, and risk parity – during periods of market stress. Motivated by the shortcomings of return-optimized models in crisis periods, the paper conducts an extensive backtest using a multi-asset dataset across several downturns. It finds that risk-based strategies consistently offer superior downside protection and more stable performance compared to traditional approaches. These results underscore the robustness of risk-focused allocations when facing uncertain or volatile markets.
Paper 2: A Performance “Horse Race”: Does Anything Beat the 1/N Portfolio?
The second paper revisits the enduring puzzle of the 1/N (equal-weighted) portfolio's performance. Despite its simplicity, previous research has shown it often rivals or outperforms optimized strategies. Using an expanded dataset and robust methodology,
this paper compares a wide range of portfolio construction techniques – including mean-variance optimization and shrinkage methods – against the 1/N benchmark. The findings reaffirm the strong performance of the naïve strategy, particularly when estimation error and real-world frictions are considered. While some optimized models perform better in specific contexts, none dominate consistently.
Paper 3: Index Tracking in Crisis Periods – An Empirical Investigation of the German DAX Index
The third paper shifts focus to passive investment strategies, specifically the accuracy and stability of index tracking during market crises. Using the German DAX as a case study, the paper compares multiple tracking approaches – such as constrained regression and relative optimization – under both normal and crisis conditions. Results reveal that tracking performance deteriorates notably in turbulent markets, with simpler, constraint-based methods offering more consistent tracking accuracy. This highlights the limitations of passive strategies under stress and points to the need for more adaptive frameworks.
The influence of gender bias continues to exert a pervasive impact on various aspects of our society, including the perception and consumption of products that surround us. Nevertheless, there are indications that gender roles are undergoing a process of change, albeit in a manner that is not uniform. The objective of this thesis is to examine the impact of societal gender shifts reflected on the way in which products are perceived, designed, and advertised.
Study 1 investigates the extent to which gender bias and the shift of gender roles are reflected on products’ gender perception. Moreover, it analyses the influence of implicit gender role theories on this process.
The objective of Study 2 is to determine the extent to which these phenomena manifest on product design, with a view to establishing whether designers’ implicit gender role theories exert an influence on this process.
Finally, in Study 3, the presence of gender bias in advertisements generated by an artificial intelligence is examined.
The results of the studies demonstrate that, despite the persistence of gender bias, there has been a significant advancement. A more inclusive approach to gender identity is becoming evident, as showed by the increasing number of products perceived as gender-neutral, the inclusion of mixed design elements associated with femininity and masculinity on product design, and the reduction of gender bias in AI-generated advertisements. This shift is characterised by a move away from the traditional binary concept of gender and towards a more expansive understanding of gender identity that encompasses a broader population.
This cumulative dissertation contributes to the research stream Future of Work and focuses on alternative workplace arrangements, especially when employees rely on information and communication technologies to communicate virtual feedback. More specifically, this dissertation addresses (1) the various conceptualizations and terminologies which researchers use for analyzing alternative work arrangements since the 1970s, (2) the multidimensional nature of virtual feedback, its effects on an individual and team level as well as the underlying cognitive processes when receiving virtual feedback, and (3) the effect of feedback on performance improvement when teams receive in-person or virtual feedback. This results in the following three manuscripts:
Manuscript 1: Schäfer, B., Koloch, L., Storai, D., Gunkel, M., & Kraus, S. (2023). Alternative workplace arrangements: Tearing down the walls of a conceptual labyrinth. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, Vol. 8, 100352.
Manuscript 2: Koloch, L., Goldmann, P., Schäfer, B., & Ringlstetter, M. (2023). Feedbacking research on virtual feedback: A literature review.
Manuscript 3: Koloch, L. (2023). Is virtual feedback less effective than in-person feedback for improving team performance? An experimental study.
This cumulative dissertation examines the phenomenon of employee silence in professional service firms (PSFs). Although both research streams are independently well-established areas of organizational research, there has been a lack of research investigating the withholding of information, problems, or concerns in the knowledge-intensive context of PSFs. This thesis starts the academic and practitioner discourse about it and opens a multitude of further research opportunities.
The first manuscript draws on a literature-based and conceptual approach to examine the intersections of PSF and silence research. It identifies characteristics of PSFs that lead to employee silence and derives research propositions about the links between PSFs and silence. By applying a multi-method research approach, the second manuscript empirically investigates the extent to which employee silence is prevalent in PSFs. It determines PSF-specific antecedents fostering the unfavorable phenomenon and professionals' motives to remain silent. The third manuscript takes a grounded-theory approach to examine how employee silence in PSFs can be prevented or reduced. It develops overarching fields of action and concrete measures that help practitioners overcome employee silence.
The objective of this cumulative dissertation is to mitigate cognitive bias in human expert judgments intending to increase accuracy of judgments. The latter is important as it is known to be essential for business success. The approach for this purpose is to combine the strengths of humans and machines by giving the expert feedback generated by a statistical model (the machine) based on previous errors of the expert. Based on this concept of collaborative intelligence, a Decision Support System (DSS) is developed and tested in several experiments. The cumulative dissertation consists of three articles. Article 1 and Article 2 investigate different aspects of the DSS and Article 3 merges and supports the statements thereof. Article 1 considers the impact of personal error pattern feedback on further point estimates. The error feedback is based on personal prior judgments originating from different categories, assuming that experts selectively apply the feedback and are able to reduce bias and error. Thereby it is examined, how the feedback is used to change the direction of error and to reduce bias and error. This is investigated in general disregarding categories as well as selectively regarding difference between categories. Article 1 also covers the comparison between human corrected bias and machine auto-corrected bias. Article 2 deals with experiments with the same DSS, but focusing on certainty (confidence) interval estimation and decreasing overprecision (overconfidence) and over- and underestimation biases. Here, the DSS requires users to indicate a 90% certainty interval as an answer to estimation questions. It is investigated how feedback based on own error patterns can help to reduce overprecision by broadening certainty intervals. Moreover, aiming to mitigate over- and underestimation biases, shifts of the intervals are examined. Article 3 supports the statements of Article 1 and 2 by taking into account additional experiments with a larger sample size with the same categories as well as new categories to make the results more robust and generally valid. Article 3 also includes a further analysis regarding the comparison between human corrected bias and machine auto-corrected bias.
Unveiling the digital mindset: theoretical foundations, conceptualization and scale development
(2024)
This cumulative dissertation examines an individual’s digital mindset including its theoretical foundations. While the construct receives growing attention from academics and practitioners, research is still in its infancy with limited and heterogeneous conceptualizations.
The first manuscript conducts a systematic literature review on mindset definitions and conceptualizations prevalent in the management and business literature, contributing to the clarity of the mindset construct.
The second manuscript follows a multi-grounded theory approach to systematically define and conceptualize an individual’s digital mindset, posing an essential competency in the context of digital transformation.
The third manuscript builds on this definition and develops and validates a scale (DIMI-scale) to measure the construct throughout five phases.
Sustainable food supply
(2024)
The present cumulative dissertation was written from 2020-2023 at the Professorship of Christian Social Ethics and Social Policy at the Business Faculty of the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. All papers in this dissertation represent independent contributions to scientific journals in the fields of Sustainable Consumption, Sustainable Food, and Sustainable Consumer Behavior. They examine consumer behavior regarding sustainable food by analyzing various factors that influence consumers’ decision-making.
Paper I: Winterstein, J., & Habisch, A. (2021). Organic and local food consumption: A matter of age? Empirical evidence from the German market. ABAC Journal1, 41(1), 26-42.
Paper II: Winterstein, J. (2022). Nudging and Boosting towards Sustainable Food Choices–A Systematic Literature Review of Cognitively Oriented Measures. Products for Conscious Consumers: Developing, Marketing and Selling Ethical Products1, 113-132. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-837-120221014
Paper III: Winterstein, J., Frank, F., & Habisch, A. (2024) Desire for exploration beats price: Empirical study on customer motives for using digital monetary food sharing platforms. International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development1,2. DOI: 10.1504/IJISD.2023.10055067
Paper IV: Winterstein, J., Zhu, B., & Habisch, A. (2024). How personal and social-focused values shape the purchase intention for organic food: Cross-country comparison between Thailand and Germany. Journal of Cleaner Production1,3, 434, 140313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.140313
Die Arbeitswelt der Wirtschaftsprüfer unterliegt einem dauerhaften Wandel von Regulatorik und Technik. Während der deutsche Gesetzgeber für die durchzuführende Abschlussprüfung als Hauptanker lediglich verlangt, dass diese „gewissenhaft“ zu erfolgen hat (§§ 317 Abs. 1 Satz 3, 323 Abs. 1 Satz 1 HGB, 43 Abs. 1 WPO), schildern die entwickelten berufsständischen Normapparate ein detailliertes Vorgehen. Als weitere und neue Kraft der Veränderung in der Arbeitswelt der Wirtschaftsprüfer wirkt die Digitalisierung. Mit ihr entstehen neue Anwendungen in Form informationstechnologischer (IT) Verfahren für die Durchführung von Abschlussprüfungen.
Konfliktpotential bieten insbesondere Verfahren der regelsuchenden Systeme. Ihre Eigenschaft, Muster in unstrukturierten Datengrundlagen von selbst zu entdecken und aus diesen zu lernen, macht insbesondere die Anwendung von Künstlicher Intelligenz (KI) im Bereich der Entscheidungen des Abschlussprüfers über die Risiken wesentlicher falscher Angaben aufgrund von Verstößen („fraud“) bedeutsam (IDW PS 210/ISA [DE] 240). Sie stehen den noch häufig regelbasierten Suchverfahren von Manipulationen in den Buchungsdaten gegenüber, bei denen der Prüfer zunächst selbst auf Basis seiner Risikoeinschätzung dem System die zu analysierenden Risikobereiche vorgibt. Maschine und Mensch ergänzen sich hier bisher. Der technische Fortschritt deutet an, dass es nicht dabei bleiben muss. KI übernimmt anschaulich bedeutsame Arbeitsschritte auch auf einer persönlichen, subjektiv-bezogenen oder auch kognitiven Ebene.
Konfliktär erscheinen vor diesem Hintergrund die personen-bezogenen, subjektiv-bezogenen Pflichten des Abschlussprüfers wie die Eigenverantwortlichkeit (§ 43 Abs. 1 Satz 1 WPO), das pflichtgemäße Ermessen und die Wahrung einer kritischen Grundhaltung (§ 43 Abs. 4 WPO). Der hier zu untersuchende Fragenkomplex mit Blick auf die fortschreitende Digitalisierung der Abschlussprüfung lautet daher: Welchen Einfluss hat der Wirtschaftsprüfer als persönlicher Pflichtenträger noch auf sein Prüfungsurteil? – und: Welchen Einfluss muss er zwingend behalten? Wann kann im digitalen Zeitalter noch von einer „gewissenhaften Abschlussprüfung“ gesprochen werden?
Dass Künstliche Neuronale Netze – eine KI, die auf erlernten Daten und Dateninhalten fußt, welche dem Praktischen, dem entspringen, was war – eine Reflexion anhand eines davon unabhängigen Sollensanspruchs vornehmen, bleib zweifelhaft. Im Ergebnis wird hier für eine gewissenhafte Abschlussprüfung festgestellt, dass diese zwar keine Subjektivität bei der Bestimmung des rechtlich Erforderlichen zulässt. Doch aufgrund des nicht auflösbaren Verantwortungszusammenhangs von Handlung und Haftung bedarf es auch zukünftig einer natürlichen, intelligiblen Person mit der Fähigkeit, eine Überlegung über Getanes und dem, was getan werden soll (Sollensanspruch) vornehmen zu können.
Die vorliegende kumulative Dissertation befasst sich mit vier Problemstellungen der Transportplanung im Falle der Übernahme des Paket- und Medikamententransports durch Lieferwagen und Drohnen.
Der erste Beitrag thematisiert die Fahrzeugflottenplanung und Zuweisung von Drohnen zu Mikrodepots, wenn Lieferwagen und Drohnen den Transport von Paketen in der letzten Meile übernehmen. Im Vordergrund stehen die taktischen Entscheidungen, welche Kombination von Auslieferungsformen mit Lieferwagen und Drohnen optimal wäre sowie die Ausgestaltung der Fahrzeugflotte. Die Problemstellung wird als gemischt-ganzzahliges lineares Programm (MILP) modelliert. Zudem wird eine adaptive große Nachbarschaftssuche (ALNS) eingeführt, die neue problemspezifische Operatoren beinhaltet.
Der zweite Beitrag fokussiert sich auf die operative Tourenplanung eines Lieferwagens, welcher mit mehreren Drohnen ausgerüstet ist. Hierfür wird ein effizientes MILP entwickelt, welches ein kommerzieller Solver schneller lösen kann als vergleichbare MILPs für eine Ein-Drohnen Problematik aus der Literatur.
Der dritte Beitrag optimiert die simultane Bestands- und Tourenplanung für die Belieferung von Krankenhäusern unter der Berücksichtigung ihrer Lagerhaltungspolitiken. Es wird analysiert, welchen Einfluss Drohnen als Vehikel für Notfalltransporte zur Vermeidung von Fehlmengen haben. Die Problemstellung wird als zweistufiges stochastisches Programm präsentiert und eine problemspezifische ALNS wird entwickelt, welche einen innovativen Algorithmus zur Bestimmung von Bestellpunkten innerhalb der Lagerhaltungspolitiken beinhaltet.
Der vierte Beitrag thematisiert die Ausgestaltung der Drohnenflotte für die Belieferung von Apotheken und Krankenwagen im Einsatz durch einen Großhändler. Hierfür wird die Drohnenflotte in einer ereignisdiskreten Simulationsstudie hinsichtlich der Kosten bzw. der CO2-Emissionen optimiert.
