@phdthesis{Maerz2016, author = {M{\"a}rz, Armin}, title = {Three Essays on Understanding Mobile Consumer Behavior: Business Models, Perceptions, and Features}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-3948}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {145 S.}, year = {2016}, abstract = {For about a decade, consumers have been carrying the Internet in their pockets. The rapid penetration of modern smartphones has meant that more than two-thirds of the people in the West can access and use online resources, anytime and anywhere. Consumers also can communicate and share their consumption experiences instantaneously. Platforms reach users for time-critical events through highly personal communication channels, in the sense that smartphones serve as constant companions. Many mobile applications and their basic services and contents also are available for free. The digital and mobile worlds thus are changing the very means of communication, suggesting the powerful need for marketing research and practice to find the opportunities and meet the challenges of the mobile Internet. In particular, scientific investigations are required to describe new business models in the free e-service industry and the consumer behavior affected by mobile features. This thesis examines these topics in three essays. Study 1 considers business models that offer their services without charge. Offering services for free is symptomatic of not only mobile apps (90\% of all apps are available for free) but the digital economy in general. For companies offering free e-services, this situation raises several important questions, in that, without any access device restrictions, how do customers of free e-services contribute value without paying? What are the nature and dynamics of nonmonetary value contributions by nonpaying customers? With a literature review and interviews with senior executives of free e-service providers, Study 1 presents a comprehensive overview of nonmonetary value contributions in the free e-service sector, including word of mouth, co-production, and network effects. Moreover, adding attention and data into this framework reveals two further aspects that have not been addressed in prior customer value research. By putting the findings in the context of the existing literature on customer value and customer engagement, this study sheds light on the complex processes of value creation in the emerging e-service sector, while advancing marketing and service research in general. Study 2 deepens the findings from the first study; specifically, the focus is on the way that mobile users co-produce content and how this contribution is perceived by recipients in the network. With field data and a scenario experiment, this study demonstrates that recipients appreciate mobile-generated customer reviews fundamentally differently from other reviews. In particular, they discount the helpfulness of mobile reviews, due to their text-specific content and style particularities. The very fact that a review has been identified as written on a mobile device also lowers recipients' perceptions of its value. Recipients use information about the device as a source cue to assess their compatibility with the review contribution channel. If they perceive themselves as compatible with the method used to generate the review (mobile or non-mobile), recipients regard the review as more helpful, because they attribute the review to the quality of the reviewed subject. If they perceive it as incompatible though, recipients assume that the review reflects the personal dispositions of the reviewer and discount its helpfulness. Finally, Study 3 takes up the attention and cross-market network effects in a mobile setting; these were two nonmonetary dimensions identified by Study 1. Platform providers should develop measures to draw the attention of nonpaying customers to the offers of their paying customers. One attention-grabbing mobile-specific feature is push notifications to the device, which provide information about temporally or spatially relevant events. More concretely, Study 3 investigates how mobile push notifications remind users of upcoming deadlines in online auctions and therefore improve late bidding success. Late bidding is a prevalent strategy, in which bidders submit their bids at the very end of an online auction. This research uses field data about an online auction platform to demonstrate that late bidders use these mobile push notifications more frequently than do bidders with different bidding patterns. Within the group of late bidders, the chance to win an auction increases with their use of push notifications. After a mobile push notification, late bidders submit bids through mobile devices but also through non-mobile channels. Less experienced late bidders also benefit from push notifications, which increase their chances of success. In summary, this dissertation contributes to an enhanced understanding of mobile consumer behavior by using various methods, including qualitative interviews, field observations, and online experiments. From a theoretical perspective, it contributes to current knowledge about nonmonetary costumer value contributions in general and their role in mobile settings in particular. This thesis highlights the role of mobile devices in co-production and perceptions of co-produced content. It also reveals how mobile-specific interactive features, like push notifications, affect late bidding efficiency. Therefore, it specifies the role of mobile devices in cross-market effects, in that they enable the platform to direct the relationship between buyers and sellers. The insights presented herein encourage managers to reevaluate their current practices, think about whether they should label co-produced content as generated through a mobile channel or not, and contemplate whether to develop mobile push notifications as helpful features for users (not as intrusive marketing messages).}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schoetz2016, author = {Sch{\"o}tz, Lukas}, title = {Vier Artikel zur Lokalen Politischen {\"O}konomie}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-3457}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {119}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Die vorgelegte Dissertationsschrift setzt sich empirisch mit Themen der Lokalen Politischen {\"O}konomie auseinander. Durch die Analyse bayerischer Kommunaldaten werden kausale Effekte parteipolitischer Machtverh{\"a}ltnisse, kausale Effekte von Parteibanden auf das Zuteilen legaler Renten sowie kausale Effekte steigender Bezahlung auf die Eigenschaften von Lokalpolitikern untersucht.}, subject = {Kommunalpolitik}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Schneider2018, author = {Schneider, Felix Ernst}, title = {Der deutsche Markt f{\"u}r Abschlusspr{\"u}fungen: Marktstruktur, Regulierungsmaßnahmen und Pr{\"u}ferwechsel}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-5576}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XVIII, 291 Seiten}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Diese Dissertation ist eine empirische Untersuchung {\"u}ber die Entwicklung des deutschen Markts f{\"u}r Abschlusspr{\"u}fungen in den Jahren 2005 bis 2014. Das Ziel ist es, eine Beurteilung {\"u}ber die Notwendigkeit, die Auswirkungen sowie die Zielerreichung regulatorischer Eingriffe in diesem Zeitraum abzugeben. Dabei folgt die Arbeit einer Dreiteilung. Die Analyse der Marktstruktur soll u. a. {\"u}ber die Notwendigkeit der Einf{\"u}hrung rechtlicher Normen Aufschluss geben. Auf Basis der Untersuchung von Regulierungsmaßnahmen werden Auswirkungen sowie die Zielerreichung dieser Normen untersucht. Eine Ereignisstudie zur Kapitalmarktreaktion auf Pr{\"u}ferwechsel soll schließlich die Einsch{\"a}tzung des Kapitalmarkts gegen{\"u}ber der kontrovers diskutierten Regulierungsmaßnahme einer externen Rotationspflicht aufzeigen. Die methodische Vorgehensweise basiert auf Mehrebenenmodellen. Mit einem Paneldatensatz von 2.636 Beobachtungen (353 Unternehmen) weist die Arbeit eine der umfangreichsten Basisstichproben der deutschen Pr{\"u}fungsmarktforschung auf. Die Resultate zeigen, dass die Notwendigkeit f{\"u}r regulatorische Eingriffe durch die analysierte Erh{\"o}hung der Pr{\"u}ferunabh{\"a}ngigkeit im Untersuchungszeitraum gerechtfertigt werden kann. Hinsichtlich der Auswirkungen ergeben sich ein Anstieg der Pr{\"u}ferhonorare sowie eine Verringerung der Bilanzpolitik. Die Zielerreichung einer St{\"a}rkung der Pr{\"u}ferunabh{\"a}ngigkeit sowie einer Erh{\"o}hung der Qualit{\"a}t der Abschlusspr{\"u}fung kann zudem nachgewiesen werden. Zuletzt wird aufgezeigt, dass der Kapitalmarkt negativ auf Pr{\"u}ferwechsel reagiert.}, subject = {Abschlusspr{\"u}fung}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Seidler2018, author = {Seidler, Anna-Raissa}, title = {Changing for the Better? Essays on the Role of Institutional Logics and Information System in Organizational Sustainability Transformations}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-6330}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XXXV, 207 Seiten}, year = {2018}, abstract = {An increasing number of companies report that eco-sustainable initiatives have a positive impact on firms' economic performance and concurrently allow the combination of social and commercial goals by optimizing environmental and economic decisions simultaneously. These initiatives are considered an integral part of organizational sustainability transformations, which are a special case of multilayered, complex organizational change efforts that relate to environmental, organizational, and individual factors. Institutional logics and information systems (IS) have shown to be two important perspectives from which to explore mechanisms and processes central to organizational sustainability transformations. Institutional logics offer a unique perspective to investigate organizational change for sustainability because they provide a new approach to organizational change that incorporates macro structures, culture, and agency to explain how actions are enabled or constrained. It thus allows for insights into the complex and miscellaneous interplay of external and internal determinants that govern organizational transformation processes towards sustainability. By providing insights into institutional changes of practice and behaviors, an institutional logic perspective allows for a detailed analysis of organizational transformations. Within these change processes, IS have shown to be an efficient and pervasive tool to leverage sustainability by integrating human and technological factors. Since IS have become a key resource for the encouragement of organizational sustainability transformations, adopting an IS perspective allows for an understanding of mechanisms and processes that enable IS to foster sustainability in organizations. Thus, this dissertation draws on four studies by investigateing an institutional logic perspective as well as an IS perspective to explore organizational sustainability transformations and facilitate an in-depth understanding of organizational, human, and technological factors that encourage sustainability in organizational transformations.}, subject = {Informationssystem}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Mosch2022, author = {Mosch, Philipp}, title = {Four Essays on Digital Transformation Strategies from the Perspectives of Capital Markets, Incumbents and Start-ups}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-11337}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XVII, 229 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {This dissertation uses four studies to examine the context-contingent strategic factors that are critical to the success of digital transformation strategies from the perspectives of capital markets, incumbents, and start-ups. It focuses on a better understanding of (1) digital innovations and their quantitative evaluation, (2) power disruptions in digitally servitized supply chains, (3) strategic measures and dynamics in digital B2B platform markets, and (4) strategizing by data-driven start-ups in digitalized business networks.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Groesbrink2022, author = {Gr{\"o}sbrink, Carl-Friederich}, title = {Three Essays on Firm Value and Firm Risk and their Relation to IT-Exposure, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Religiosity}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-11558}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {IV, 236 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {1. IT-Exposure and Firm Value: We analyze the joint influence of a firm's information technology (IT)-Exposure and investment behavior on firm value. Estimating a firm's (partial) IT-Exposure allows for distinguishing between firms with a business model that is challenged by IT above and below market average. Hence, we estimate the annual IT-Exposure of a firm using a 3-factor Fama-French model extended by an IT-proxy. Subsequently, we analyze the relationship with Tobin's Q in a panel data context, accounting for the relationship between IT-Exposure and investments proxied by R\&D as well as CapEx. We use more than 48,000 firm-year observations for firms in the Russell 3000 Index covering the period 1990 to 2018. Although IT-Exposure has a negative impact on firm value, this discount can be overcompensated by up to 2.1 times by sufficient investments through R\&D and CapEx, giving a firm with an average Tobin's Q a premium of 14.8\% to 19.2\%, while controlling for endogeneity. 2. Corporate Social Responsibility, Risk, and Firm Value: An Unconditional Quantile Regression Approach: This paper examines the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on firm risk, comprising total risk, idiosyncratic risk, and systematic risk, as well as firm value. We focus on analyzing the interrelationships along the entire distribution of the dependent variables, thus estimating an unconditional quantile regression (UQR). The analysis is based on CSR scores from Refinitiv and MSCI, using up to 12,013 firm-year observations over the period 2002 to 2019 for all U.S. companies listed on NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX. UQR reveals strongly heterogeneous effects along the unconditional quantiles of the dependent variables, which are reflected in sign changes, magnitude and significance variations. For CSR we find a risk-reducing as well as value-enhancing effect. When applying fixed effects OLS, we can just partly confirm the risk-reducing and value-enhancing effect of CSR shown in the literature. 3. Heterogenous Effects of Religiosity on Firm Risk and Firm Value: An Unconditional Quantile Regression Approach: This paper examines the impact of religiosity on firm risk, comprising total risk, idiosyncratic risk, and systematic risk, as well as firm value. We focus on analyzing the interrelationships along the entire distribution of the dependent variables, thus estimating an unconditional quantile regression (UQR). The analysis is based on all U.S. companies listed on NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX for the period from 1980 through 2020. UQR reveals strongly heterogeneous effects along the unconditional quantiles of the dependent variables, which are reflected in sign changes, magnitude and significance variations. Overall, the risk-reducing effect of religiosity is more pronounced in the higher quantiles of the distribution. We further observe a value-reducing as well as value-enhancing religiosity effect. When applying fixed effects OLS, we can confirm the risk-reducing and non-existing value effect of religiosity shown in the literature. The robustness of our results is underpinned by a battery of additional tests.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Seruset2023, author = {Seruset, Marco}, title = {Three Essays on Price Discovery, Stock Liquidity, and Crash Risk}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-11563}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {IV, 227 Seiten}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Abstract 1: This paper investigates whether market quality, uncertainty, investor sentiment and attention, and macroeconomic news affect bitcoin price discovery in spot and futures markets. Over the period December 2017 - March 2019, we find significant time variation in the contribution to price discovery of the two markets. Increases in price discovery are mainly driven by relative trading costs and volume, and by uncertainty to a lesser extent. Additionally, medium-sized trades contain most information in terms of price discovery. Finally, higher news-based bitcoin sentiment increases the informational role of the futures market, while attention and macroeconomic news have no impact on price discovery. Abstract 2: We investigate whether local religious norms affect stock liquidity for U.S. listed companies. Over the period 1997-2020, we find that firms located in more religious areas have higher liquidity, as reflected by lower bid-ask spreads. This result persists after the inclusion of additional controls, such as governance metrics, and further sensitivity and endogeneity analyses. Subsample tests indicate that the impact of religiosity on stock liquidity is particularly evident for firms operating in a poor information environment. We further show that firms located in more religious areas have lower price impact of trades and smaller probability of information-based trading. Overall, our findings are consistent with the notion that religiosity, with its antimanipulative ethos, probably fosters trust in corporate actions and information flows, especially when little is known about the firm. Finally, we conjecture an indirect firm value implication of religiosity through the channel of stock liquidity. Abstract 3: This study shows that higher physical distance to institutional shareholders is associated with higher stock price crash risk. Since monitoring costs increase with distance, the results are consistent with the monitoring theory of local institutional investors. Cross-sectional analyses show that the effect of proximity on crash risk is more pronounced for firms with weak internal governance structures. The significant relation between distance and crash risk still holds under the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, however, to a lower extent. Also, the existence of the channel of bad news hoarding is confirmed. Finally, I show that there is heterogeneity in distance-induced monitoring activities of different types of institutions.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Boehm2017, author = {B{\"o}hm, Andreas}, title = {Gated Expert Pattern Recognition}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-4664}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {120 S.}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Energieprognosen im Bereich Demand Response f{\"u}hren zu besonderen Herausforderungen. Der Gated Expert Pattern Recognition Algorithmus wurde dazu entwickelt, um besonders genaue Kurzzeitprognosen f{\"u}r diesen Bereich erstellen zu k{\"o}nnen.}, subject = {Algorithmus}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Nagel2014, author = {Nagel, Volker}, title = {Three Essays on Moral Self-Regulation of Honesty and Impression Management}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-2896}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {69}, year = {2014}, abstract = {In study 1 an introduction to the research on moral self-regulation is provided alongside with an explanation of the two manifestations of moral self-regulation: moral licensing and moral cleansing. At the core of the first study is an experiment which was designed to identify moral licensing and cleansing in the domain of honesty. The experiment merges relevant studies from social psychology and experimental economics. It assesses the question if moral self-regulation exists within the domain of honesty or more precisely, if the truth and lies are told in such a way as to balance each other out. After manipulating participants' moral balances (either positively or negatively), rates of truth-telling are compared to a neutral baseline scenario. Since neither moral licensing nor moral cleansing is observed, the results provide no support to the initial hypothesis that moral self-regulation exists within the domain of honesty. Study 2 builds on these results and discusses possible reasons for the absence of moral self-regulation. The research on moral hypocrisy and self-concept maintenance are presented and discussed as possible explanations. In order to shed more light on participants' behavior, a coding procedure is presented that was used on the dataset from study 1. This approach makes it possible to quantify participants' handwritten stories that resulted from the moral manipulation in study 1 and gain more insights on how truth-telling and lying affect the moral balance. By analyzing (dis)honesty on a more detailed level, results show that participants tend to act consistent to what they revealed about themselves in their stories. Study 3 links together aspects of moral self-regulation, moral hypocrisy and impression management. The "looting game" is presented which lets participants loot money from a charity box being subject to altruistic punishment from observers. For their punishment decision observers are provided with a history of participants' past actions. This design allows to assess how misconduct, punishment and the creation of a favorable impression interact and ultimately impact profits. The results indicate that moral cleansing, and not the desire to trick observers, is the reason for manipulation. Participants who loot money from the charity box do not expect to receive less punishment, rather they simply want to present a more favorable picture of themselves. On the other hand, observers fully account for the possibility of manipulation and tend to disregard a manipulated history. The looting game therefore brings the hypothesis into question that impressions are managed and manipulated to increase profits.}, subject = {Selbstevaluation}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Wimbauer2020, author = {Wimbauer, Lisa Kristina}, title = {Innovate with Crowds. Co-Creation and Idea Evaluation in Internal and External Crowdsourcing.}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-8359}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {VIII, 208 Seiten}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Crowdsourcing seems to be a promising approach for organizations to overcome challenges widely discussed in innovation and organizational research. However, the extent to which an organization can leverage the benefits from crowdsourcing is contingent on which type of crowd is addressed and how crowds are used. Based on unique data from crowdsourcing contests, the dissertation provides insights how to innovate with internal and external crowds in order to utilize their potential for co-creation and idea evaluation.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Golovko2019, author = {Golovko, Dimitri}, title = {Three Essays on the influence of company Facebook and traditional channel activities on recruitment success}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-7645}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XII, 134 Seiten}, year = {2019}, abstract = {The appearance of web and online media has created a substantial change in the manner by which employers and applicants interact. The development of web 1.0 applications with one-way communication and the advancement of web 2.0 technologies with interactive components have extended the spectrum of recruitment channels. The new recruitment media channels have led the selection and analysis of their impact out of interaction on each other to a new challenge within academical literature. This dissertation addresses these issues in three separate essays. Study 1 focuses on the impact of Facebook as a social media recruitment channel on recruitment success. Many companies embed Facebook into their recruitment strategy as an additional recruitment channel for reaching potential applicants and motivating them to apply for available positions. Study 1 analyzes these activities and addresses the question of whether different Facebook activities influence recruitment success above and beyond other undertakings on traditional and online media channels. Study 1 concludes that on Facebook, company posts with a general focus and posts containing work or recruitment information both have a positive impact on recruitment success. The results of Study 1 are validated by company interviews with human resources (HR) managers who are responsible for the overall HR strategy of the company. Study 1 is the first academic work within HR and marketing research, which analyzes the impact of a company's Facebook activities. Study 2 examines the impact of traditional media recruitment channels on recruitment success. Many companies employ traditional media channels for their recruitment marketing actions with the aim of achieving recruitment success. Study 2 uses media richness theory as a basis for analyzing the impact of a company's activities within traditional media channels on recruitment success. Study 2 concludes that exhibition fair and online marketing activities influence recruitment success. In connection with brand equity theory, Study 2 also verifies whether the addition of Facebook activities reinforces the impact of traditional media channels on recruitment success. The results indicate that general Facebook activities have a reinforcing impact on exhibition fair and print media recruitment practices. Finally, Study 3 focuses on both the literature overview of traditional and social media recruitment practices and social media influence from the marketing literature. It also summarizes and categorizes previous research on the influence of traditional, online, and social media recruitment practices; the effect of a multichannel mix; and the influence of social media and social networking sites on different business outcomes from the marketing literature. Additionally, Study 3 identifies the research gaps and provides recommendations for future studies. This dissertation uses vector autoregression modelling, including a validation with the help of company interviews and the employment of media richness, signaling, and brand equity theories, combined with a thorough analysis of the research need. The dissertation closes the research gap regarding the analysis of the impact of Facebook, online, and traditional media on recruitment success. It also adds new perspectives to the HR and marketing literature.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Ihl2020, author = {Ihl, Andreas}, title = {Four investigations of arising phenomena in contemporary work settings: the cases of mindfulness practices and crowdworking online platforms}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-8696}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {148 Seiten}, year = {2020}, abstract = {New arising phenomena in the occupational realm strongly shape contemporary work settings. These developments heavily affect how individuals work within and beyond organizational boundaries. Two phenomena associated with the changing nature of work have been especially prevalent in work settings and intensively discussed in public debates. First, organizations started to introduce mindfulness practices to their workforce. Rooted in spirituality and formerly used in clinical therapy, mindfulness is applied as a human resource development practice to train employees and managers to cope with the increased work intensification. Second, digitization and the importance of individualization opened up the path for work settings beyond organizational boundaries on crowdworking online platforms. On these online platforms, workers process tasks independently and remotely. Research just started to address the implications and meaning of mindfulness practices in organizations and the rise of crowdworking platforms. Several questions remain unanswered. This dissertation addresses unanswered but pressing questions related to these two phenomena shaping contemporary work settings. Structured in four essays the first two essays address the application and meaning of mindfulness practices. The first essay analyzes the meaning and interpretations of these new practices within organizations. The second essay takes contextual factors of the organizational environment into account and investigates their relevance for the successful implementation of mindfulness practices. The second two essays are dedicated to work attitudes and behavior on crowdworking online platform. Essay three captures individuals' motivation for working on such platforms and their effects for workers' work performance. The last essay deals with the role of professional crowdworking online communities in the work experience and asses the effects of social support in these communities on occupational identification, work meaningfulness and finally on work engagement. Each essay in this dissertation generates new insights on arising phenomena in contemporary work settings. They address several timely yet unanswered research questions for these rising phenomena and thereby offer a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the role mindfulness practices and crowdworking online platforms play in the context of the future of work.}, subject = {Organisation}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kopp2020, author = {Kopp, Katrina}, title = {Essays on Fraud and Forensic Accounting - Research from a German Accounting Perspective}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-8264}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {190 Seiten}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Investment fraud, cybercrime, inconsistencies in health care or the emission scams at the car manufacturers, economic crime (fraud) manifests itself in many facets. For Germany, the cases of FlowTex, Comroad, HRE-Bad-Bank, Holzmann, Volkswagen and the current fraud suspicions at Porsche AG are prominent examples with mostly appalling consequences (Ballwieser and Dobler 2003; K{\"o}gler 2015; Meck, Nienhaus, and von Petersdorff 2011; Peem{\"o}ller and Hofmann 2005). Nevertheless, newspapers without reports on fraud have become scarce. Headlines such as: "Corruption - the daily business" impress hardly anyone, not least because of their certain regularity. The cases revealed publicly are, however, only the tip of the iceberg, as reported by renowned experts (Bundeskriminalamt 2018; LKA 2018). Currently, the State Criminal Police Office (Landeskriminalamt (LKA)) of Baden-W{\"u}rttemberg and its department for economic and environmental crime and corruption is concerned with 72 major proceedings (LKA 2018). However, fraud could be avoided or at least contained by appropriate preventive measures (Bundeskriminalamt 2018; Bussmann 2004; Hlavica, Klapproth, and H{\"u}lsberg 2011). Consequently, the pressure on companies and employees to demonstrate compliant and ethical behavior and to meet the demands of stakeholders at all times within their business activities has grown (Buff 2000). This raises the question about which precautionary measures a company can and must implement (Weick and Sutcliffe 2015). Although corporate awareness of this issue has increased, most in-house detection of fraud is accidental, suggesting that companies are still lacking appropriately functioning and systematic (early) detection mechanism (Hlavica et al. 2011). If a company is accused of fraud, this usually has serious repercussions on its corporate reputation. Prior research found that capital market reputation-based penalties for affected companies are on average 7.5 times higher than penalties imposed by the legal system (Karpoff, Lee, and Martin 2008). Furthermore, the accusation of fraud also affects the external auditor's reputation, since lacking the detection of manipulations in clients' (financial) reports not only damages public confidence in the accuracy of firms' financial statements but also in the reliability of the auditor's report. Therefore, it is not surprising that the demand for greater supervision and control of firms' (financial) reporting as well as for reliable work of statutory auditors continually increases (Herkendell 2007). Although to a lesser extent, this is also the case for the determination of material (accounting) errors within a firm's financial statements, which are often difficult to distinguish from accounting fraud. According to the International Accounting Standard (IAS) 8.5, published by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), errors are omissions and/or misstatements of items that result from the nonapplication or misapplication of trusted information (IASB 2003). Thus, accounting errors and accounting fraud both result in incorrect information of a firm's financial reports and consequently affect stakeholders' decision-making. One resulting attempt in counteracting the broad demand for appropriate protective measures was the implementation of a two-stage enforcement system involving the German Financial Reporting Enforcement Panel (Deutsche Pr{\"u}fstelle f{\"u}r Rechnungslegung (DPR)) as part of the adopted Financial Reporting Enforcement Act (Bilanzkontrollgesetz (BilKoG)) in 2004. The primary objective of the Federal Government's implementation of this mechanism was to strengthen investors' lost confidence in the German capital market, the information content of financial reporting, and Germany as a financial center in the international competition. In addition, the enforcement system serves as a sanctioning instrument for firms in the event of an error detection and subsequent adverse error disclosure via the German federal registry (elektronischer Bundesanzeiger). This adverse error disclosure not only sanctions denounced firms but also questions the quality of the annual financial statement audit and thus the quality of the responsible audit firm. Hence, the often thin line between firms' unintentional accounting errors, purposive engagement in earnings management, and intentional fraud in particular presents an increasing challenge for the audit profession. The objective of my cumulative dissertation is to provide a comprehensive overview of fraud and forensic accounting as well as insights into the distinct dimensions among the concepts of errors, earnings management and fraud from a German accounting perspective. I aim at achieving this objective in three steps: First (1), by providing an overview of discipline-specific education possibilities, existing forensic accounting practices, institutions, and current developments in research. Second (2), by assessing auditors' obligations and responsibilities for the detection of irregularities within the scope of the annual financial statement audit and whether including forensic services into the service portfolio of audit firms can help increase their audit quality due to spillover effects. Third (3), by examining firms' reputation (re-)building management in response to financial violations and how this process is associated with managing multiple (stakeholder) reputations. This dissertation is composed of three individual papers whereby each considers one of the above outlined focus areas}, subject = {Wirtschaftskriminalit{\"a}t}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Fritz2023, author = {Fritz, Manuela}, title = {Health challenges of the 21st century - Empirical essays on the health and economic burden of non-communicable diseases and climate change in Southeast Asia}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-12649}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {x, 224 Seiten}, year = {2023}, abstract = {In the ongoing 21st century, low- and middle-income countries will face two health challenges that are thoroughly different from what these countries have been dealing with in preceding centuries. First, they are confronted with surging rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and second, climate change will take its toll and is predicted to cause catastrophic health impairments and exacerbate chronic health conditions further. Both will pose a disproportionate health and economic burden on low- and middle-income countries, which are also the countries least able to cope with them. By threatening individual health and socioeconomic improvements, and by putting an immense burden on already constrained health care systems, they impede the progress in poverty reduction and widen health inequities between the rich and the poor. Against this background, this thesis investigates the potential of NCD prevention and treatment measures in the context of Southeast Asia, with case studies in Indonesia. Specifically, it seeks to understand what kind of health interventions have the potential to be (cost-)effective considering the cultural background, lifestyle, health literacy and health system capacities in the region. Further, this thesis analyzes the interplay between NCDs and climate change and assesses the financial burden that both might pose in the decades to come. Hence, this thesis contributes to a better understanding of how the two health challenges of the 21st century, NCDs and climate change, can be addressed in the context of Southeast Asia and offers insights into what type of health policies and interventions can play a supportive role.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Gehrke2016, author = {Gehrke, Esther}, title = {Three essays on the production and investment decisions of households living in rural India}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-4234}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, year = {2016}, abstract = {In order to end poverty by 2030, the declared goal of the United Nations, a better understanding is needed which policies help poor households to escape poverty and how to end its inter-generational transmission. Since the Millennium Declaration in September 2000, and the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the delivery of basic social services, such as education, health, water supply and sanitation, has become the central focus of international development assistance. However, the provision of basic social services is not necessarily sufficient to lead to an accumulation of human and productive capital, which would allow households to escape poverty and interrupt its inter-generational transmission. To understand why people are poor, we need to understand what productive decisions poor households take, and to identify what constraints households face in their attempt to accumulate human, as well as, productive capital. A better understanding of such constraints could guide policies that have a long-term impact on poverty reduction and on development. A number of factor could explain why poor households operate at unprofitable levels and why they are constrained in their investment decisions. Empirical evidence points to different explanations: cost of learning and access to information, insufficient education, risk, credit constraints, non-convex production technologies, and behavioral patterns that are inconsistent with standard neoclassical models. Currently, one of the major challenges in formulating policies that foster productive investments among the poor, seems to be to disentangle the effects of scale, credit constraints, and the lack of insurance mechanisms. This thesis seeks to shed further light on the relative role of these three constraints. In the context of rural India, it analyzes what production and investment decisions households take and how important risk and credit constraints as well as scale effects are in these decisions. Finally, it evaluates potential policy tools that could support households in overcoming these constraints. Today, 33\% of the world's poor live in India, the vast majority of them (80.5\%) in rural areas. The economic structure of rural India is still dominated by agricultural production, and consequently, this thesis concentrates on agricultural production decisions and employment in agriculture. In particular, this thesis addresses three questions in three individual papers: First, are farm households constrained in their crop choices by agricultural production risk and to which extent can India's public works program support households in overcoming this constraint? Second, how profitable is cattle farming in rural India at different levels of investment and which barriers do households face in reaching optimal investment levels? And third, can risk in agricultural wages explain limited investment in girls' education in the presence of intra-household substitution in household chores? The first paper focuses on crop choice of farm households. It reassesses the stylized fact that households have to trade-off between returns and risk in their crop choice in the context of Andhra Pradesh, a state in the south of India. It then explores the effect of India's flagship anti-poverty program, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) on households' crop choice using a representative panel data set. The NREGS guarantees each household living in rural India up to a hundred days of employment per year, at state minimum wages. The paper shows theoretically, and empirically, that the introduction of the NREGS reduces households' uncertainty about future income streams because it provides reliable employment opportunities in rural areas independently of weather shocks and crop failure. With access to the NREGS, households can compensate income losses emanating from shocks to agricultural production. Households with access to the NREGS can therefore shift their production towards riskier but also more profitable crops. These shifts in agricultural production have the potential to considerably raise the incomes of smallholder farmers. The paper concludes that employment guarantees can, similarly to crop insurance, help households in managing agricultural productions risks. It also argues that accounting for the effects of the NREGS on crop choice and profits from agricultural production affects the cost-benefit analysis of such a program considerably. The second paper concentrates on the profitability of farming cattle in Andhra Pradesh. The paper also uses a representative panel dataset, and examines average and marginal returns to cattle at different levels of cattle investment. It finds average returns in the order of -8\% at the mean of cattle value. These returns vary across the cattle value distribution between negative 53\% (in the lowest quintile) and positive 2\% (in the highest). While marginal returns are positive on average, they also vary considerably with cattle value and breed. The paper shows that average and marginal returns are considerably higher for modern variety cows, i.e. European breeds and their crossbreeds, than for traditional varieties of cows or for buffaloes. It also shows that cattle farming becomes most profitable at minimum herd sizes of five animals, due to decreasing average labor costs with increasing herd sizes. The results of this paper suggest that cattle farming is associated with sizable non-convexities in the production technology and that substantial economies of scale, as well as high upfront expenses of acquiring and feeding high-productivity animals, might trap poorer households in low-productivity asset levels. The fact that wealthier households and households with lower costs to access veterinary services are more likely to overcome these barriers, supports this idea. The second paper concludes that cattle farming might well generate positive returns for households in rural India, but that most households seem to operate at unprofitable levels. This could also explain the apparent paradox between widespread support of cattle farming through agricultural policy interventions and negative returns to cattle, as stressed in recent works. It argues that policy interventions that target productive assets will only be beneficial if transfers are high enough to allow households to overcome these entry barriers. The third paper concentrates on the effect of risk on the productive decisions of households, and analyzes the effect of wage risk in agricultural employment on women's labor supply and time allocated to home production. It seeks to understand the extent to which risk raises labor supply of women to levels that can become harmful for other members of the household. The hypothesis is that in the presence of intra-household substitution effects -- for instance in the performance of household chores -- increased female labor supply might have negative effects on the time allocation of girls. If women have less time available for home production and childcare, and such activities can only be foregone at high cost, they might be forced to take older girls out of school or to cut down on the time these girls study at home in order for them to fill in for these tasks. The paper uses cross-sectional data on the time allocation of different household members and predicts wage risk at the village level as a function of the historical rainfall distribution and a village's share of land that is under irrigation. The results show that wage risk affects the time allocation of women, increasing their labor supply and reducing the time they allocate to home production. Wage risk also increases the time girls spend on household chores and reduces their time in school. Because the observed effect of wage risk on girls' time allocated to household chores corresponds very closely to the effect observed for women, it seems plausible to attribute it to intra-household substitution effects. The observed effect of risk on girls' school time, however, is greater than the observed effect of risk on the home-production time of girls. This can be due to two reasons: First, in the presence of intra-household substitution effects, shocks in wages will not only increase female labor supply but also girls' time on household chores. And the model predicts that risk-averse households invest less in education when future school time becomes uncertain, because future school time affects the returns to current schooling. Second, if school attendance is indivisible, then girls might be forced to drop out of school temporarily or even permanently. The paper then simulates the effect of the NREGS on the time-allocation decisions of working women and school-age girls. The results suggest that the NREGS could increase the time working women spend on household duties, because it reduces uncertainty regarding future earnings, and alleviates the need to accumulate savings. Thereby, the NREGS would reduce the pressure on girls to perform household tasks and allow them to increase the time they spend in school or studying by 6 minutes daily. Wit these findings, this thesis contributes to a better understanding of the choices poor households in rural India face in their day-to-day decision making, and offers insights into what policies could support households in escaping poverty, and interrupt its inter-generational transmission.}, subject = {Indien}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Soubeiga2021, author = {Soubeiga, Sidiki}, title = {Four empirical essays on the role of institutional quality, political instability and entrepreneurship for economic growth and jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-10326}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {6 ungez{\"a}hlte Seiten, x, 279 Seiten}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Most Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries experienced sound economic growth and a declining rate of poverty over the last two decades. Though, by far, the SSA region remains the poorest in the world and faces tremendous political, social, and economic challenges. Moreover, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SSA entered into a recession with a GDP growth rate of minus 5\% in 2020 as ever recorded over 25 years. This has also induced an increase in poverty in the region, which adds up to the structural challenges and further highlight the need of sound policies to address economic growth, governance, jobs, and poverty for the region to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2030 and beyond. This thesis examines the effects of institutional quality, political instability, and a government targeted entrepreneurship program on the accumulation of human, physical, and financial capital by households and firms. In the literature, these factors are identified as the key determinants of economic growth and job creation, yet this thesis contributes to a knowledge gap, especially at the microeconomic level, on how households and firms accumulate these factors in the presence of weak institutional quality, political instability, and government targeted entrepreneurship programs. In particular, this thesis investigates heterogeneity as well as a single country study of the effects of institutional quality and political instability; it also employs a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to assess the impacts of two different targeted entrepreneurship support programs; and finally, it taps on data from this field experiment to assess the performance of two different targeting mechanisms for selecting growth-oriented entrepreneurs. Each paper is self-contained and three among the four papers were written with co-authors. The first paper assesses the effects of institutional quality and political instability on household assets and human capital accumulation in 19 Sub-Saharan African countries for the period 2003-16. In this paper, the concept of instability is enlarged to include factual instability as measured by the number of political violence and civil unrest events, perceived instability as measured by the perceptions of the quality of institutions by households, and the interplay between factual and perceived instability. Contrary to most previous analyses, this paper takes into account household wealth distribution to show how the effects of political instability differ for poor vs. rich households. For identification, I exploit the variation of factual and perceived instability across 185 administrative regions in the 19 countries. My regressions control for a large range of confounding factors measured at the levels of households, regions, and countries. Overall, factual and perceived instability are associated with higher investments in assets, and factual instability is also associated with more investment in house improvements, yet it is negatively associated with the ownership of financial accounts. With regard to the heterogeneous effects, increased factual or perceived instability is associated with more investments in physical capital but less investments in financial and human capital among rich households, and with less investments in physical, financial and human capital among poor households. These findings suggest that political instability might enhance the accumulation of wealth by rich households and reduce that of poor households, implying that the detrimental effects of political instability have lasting consequences for poor households, especially when poor households are exposed to an actual or even just perceived deteriorating quality of the country's institutions. The second paper, written with Nicolas B{\"u}ttner and Michael Grimm, analyzes households' investments in assets and their consumption, and education and health expenditures when exposed to actual instability as measured by the number of political violence and protest events in Burkina Faso. There is a large, rather macroeconomic, literature that shows that political instability and social conflict are associated with poor economic outcomes including lower investment and reduced economic growth. However, there is only very little research on the impact of instability on households' behavior, in particular their saving and investment decisions. This paper merges six rounds of household survey data and a geo-referenced time series of politically motivated events and fatalities from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED) to analyze households' decisions when exposed to instability in Burkina Faso. For identification, the paper exploits variation in the intensity of political instability across time and space while controlling for time-effects and municipality fixed effects as well as rainfall and nighttime light intensity, and many other potential confounders. The results show a negative effect of political instability on financial savings, the accumulation of durables, investment in house improvements, as well as on investment in education and health. Instability seems, in particular, to lead to a reshuffling from investment expenditures to increased food consumption, implying lower growth prospects in the future. With respect to economic growth, the sizable education and health effects seem to be particularly worrisome. The third paper, written with Michael Grimm and Michael Weber, employs a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to assess the short-term effects of a government support program targeted at already existing and new firms located in a semi-urban area in Burkina Faso. Most support programs targeted at small firms in low- and middle-income countries fail to generate transformative effects and employment at a larger scale. Bad targeting, too little flexibility and the limited size of the support are some of the factors that are often seen as important constraints. This paper assesses the short-term effects of a randomized targeted government support program to a pool of small and medium-sized firms that have been selected based on a rigorous business plan competition (BPC). One group received large cash grants of up to US\$8,000, flexible in use. A second group received cash grants of an equally important size, but earmarked to business development services (BDSs) and thus less flexible and with a required own contribution of 20\%. A third group serves as a control group. All firms operate in agri-business or related activities in a semi-urban area in the Centre-Est and Centre-Sud regions of Burkina Faso. An assessment of the short-term impacts shows that beneficiaries of cash grants engage in better business practices, such as formalization and bookkeeping. They also invest more, though, this does not translate into higher profits and employment yet. Beneficiaries of cash grants and BDSs show a higher ability to innovate. The results also show that cash grants cushioned the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for the beneficiaries. More generally, this study adds to the thin literature on support programs implemented in a fragile-state context. The fourth paper, written with Michael Weber, examines the selection of entrepreneurs based on expert judgments for a BPC in Burkina Faso. To support job creation in developing countries, governments allocate significant funds to a typically small number of new or already existing micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that are growth oriented. Increasingly, these enterprises are picked through BPCs where thematic experts are asked to make the selection. So far, there exists contrasting and limited evidence on the effectiveness and efficiency of these expert judgments for screening growth-oriented entrepreneurs among contestants in BPCs. Alternative or complementary approaches such as evaluation and selection algorithms are discussed in the literature but evidence on their performance is thin. This paper uses a principal component analysis (PCA) to build a metric for comparing the performance of these alternative mechanisms for targeting entrepreneurs with high potential to grow. The results show expert subjectivity bias in judging contestant entrepreneurs. The paper finds that the scores from the expert judgment and those from the algorithm perform similarly well for picking the top-ranked or talented entrepreneurs. It also finds that both types of scores have predictive power, i.e. have statistically significantly associated with 17 firm performance outcomes measured 10 or 34 months after the BPC started. Yet, the predictive power, as measured by the magnitude of the regression coefficients, is higher for the algorithm metric, even when it is considered jointly with expert judgment scores. Despite the statistical superiority of the algorithm, expert assessments at least through pitches of entrepreneurs have proved useful in many settings where free-riding or misuse of public funds may occur. Hence, efficiency and precision could be achieved by relying on a reasoned combination of expert judgments and an algorithm for targeting growth-oriented entrepreneurs. These four papers bring new insights on the relationship between weak institutions, political instability, and targeted government support to entrepreneurship for increasing the accumulation of financial, physical, and human capital, and productivity. And these are the key factors for spurring economic growth and creating jobs in SSA. These findings suggest that efficient institutions building in SSA countries would enhance citizen perceptions of good governance which would reduce political instability and enable households including the poor to accumulate productive assets, increase their productivity and reduce poverty. The findings also suggest that targeted government entrepreneurship support programs, e.g. in the forms of cash grants with monitored disbursements yet flexible in use, can enhance firms' human capital, productive assets, and innovations, even in the short term. Moreover, the targeting mechanism of such programs could be made more effective and efficient by relying on a combinaison of expert judgments and an algorithm for picking growth-oriented entrepreneurs.}, subject = {Subsaharisches Afrika}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Postel2024, author = {Postel, Lea}, title = {In Data We Trust: Three Essays on Consumers' Trust-Based Decision-Making Strategies in Privacy-Relevant Online Contexts}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14021}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XIV, 145 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Technological advancements and new legal requirements are continuously changing the online data disclosure landscape in terms of both, the quantity and quality of data that firms can acquire. Nowadays, consumers are required to disclose personal data online multiple times a day and in a variety of different contexts, such as creating user profiles, online payment or using location-based services. Despite consumers' increasing online privacy concerns, firms rely ever more strongly on consumer data that they convert into a competitive advantage through personalized product recommendations and targeted advertising. In an effort to encourage consumer data disclosure, many firms have focused on building trust as a way to counterbalance privacy concerns and mitigate risk perceptions. Correspondingly, marketing literature has continued to examine the interplay of trust and consumer privacy concerns. While the extant research has considerably advanced our understanding of the role of trust in privacy-related decision-making, the majority of studies has mainly focused on single-stage, dyadic disclosure settings and cognitive decision-making processes. Against this background, the overarching goal of this thesis is to shed light on under-researched data disclosure contexts involving trust and to explore additional facets of the underlying decision-making processes. For example, considering pre- and post-disclosure stages when evaluating consumers' data disclosure decisions allows for a more holistic picture of the decision-making process. Similarly, social media and sharing economy settings challenge the traditional assumption of purely dyadic consumer-firm data disclosure, thus extending traditional conceptualizations of trust. Across three independent essays, this thesis addresses the overarching research question of how the peculiarities of multi-stage and multi-actor settings shape consumers' trust-based decision-making strategies.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{vonSnitkin2015, author = {von Snitkin, Peter}, title = {Due Diligence im Private Equity - Einsatz und Rolle quantitativer Methoden bei Private Equity Transaktionen}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-3447}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht auf Basis einer umfassenden weltweiten empirischen Befragung die Arbeitsweise und das Entscheidungsverhalten von Private Equity Professionals in der Transaktionspraxis. Ausgehend von einer empirischen Beurteilung von Due Diligence mit Hinblick auf die Notwendigkeit ihrer Durchf{\"u}hrung im Kontext von Informations- und Prognoseproblem zeigt die Untersuchung auf, wie sich die quantitative Arbeit in der Private Equity Praxis ausgestaltet und ordnet diese in ihrem Zusammenspiel mit weichen Faktoren und Expertenwissen bzw. pers{\"o}nlicher Erfahrung ein. Zuletzt wird auf Basis der verf{\"u}gbaren Daten eine Br{\"u}cke zwischen Einsatz \& Rolle quantitativer Methoden und weicher Faktoren bei der Investitionsentscheidung und der Performance von Private Equity Gesellschaften geschlagen. Die Arbeit gliedert sich in folgende sechs Hauptabschnitte: - Einleitung - Aktuelle Forschung zu Private Equity und Motivation der Arbeit - Private Equity - eine Einf{\"u}hrung - Grundlegende Informationsprobleme und Unsicherheiten bei einem Unternehmenskauf: Informationsasymmetrien und Prognoseproblem - Empirische Untersuchung: Due Diligence im Private Equity - Einsatz und Rolle quantitativer Methoden bei Private Equity Transaktionen - Schlussbemerkung und Ausblick}, subject = {Private Equity}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Bauer2016, author = {Bauer, Matthias}, title = {Containerbr{\"u}ckeneinsatzplanung in Seehafencontainerterminals - Entwurf und experimentelle Analyse von L{\"o}sungsverfahren f{\"u}r das Container Sequencing Problem}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-4218}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Durch den Einsatz immer gr{\"o}ßerer Containerschiffe zum Transport containerisierter G{\"u}ter {\"u}ber den Seeweg gewinnt die Produktivit{\"a}t der zur Be- und Entladung der Containerschiffe eingesetzten Containerbr{\"u}cken in Seehafencontainerterminals immer mehr an Bedeutung. Einen erheblichen Einfluss auf die Produktivit{\"a}t der Containerbr{\"u}cken hat die Containerbr{\"u}ckeneinsatzplanung. Gegenstand dieser Arbeit ist das im Rahmen der Containerbr{\"u}ckeneinsatzplanung auftretende Container Sequencing Problem, welches hier erstmals unter Ber{\"u}cksichtigung von Ladelukendeckeln und Rehandlecontainern verschiedener Containerkategorien untersucht wird. Die Problemstellung wird als ganzzahliges lineares Optimierungsmodell formuliert. Zur L{\"o}sung des Problems werden verschiedene heuristische Verfahren vorgeschlagen. Deren Leistungsf{\"a}higkeit wird anhand numerischer Experimente analysiert.}, subject = {Containerterminal}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Dirmhirn2014, author = {Dirmhirn, Markus}, title = {Value-based Management in Practice: Effects of Implementation Forms, Compensation Schemes and Investor Relations on Financial Performance}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-4169}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {134}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Advocated by leading consulting firms, the concept of value-based management has enjoyed popularity and found its way into corporate practice in the mid 1990s. But the large breakthrough of value-based management held off, especially in the German landscape. The following four documents first analyze the status quo of value-based management in board compensation, second analyze performance effects of value-based management implementations, third investigate the reasons why inconsistent implementations of value-based management might exist and fourth, the effects of investor relations activities on corporate stock.}, subject = {Regulierung}, language = {mul} } @phdthesis{Weber2016, author = {Weber, Max}, title = {Zur Wirkung der Gesch{\"a}ftsmodellgestaltung auf den Unternehmenserfolg von internetbasierten, nicht b{\"o}rsennotierten Startups in Deutschland - eine empirische Studie.}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-4053}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, year = {2016}, abstract = {W{\"a}hrend sich die Gesch{\"a}ftsmodellforschung großer Beliebtheit erfreut, ist bisweilen schwach erforscht, wie sich die konkrete Ausgestaltung der Operationalisierungen von Gesch{\"a}ftsmodellelementen von internetbasierten, nicht b{\"o}rsennotierten Startups auf deren Unternehmenserfolg auswirkt. Die vorliegende Arbeit adressiert diese Fragestellung und deckt mittels statischer Verfahren Zusammenh{\"a}nge auf.}, subject = {Unternehmensgr{\"u}ndung}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Zimmermann2023, author = {Zimmermann, Johanna Anita}, title = {Taking the First Step on the Consumer Privacy Journey - Three Essays on Consumers' Privacy-Related Decision-Making}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-13761}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {IX, 183 Seiten}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Data has become a necessary resource for firm operations in the modern digital world, explaining their growing data gathering efforts. Due to this development, consumers are confronted with decisions to disclose personal data on a daily basis, and have become increasingly intentional about data sharing. While this reluctance to disclose personal data poses challenges for firms, at the same time, it also creates new opportunities for improving privacy-related interactions with customers. This dissertation advocates for a more holistic perspective on consumers' privacy-related decision-making and introduces the consumer privacy journey consisting of three subsequent phases: pre data disclosure, data disclosure, post data disclosure. In three independent essays, I stress the importance of investigating data requests (i.e., the first step of this journey) as they represent a largely neglected, yet, potentially powerful means to influence consumers' decision-making and decision-evaluation processes. Based on dual-processing models of decision-making, this dissertation focuses on both consumers' cognitive and affective evaluations of privacy-related information: First, Essay 1 offers novel conceptualizations and operationalizations of consumers' perceived behavioral control over personal data (i.e., cognitive processing) in the context of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based data disclosure processes. Next, Essay 2 examines consumers' cognitive and affective processing of a data request that entails relevance arguments as well as relevance-illustrating game elements. Finally, Essay 3 categorizes affective cues that trigger consumers' affective processing of a data request and proposes that such cues need to fit with a specific data disclosure situation to foster long-term decision satisfaction. Collectively, my findings provide research and practice with new insights into consumers' privacy perceptions and behaviors, which are particularly valuable in the context of complex, new (technology-enabled) data disclosure situations.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Buhtz2016, author = {Buhtz, Katharina}, title = {Mechanisms driving technology use in the context of digital inequality: A series of essays on the role of social influence, socio-cognitive processes, and socio-economic determinants}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-3667}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {245 S.}, year = {2016}, abstract = {This dissertation sets out to deepen our understanding on the causes and manifestations of digital inequality through the lens of technology adoption research. To this day, digital inequality remains an important and relevant societal issue. With the rapid proliferation of digital ICT over the last 20 years the nature of the phenomenon may have evolved from an access-based to an appropriation-based issue, yet its significance has not diminished. Again this backdrop, this dissertation aims to explore which mechanisms and factors influence why and how individuals use ICT in the context of digital inequality, and, in particular, what role social influence, socio-cognitive processes, and socio-economic determinants play. In a series of essays, this dissertation first develops a theoretical understanding of the concept of social influence, which plays an important role in determining whether and how individuals use a technology. Next, a process lens is adopted to explore the underlying mechanisms that drive individuals to disengage from a new technology and may lead to digital exclusion. Building on that, this dissertation examines how digital inequality manifests itself in the specific realm of e-commerce. This dissertation concludes with a practical perspective on the issue of digital inequality aimed at policy makers seeking to bridge the gap between digitally advantaged and disadvantaged users.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Reinartz2016, author = {Reinartz, Annika}, title = {Digital Inequality and the Use of Information Communication Technology}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-3654}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {248 S.}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Ever since the inception of the Internet, researchers have been both, enthusiastic and concerned about the social implications of Internet-enabled digitization (DiMaggio, Hargittai, Neuman, \& Robinson, 2001).In particular, the issue of unequal access to digital opportunities has garnered substantial research attention and has been termed 'digital inequality' (Hargittai \& Hinnant, 2008; Hsieh, Rai, \& Keil, 2008; Kvasny \& Keil, 2006; Riggins \& Dewan, 2005). Generally, digital inequality refers to the unequal opportunity and ability of individuals to profit from information communication technologies (ICT) (DiMaggio \& Hargittai, 2001). The phenomenon of digital inequality has also been at the heart of public debates because in the light of the ongoing digitization using ICT actively is more and more becoming a prerequisite to fully participate in society. This thesis seeks to expand research on the complex and societally relevant phenomenon of digital inequality. Specifically, I aim to explore the following focal research question: How do individuals use ICTs and which mechanisms and factors influence individual use and non-use of ICTs in the context of digital inequality? Advancing our knowledge in this field is particularly relevant for the following reasons. First, while understanding all stages of digital inequality is essential for both, assessing the true severity of the phenomenon and developing measures to bridge it, a large part of research has so far focused on ICT access and adoption. Yet, if digital inequality eventually translates into inequality in 'real life' is determined by whether individuals can use ICTs to their advantage and benefit from digital opportunities. This thesis seeks to address this research gap by shifting the attention to the factors and mechanisms that drive individual differences in ICT appropriation as opposed to ICT access and adoption. Second, digital inequality research still stands to profit from a broader methodological foundation. In fact, most of what we know about digital inequality is based on the quantitative analysis of surveys and statistical data and might limit research in exploring and better understanding the more complex and multi-layered forms of digital inequality as evident in ICT appropriation. This thesis aims at strengthening the methodological foundation of digital inequality research and at generating new and rich insights by adopting so far underrepresented research methods, in particular qualitative and internet-enabled data tracking methodology. Third, digital inequality is an interdisciplinary research field and different insights haven been gained in a diverse range of academic disciplines. In this thesis I also seek to lay a sound theoretical foundation for my own research and the research of others by integrating these otherwise separate perspectives on digital inequality. Fourth, better understanding digital inequality and potential means to bridge it is of high societal relevance. Therefore, this thesis also aims at inferring implications not only for academic research but also for practitioners, in particular public policy makers. The thesis comprises four papers that seek to address the points outlined above.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Meier2014, author = {Meier, Christian}, title = {Experimental Studies in Decision Making and Management Control}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-3498}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {196}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Management accounting information is used in organizations to facilitate decision making and to influence actions for management control. Decisions and actions include the allocation of resources within a firm, coordination across organizational units, costing, pricing, compensation, and incentives. There are many ways how management accounting information is provided, including performance measurement, budgeting, capital budgeting, valuation, inventory systems, product-costing systems, and transfer pricing systems.}, subject = {Entscheidungstheorie}, language = {mul} } @phdthesis{Paffhausen2018, author = {Paffhausen, Anna Luisa}, title = {Three empirical essays on micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurship promotion in developing countries}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-6096}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {212 Seiten}, year = {2018}, abstract = {In this thesis I empirically assess a wide range of constraints faced by different types of entrepreneurs in developing countries and the effectiveness of different policy interventions aimed at removing them. Thereby, the thesis contributes to the growing literature on enterprises and entrepreneurial activities in developing countries, by producing valuable evidence on which are the constraints faced by which types of entrepreneurs in starting, surviving, and growing, as well as on which interventions work, and for whom. The thesis hence provides important insights for policy formulation aimed at inclusive growth. It consists of three self-contained papers, which put different emphasis on three different areas in which important research gaps remain. The first paper, which is presented in chapter 2, focuses on interventions aimed at removing firm-level shocks. It consists of a systematic review of evaluations of targeted programs and broader policies that intend to promote micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in developing countries, and assesses which of these interventions are effective in creating jobs. The paper presented in chapter 3 considers death of small, mainly one-person and household businesses. Together with my co-author, I collated panel data on more than 14,000 small firms from 16 firm panel surveys conducted in 12 developing countries. We use this unique panel dataset to provide answers to the following questions: What is the rate of firm death over different horizons? Which firms are more likely to die? Why do they die and what happens afterwards? In chapter 4, I take a closer look at household-level shocks and non-separability between the household and the firm, and assess whether extending health insurance to previously uninsured households leads to increased investment in productive activities, by assessing the impact of a large national health insurance scheme, the Mexican Seguro Popular, on investment in productive agricultural and non-agricultural assets and activities in rural areas. Using panel data from the Mexican rural evaluation surveys of the Oportunidades cash transfer program, I estimate the effect of the program on out-of-pocket health care expenditures and productive assets and account for possible self-selection of households into the program, using difference-in-differences estimation, as well as a propensity score matched difference-in-differences specification.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Giermindl2018, author = {Giermindl, Lisa}, title = {Lost in Digital Transformation? The role of Enterprise Social Networks in facilitating digital collaboration}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-6157}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {194 Seiten}, year = {2018}, abstract = {In the age of globalization, exponential growth and digitalization, organizations need to make faster decisions, as well as continually innovate and adapt to changing customer needs to ensure their long-term competitiveness (Kammerlander et al. 2018; Magnusson and Martini 2008). Notably, large and established companies find it difficult to keep up with start-ups and smaller companies as well as with digital transformation (Christensen et al. 2015). Thus, organizations are increasingly providing their workforce with Enterprise Social Networks (ESNs) as intra-organizational social software platforms. Although ESNs hold great promises for organizations and their employees (M{\"a}ntym{\"a}ki and Riemer 2016), most ESN initiatives fail to leverage the intended benefits (Chin et al. 2015). This dissertation seeks to open up the black box behind this seemingly paradoxical relationship. It comprises four studies that are guided by the following research questions: R 1: How do different types of users (posters and lurkers) differ in their motivations for participating in ESNs? (= Paper 1) R 2: Why do employees deliberately not use the ESN? (= Paper 2) R 3: How can ESNs be successfully implemented and improved to overcome the challenges perceived by employees? (= Paper 3) R 4: Does ESN usage impact on individual task performance? And how can ESNs be used effectively to increase performance outcomes? (= Paper 4) Overall, the four studies contribute to a better understanding of the non-adoption phenomenon of ESNs, provide rich insights on employees' underlying reasons and challenges regarding ESN usage, while underscoring the potential value of ESNs.}, subject = {Digitalisierung}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Wimmer2018, author = {Wimmer, Tristan}, title = {Information in Online Purchase Decision Processes: Information Extraction, Data Analysis and Economic Impact}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-6327}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {ix, 108, xiii Seiten}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Information has a particular importance in online purchase decision processes. As opposed to consumers in online markets, consumers in online markets cannot inspect the physical product to evaluate it and reduce their perceived risk. Hence, consumers in online markets are dependent upon the information that they can gather about a product in which they are interested. Therefore, they have two primary sources of information: Product descriptions and customer reviews. Both sources affect consumers' purchase decision processes and hence have an economic impact for consumers, shop providers and manufacturers. It is important to know how these sources of information influence a customer's online purchase decision and how to extract the relevant information. To examine these research objectives, several studies applying different methodological approaches have been conducted. The results are presented in this dissertation.}, subject = {Kaufentscheidung}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kaiser2019, author = {Kaiser, Florian}, title = {Essays on Vertical Integration, Inventory Efficiency and Firm Performance}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-6353}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XII, 154 Seiten}, year = {2019}, abstract = {In three studies, this dissertation contributes to the link between, on the one hand, how a firm's supply chain is organized and, on the other, how good its financial and stock market performance is. Study I examines the relationship between the degree of vertical integration and financial performance. Study II links the degree of vertical integration, both theoretically and empirically, to long-term stock returns. Study III concentrates on the relationship between inventory efficiency and financial performance.}, subject = {Vertikale Integration}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Wohlfarth2018, author = {Wohlfarth, Michael}, title = {Data as a Competitive Resource: Essays on Market Power, Data Sharing, and Data Portability}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-5453}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {iv, 151 Seiten}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Data is an important competitive resource in digital online markets. As a result, the access and availability of data can be the basis for a competitive advantage. This thesis analyzes the role and competitive effects of data in digital markets and contributes to an improved understanding of data as a (potential) basis for market power. Thereby, the thesis also contributes to the ongoing policy debate on how to safeguard a fair and open competitive environment for internet-based digital (i.e., online) services as well as traditional services. In doing so, Study 1 surveys the literature and discusses (i) the challenges that are associated with assessing market power in digital markets, (ii) the challenges in creating a level playing field in digital markets, e.g., by harmonizing regulatory obligations for online and offline services, and (iii) the vital role of data and data protection in the context of data-driven business models. Study 2 and Study 3 focus on the competitive effects of transferring data between online competitors. The study on social logins (Study 2) highlights the strategic effects as well as welfare implications if competing online services deliberately and voluntarily decide to share user and usage data. Whereas Study 2 abstracts from the user's decision how much data to provide to an online service, Study 3 focuses on the amount of data that firms require for their services and that is provided by users. In particular, Study 3 investigates the competitive and welfare effects of a new fundamental consumer right: The right to data portability. This right is part of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which becomes effective in May 2018 for all online services available to users in the European Union and allows users to transfer their personal data from one online service to another (competing) online service (c.f., GDPR Article 20). In this context, the study examines the firms' strategic reactions to the introduction of such a right and identifies the ensuing market outcomes as well as policy and managerial implications. In conclusion, this doctoral thesis contributes to an improved understanding of (i) the competitive effects that arise from data as an economic good or valuable asset for digital services, and (ii) the aspects that may constitute market power in digital markets. Moreover, from a policy perspective, the thesis can be understood as a theoretically founded research project that (i) informs which market failures may arise in the context of digital (data-driven) markets and that (ii) highlights the peculiarities that need to be considered to define appropriate legal requirements in order to establish a level playing field between online services and traditional (established) services, but also between competing online services. Therefore, the thesis also contributes to the discussion on whether and how dominant online platforms should and can be regulated.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Hess2018, author = {Heß, Nicole Jasmin}, title = {Three Essays on New Challenges and Opportunities for Marketing in an Evolving Technological Environment}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-5395}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XIX, 191 Seiten}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Ongoing advancements in technology have significantly shaped the marketing landscape over the course of the last decades. Consequently, new technology-driven opportunities and challenges for marketing research and practice emerge. Those urge the need to redefine firm-based value propositions, to adapt business models, to place significant emphasis on topics such as innovation, design and strategy, but also to develop new knowledge and skill sets. In response to those changes, this dissertation addresses two major developments and related opportunities and challenges - namely, digitized retail environments and innovative, complex business models - in three different essays. Thereby, this dissertation contributes to a better understanding of the evolving relationship between marketing and technology. Essay 1 and Essay 2 address the increasing digitization of physical retail environments. Retailers embrace a plethora of retail technologies to facilitate activities and processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to consumers and to consequently improving physical retail stores. Essay 1 provides an integrated literature review on digital retail technologies' impact on consumer behavior at physical retail stores. Thereby, Essay 1 adopts a shopping cycle based framework structured around distinct phases of consumer behavior to delineate and summarize findings from existing literature on the behavioral effects of retail technologies embraced by retailers. With the applied shopping cycle based framework, Essay 1 identifies specific gaps in extant literature relative to currently embraced practices of retail technology, but furthermore on emerging trends, which have the potential to reshape the retailing environment. Subsequently, an extensive research agenda is proposed to advance the next generation of knowledge development. With its integrated literature review and research agenda, Essay 1 contributes to research in the retail area, such as research on customer experience, shopper marketing and specifically on the role of technology in retailing. Essay 2 analyzes consumers' response to one particular innovative retail technology and thus replies to future questions of the research agenda developed in Essay 1. Essay 2 analyzes the perceptions and consequences of attribute-based personalized advertising in physical retail stores, where other people are present and can see the personalized content. Essay 2 shows when and how social presence of others impacts consumers' attitudes and behavioral intentions, as well as emotions, when exposed to personalized advertising. The findings of two experimental studies provide evidence, that the presence of others does not influence consumer response per se, but it interacts with personalization. Further, the results show that consumers' negative response to personalized ads in the social presence of others is mediated by embarrassment and moderated by consumers' congruity state (the extent to which the ad is consistent with the consumer's self-concept). These findings offer new theoretical insights into how consumers respond to personalized advertising in the social presence of others, and thus advance marketing research on personalized advertising, digital displays, shopper marketing as well as research on customer experience. Further, the results disclose meaningful managerial implications for the application of new consumer tracking technology. Essay 3 addresses opportunities and challenges related to innovative, complex business models resulting from technological advancements. With customer orientation in free e-services, Essay 3 analyzes a strategically highly relevant phenomenon, which thus far has been neglected by prior research. Free e-services are characterized by the superiority of free costumers and interdependencies between free and paying customers. Essay 3 investigates how free e-service providers respond to those particularities in their customer orientation activities. Results from one qualitative and one quantitative study uncover, that only free-born providers, that from the outset strategically committed themselves to the free business model, possess customer orientation capabilities that match the particularities of free e-services. They use customer orientation toward one customer group to increase the satisfaction of the other simultaneously and, thus, are reaching their financial goals. Contrastively, laggards, that started with a non-free business model before launching their free e-service, do not exploit the full potential of customer orientation, as they focus too much on the paying customer group. These findings offer new theoretical insights for research on customer orientation, research on two-sided markets as well as on stakeholder marketing. Moreover, Essay 3 provides valuable and actionable insights for managers of free e-services. Taking a broader perspective, this dissertation advances marketing knowledge on technological innovation, new types of consumer data, strategy shifts, as well as new firm capabilities and managerial skill sets required in an age of disruption within the virtual, but also the physical world. By using a variety of methods including conceptual work, experiments, qualitative interviews as well as survey research, and furthermore by ensuring high practical relevance, this dissertation adds important perspectives to the evolving relationship between marketing and technology.}, subject = {Marketing}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Huber2017, author = {Huber, Sandra}, title = {The role of polls for election forecasting in German state elections}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-5552}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {VII, 172}, year = {2017}, abstract = {German state elections are in focus of this work due to the decreasing importance of the "catch all parties" and rise of the AfD in 2013. As small parties like the AfD first reached the 5\% threshold in state parliaments (e.g. in the Saxony state election 2014), state elections can be used as barometer elections for the national ones. Further, state elections fill the gap between the 4-year national election cycle and provide additional information for the national election. The aim of this thesis is to forecast state elections based on polling data from different institutes. Despite occurring errors in polls like measurement or sampling errors - which are also discussed in this work - forecasting is made with aggregate models depending on short term polling data. Irregular polling data have to be customized to generate daily data to apply parametric regression based models. To forecast single vote shares in multi-party elections, the range of methods varies from basic methods like averaging over nonparametric regression based methods to dynamic linear models.}, subject = {Deutschland}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{MotzigkeitGonzalez2018, author = {Motzigkeit Gonzalez, Rita Andrea}, title = {Three essays on the welfare and social impacts of external shocks and public policies in Mexico}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-5470}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {x, 116 Seiten}, year = {2018}, abstract = {In this thesis I examine the welfare and social consequences associated with one economic shock and two policy interventions in Mexico. I use non-experimental approaches that exploit increased data availability as well as in-depth knowledge of the institutional background and show how germane extensions in the methodology shed light on previously unaccounted consequences and help better identify affected households. In particular, I quantify the role of quantity substitution effects in the alleviation of welfare, I estimate the effect of quality substitution on the efficiency of a taxation policy, and I document the possible consequences of an aggressive policy intervention on organized and property crime.}, subject = {Gemeinwohl}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Roy2017, author = {Roy, Nobina}, title = {Four essays on the entanglement of career choices and gender in the information and communication technology industry}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-4772}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {IV, 217 S.}, year = {2017}, abstract = {In the first article, I will focus on the career choice itself and identify core components that a career choice regarding the ICT-industry is comprised of. In the second article, the thesis focuses on the Indian ICT-industry. The Indian ICT-industry consists of a comparably high percentage of female employees, namely 35\% at the entry-level, but at the same time struggles with high attrition rates at higher levels. Therefore, the Indian ICT-industry serves as a best practice example for attracting women to the ICT-industry, and simultaneously assists us in under-standing the reasons why they tend not to stay. In the third article, the thesis focuses on the stability of career choices by analyzing the short- and long-term persistence of females and males in computing disciplines. In the fourth article, the thesis analyzes the motivation structure of people that plan to enter the ICT-industry. This is to identify what kinds of people are attracted to the ICT-industry and to reveal differences in their vocational behavior.}, subject = {Informationstechnik}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schinkinger2016, author = {Schinkinger, Sebastian}, title = {XML-Kompression und optische Codierung f{\"u}r den Transfer von Gesch{\"a}ftsdokumenten}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-4266}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XXVIII, 162 S.}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Eine medienbruchfreie, automatisierte Verarbeitung von Gesch{\"a}ftsdokumenten ist die Grundlage f{\"u}r effiziente und fehlerfreie unternehmens{\"u}bergreifende Gesch{\"a}ftsprozesse. Im Bereich der digitalen {\"U}bertragung von Gesch{\"a}ftsdokumenten in Form von strukturierten Daten existiert hierf{\"u}r eine Vielzahl von Ans{\"a}tzen. Daneben werden viele Gesch{\"a}ftsdokumente nach wie vor in bildlicher Form, wie beispielsweise auf Papier, verwendet. In diesem Bereich sind die Dokumente nur selten auf eine automatisierte Verarbeitung ausgelegt. Die Einbettung von digital strukturierter Information, die f{\"u}r eine automatisierte Verarbeitung ben{\"o}tigt wird, erfolgt {\"u}blicherweise {\"u}ber optische Codes. Der inhaltliche Aufbau dieser Codes wird meist zwischen den beteiligten Unternehmen individuell vereinbart. Ein standardisierter Ansatz daf{\"u}r fehlt. Um eine standardisierte Verwendung optischer Codes zu erm{\"o}glichen, wird in dieser Arbeit der Ansatz verfolgt, Gesch{\"a}ftsdokumente in XML-basierter Form optisch zu codieren. Damit k{\"o}nnen bereits existierende Standards f{\"u}r XML-basierte Gesch{\"a}ftsdokumente und optische Codes verwendet werden. Aufgrund der beschr{\"a}nkten Kapazit{\"a}t optischer Codes ist die Kompression von XML-Dokumenten der zentrale Untersuchungsgegenstand dieser Arbeit. Im Rahmen dessen wird die Leistung bestehender Kompressionsverfahren betrachtet und analysiert, inwiefern diese f{\"u}r die optische Codierung XML-basierter Gesch{\"a}ftsdokumente verbessert werden kann. In einem mehrstufigen Analyseprozess erfolgt die Entwicklung eines Verfahrens, das eine neuartige Kombination bestehender Konzepte zur XML-Kompression verwendet und damit h{\"o}here Kompressionsraten erm{\"o}glicht. Dazu wird ein facettiertes Klassifikationssystem mit technischen und funktionalen Merkmalen erarbeitet, mit dem potentiell relevante XML-Kompressionsverfahren identifiziert werden. Die konzeptionellen Bestandteile der ausgew{\"a}hlten Verfahren werden im Hinblick auf ihre Leistungsf{\"a}higkeit beurteilt und sinnvolle Konzepte zu einem parametrisierten Verfahren (PSXC f{\"u}r parametric schema-based XML compression) kombiniert. Im Rahmen einer Fallstudie zur optischen Codierung von Rechnungsdokumenten wird die Leistungsf{\"a}higkeit von PSXC im Vergleich zu bestehenden Allzweck- und XML-Kompressionsverfahren gepr{\"u}ft und gezeigt, dass die Gr{\"o}ße optischer Codes mit PSXC reduziert werden kann.}, subject = {Gesch{\"a}ftsbrief}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Huettel2017, author = {H{\"u}ttel, Bj{\"o}rn}, title = {Three Essays on Success Factors of Digital and Non-digital Services}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-5134}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XVIII, 170 Seiten}, year = {2017}, abstract = {In three studies, this dissertation deals with success factors of digital and non-digital services. More specifically it reveals the role of non-monetary costs for the success of free digital services. Moreover, it deals with customer orientation of frontline employees. It reveals the crucial role of the customer for frontline employees' ability to act in a customer-oriented manner.}, subject = {Kundenorientierung}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Nagel2017, author = {Nagel, Christian}, title = {Three Essays on the Marketing of Innovations}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-5031}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XIX, 150 Seiten}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Really new products frequently receive great academic, managerial and public attention, because they have the potential to change everybody's lives. Our economic system fundamentally relies on creative destruction, i.e. the constant process by which innovations challenge established products. This tension between the new and the already existing in the end promises competitive advantage, but makes it difficult to successfully introduce product innovations to the market. Hence, companies strive to become better all along the innovation process, ranging from idea generation, to product launch, and customers' post-adoption product experience. This dissertation addresses challenges along the product innovation process in three independent essays. Essay 1 focuses on members' collaboration behavior in innovation forums. Many innovations at first are invented by users and later on get developed into products ready for the consumer market within firms' R\&D departments. Users are often the first to encounter novel needs and come up with ideas, concepts and even prototypes to satisfy them. Online forums are social spheres where hobbyists and professionals from all over the world meet to exchange their ideas about products and share their latest experiences. Hence, online forums represent incredibly rich resources to inspire companies' ideation processes. Essay 1 investigates the social mechanism of member collaboration in innovation communities. Theory on creativity postulates that the interaction between the core and the periphery of social networks enables the communities' innovative performance. Recent research showed that members from the periphery can boost their individual innovative performance via exchanging with the community core. However, we still do not know why core members assist peripherals. Essay 1 reveals that core members benefit from exchanging with members from the periphery throughout increasing their own influence as experts among peers in the core. The identified mechanism can be used to select the right candidates for co-creation workshops. Essay 2 identifies a product launch strategy for innovations which are both, radical and disruptive. The successful launch of radical and disruptive innovations is a difficult challenge, because their radical newness provokes consumers' uncertainties. Furthermore, because of their disruptiveness, at the time of product launch those innovations are perceived to be inferior regarding their primary functionality compared to established products, although their performance in general is fully sufficient to satisfy consumers' actual needs. A means to address the perceived inferiority is to add a feature to the innovation which offers a functional surplus by means of existing technology. Essay 2 shows that simultaneously introducing the innovation and a functionally modified version thereof increases consumers' adoption intentions. Furthermore, consumers who opted for the modified, but more expensive version are not dissatisfied with their choice in the long run, although they do not need the additional performance from an objective point of view. Essay 2 contributes insights regarding the causes and consequences of this new product launch strategy to the theory of radical and disruptive innovations. The findings of this essay are highly relevant to managers, because they show how this strategy can be implemented in practice to lower the failure rate of really new products at product launch. Innovation research to date is rich on evidence regarding the determinants of consumers' adoption decisions. However, perhaps due to questions of data accessibility, insights of consumers' post-adoption product evaluation are still scarce. Hence, essay 3 shifts the focus beyond product adoption to investigate the interplay of early adopters' experienced utility, perceived aesthetic value and attitude toward the product in the long-run. Findings show that the perceived aesthetic value creates a halo effect in the post-adoption phase, such that the influence of early adopters' experienced utility on attitude gets weaker, the more positively they evaluate the innovations' aesthetics over time. Furthermore, the halo effect only tempers the relationship between experienced hedonic utility and attitude when consumers are characterized by innate consumer innovativeness. Managers should see the products' form not only as a means to increase purchase intentions, but understand that aesthetic value offers the potential to shape consumers' long term attitude toward the product, which in turn is an important driver for word of mouth behavior. A high score on the trait innate consumer innovativeness is an appropriate criterion for the selection of users for design co-creation.}, subject = {Produktinnovation}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Selzer2017, author = {Selzer, Veronika}, title = {Managing Role Stress in Service Occupations: Addressing Gaps in Boundary Spanner Research}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-5118}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XI, 137 Seiten}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Even though the negative outcomes of boundary spanners' role stress are well- known to service theory and practice, insights into how to manage frontline employees to lower experienced role stress are sparse. Moreover, extant research fails to include most up-to-date challenges of new service environments and their effects on frontline employees' role stress perceptions. This dissertation's studies focus on three different aspects of managing boundary spanners' role stress in service occupations affected by the challenges of new service environments: managing (a) enhanced individual role complexity by feedback (Study 1), (b) person-role conflicts by transformational leadership (Study 2), and (c) role ambiguity by problem-focused coping strategies (Study 3). Study 1 introduces the new concept of individual role complexity as mediator between environmental complexity (from customers and the own organization) and role stress of frontline employees in service settings. Moreover, Study 1 details different aspects of individual role complexity and considers feedback from various sources as potential moderators that mitigate the stressing effect of high individual role complexity. The results of this study provide a deeper understanding of current boundary spanner roles, their complexity and potential approaches to handle individual role complexity. The study offers directions for further empirical research on boundary spanners' role complexity. Moreover, it helps managers to understand today's service environments and frontline employees' roles plus it suggests tools to manage imminent performance declines caused by individual role complexity. The purpose of Study 2 is to identify effective leadership behavior that reduces frontline employees' person-role conflicts, a hitherto rather neglected sub-dimension of role conflicts that strongly differs from externally originated role conflict dimensions which have been examined in existing research. Moreover, Study 2 aims at identifying individual cultural values as important contingency factors for the effects of transformational leadership respectively person-role conflicts on a frontline employee's job performance. Results reveal that charisma-related transformational leadership styles promote the job performance of frontline employees, even in the face of person-role conflicts, while intellectual stimulation has a negative effect on job performance. In addition, the individual cultural values collectivism, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance moderate the effects of transformational leadership on job performance. The findings imply that service firms should train managers in the use of charisma-related leadership styles and highlight the importance of employees' individual culture when leading frontline employees with distinct leadership styles. Study 3 addresses which frontline employees' problem-focused coping strategies might effectively reduce perceived role ambiguity. The gathered evidence indicates that only action coping is effective, whereas instrumental support seeking does even enhance perceived role ambiguity. An examination of intrinsic and extrinsic coping resources as drivers of coping reveals that conscientiousness and supervisor support are helpful coping resources. Contrary, neuroticism drives insufficient coping and inhibits the use of effective coping resources. Managers of service firms should provide training to ensure effective supervisor support plus consider the personality traits of potential employees in recruitment procedures to reduce and prevent experienced role ambiguity among frontline employees. Altogether, the three studies contribute to existing service theory and practice by identifying management tools to counter role stress perceptions induced by the challenges of new service environments.}, subject = {Dienstleistung}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Garbas2022, author = {Garbas, Janina}, title = {From now to next - Three essays on consumer responses to innovative technology-driven business models}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-11132}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XVIII, 212 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Over the last decades, ongoing advancements in information technology (i.e., Internet and mobile devices) have expanded a firm's ability to communicate and interact with consumers and hence, create the potential of building sustainable relationships. Tailoring offerings through (1) consumer-initiated customization and (2) firm-initiated personalization is considered a key driver of long-term consumer relationships. As technologies continue to evolve, the opportunities for tailored marketing expand and enable new technology-driven business models that help to leverage customization and personalization and strengthen customer relationships in the era of the digital economy. Across three independent essays, the purpose of this dissertation is to answer the overarching research question of how innovative technology-driven business models versus traditional business models in the domains of customization and personalization influence consumer behavior. Thereby, this dissertation contributes to an understanding of challenges and opportunities of innovative customization and personalization business models with the ultimate goal of enabling their successful diffusion in the marketplace. Specifically, in Essay 1 and Essay 2, I investigate an innovative business model located in the realm of customization, that is, internal product upgrades (i.e., offering fee-based access to originally built-in, but deliberately restricted, optional features). Using a conceptual approach, Essay 1 provides a framework for understanding how internal product upgrades will likely influence consumers' responses. As such, it outlines evolving challenges and opportunities of internal product upgrades and derives questions for future research. In Essay 2, I use an empirical approach to examine pitfalls of internal product upgrades in the product usage phase. Drawing on research on normative expectations and perceived ownership, this essay reveals that consumers respond less favorably to internal (vs. external) product upgrades and investigates managerially relevant boundary conditions. Finally, Essay 3 creates novel insights into a business model in the domain of personalization. This essay examines how the increasingly prevalent data disclosure practice of firms engaging in a network with other firms to exchange consumer data, which we denote as Business Network Data Exchange (BNDE), influences consumers' privacy-related decision-making. In particular, this essay shows that consumers are less likely to disclose personal data in BNDE (vs. traditional dyadic) data exchange settings and that immediate affective reactions are crucial in explaining consumers' privacy-related decision-making. Within this dissertation, I make substantial contributions at a more general level to literature on customization and personalization by comparing innovative business models to established ones. At the individual essay level, I extend existing research in the domains of product feature modifications, norm violations, and privacy-related decision making. Moreover, this dissertation provides actionable implications for managers who are facing the decision to transform their established business model into an innovative technology-driven one.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Knott2022, author = {Knott, Manuel}, title = {Blockchain: Disrupting the Creative Industries - Enablers, Barriers and Utilization through Persuasive System Design}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-11149}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XI, 130 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Blockchain technology enables the automated recording of information and execution of contract content - utilizing so-called Smart Contracts - without relying on trusted intermediaries (Beck et al., 2016). A blockchain is best described as a decentralized digital ledger (Atzori, 2015). The decentralized data storage on the blockchain makes the recorded information tamper-proof and creates transparency along the value chain. Therefore blockchain changes fundamentally the way data and information are processed (Al-Jaroodi \& Mohamed, 2019; Avital et al., 2016). This has given rise to numerous use cases for blockchain in a wide range of industries. Fundamentally, blockchain technology can be used at any time when information needs to be stored in an automated and tamper-proof manner (Crosby et al., 2016). In the financial industry, blockchain helps to automate peer-to-peer transactions. This makes middlemen obsolete, which can reduce transaction costs (Cai, 2018). In the public health sector, blockchain is primarily used for decentralized storage of patient records. By using blockchain technology, these patient records are secured against manipulation and unauthorized access by third parties (Mettler, 2016). Another interesting use case can be seen in the electricity market. Blockchain technology makes it possible to integrate micro producers of electricity, such as private households, into the power grid in a cost-efficient way (Cheng et al., 2017). However, blockchain technology also offers several applications in the creative industries to support the daily work of professionals. The term creative industries encompasses industries and sectors which hold intellectual property at the core of their value creation (Caves, 2000). According to DCMS (1998),creative industries include not only classic art sectors such as fine art, painting or crafting, but also areas such as marketing, game developing, film and video or music. As the main drivers of innovation, the creative industries have a steadily increasing influence on the overall economic impact. Often, ideas, products and services from the creative industries ultimately flow into other areas, such as the automotive sector, and support them in achieving their entrepreneurial goals (Banks, 2010; Jones et al., 2004). In order to continuously maintain the position as an innovation driver, a certain form of organization has prevailed in the creative industries. For the creative industries to react flexibly to new requirements and a constantly changing environment, work is usually carried out as project-based (DeFillippi, 2015). For this purpose, the teams of the project-based organization are predominantly formed using freelancers who are specialists in the required field. As a result, many recurring organizational activities arise, such as contracting, team finding or onboarding (DeFillippi, 2015; Eikhof \& Haunschild, 2006). Therefore, professionals from the creative industries have to spend significant time on activities that do not serve their core task of creating intellectual property. These tasks not only reduce the efficiency of their work, but also hinder their creative flow (Foord, 2009; Hennekam \& Bennett, 2016). In this regard, blockchain represents a promising technology to support professionals in the creative industries. For the creative industries, blockchain is primarily used to automate formal processes and secure intellectual property rights (O'Dair, 2018). Blockchain technology enables artists and creatives more freedom for their own creative activities. By automating repetitive activities, professionals from the creative industries are freed from typical management tasks (Arcos, 2018; Cong \& He, 2019). Furthermore, for the first time, intellectual property can be secured in a cost- and time-efficient way by utilizing blockchain technology. This is made possible by the decentralized nature of the blockchain, which makes subsequent manipulation of the contents of the intellectual property impossible (Avital et al., 2016; Beck et al., 2016; Regner et al., 2019). Ultimately, the use of so-called Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) create the opportunity for artists and creatives to sell unique digital art (Regner et al., 2019). Thus, blockchain generates entirely new ways for creative industries to organize their projects and opens new markets to sell their work. While several use cases of blockchain technology can be identified in the creative industries, the widespread use of blockchain is still lacking. So far, no Blockchain service or blockchain application has managed to take a dominant market position in the creative industries. At first sight, this seems surprising since artists and creatives could fundamentally benefit from this technology. At the same time, professionals from the creative industries would not be dependent on middlemen or central entities. This circumstance gave the impulse for the research presented in this thesis. I was able to identify that professionals from the creative industries are still underutilizing blockchain technology for three main reasons: (1) When using blockchain technology, professionals from the creative industries experience strong resistance from their stakeholders, who want to prevent the use of blockchain. (2) The perceived constraints by artists and creatives in using blockchain still deter many from using this technology extensively. (3) Several blockchain applications lack a persuasive design, resulting in many artists and creatives continue to prefer conventional services and products.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Murawski2022, author = {Murawski, Lena}, title = {Essays on current topics in employee entrepreneurial behaviors and attitudes}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-10740}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {VIII, 120 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {A firm's entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is its propensity to act proactively, innovate, take risks, and engage in competitive and autonomous behaviors. Prior research shows that EO is an im-portant factor for new ventures to overcome barriers to survival and fostering growth, measured by annual sales and employment growth rates. In particular, individual-level EO (IEO) is an important driver of a firm's EO. The firm's ability to exploit opportunities appearing in the mar-ket and to achieve superior performance depends on the employees' skills and experiences to act and think entrepreneurially. The main objective of this dissertation is to investigate how and when employees engage in entrepreneurial behaviors at work. Building on three essays, this dissertation takes an interdisciplinary approach to employee entrepreneurial behaviors in new ventures, encompassing both entrepreneurship and gamification research. The first main contri-bution proposed in this field is a more nuanced understanding of how employee entrepreneurial behaviors help young firms cope with growth-related, organization-transforming challenges (i.e., changes in organizational culture that accompany growth, the introduction of hierarchical structures, and the formalization of processes). When new ventures grow, employees' IEO tends to manifest in introducing technological innovations and business improvements rather than in actions related to risk-taking. Second, this dissertation reveals the relevance of self-efficacy for entrepreneurial behaviors and explores how gamification can enhance employee entrepreneurial behaviors in new ventures. Based on these findings, this dissertation contributes to EO research by highlighting the role of IEO as a building block for EO pervasiveness. This research further develops our knowledge on the use of gamification in new ventures. This cu-mulative dissertation is structured as follows. Part A is an introduction to the study of entrepre-neurial behaviors. Part B contains the three essays. }, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Stuedlein2022, author = {St{\"u}dlein, Nadine}, title = {Data as a Common Good: Essays on Data Portability and B2B Industrial Data Sharing}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-11205}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {iii, 96 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Data is an important resource in our economy and society, substantially improving overall business efficiency, innovativeness and competitiveness, and shaping our everyday lives. Yet, to leverage the data's full potential, its access and availability is vital. Thus, data sharing across organizations is of particular importance. This thesis examines the role of data sharing in the digital economy and contributes to a better understanding why data sharing matters, why it is still underutilized, and how data sharing can be encouraged. Thereby, the thesis contributes to the ongoing academic debate as well as the practical and political efforts on how to promote data sharing. The thesis is comprised of three studies. Study 1 examines personal data sharing among (competing) online services. Particularly, it investigates the consequences of Article 20 in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, May 2018), ensuring the right to data portability. This relatively new right allows online service users to transfer any personal data from one service provider to another. Focusing on a) the amount of data provided by users and b) the amount of user data disclosed to third party data brokers by service providers, the study investigates the right to data portability's effect on competitiveness and consumer surplus. Study 2 and Study 3 focus on non-personal data sharing among competing firms. Study 2 examines the literature to identify and classify barriers to non-personal, machine-generated data sharing. The study explains firms' reluctance to sharing data and discusses policy and managerial implications for overcoming the data sharing barriers. Study 3 focuses on data sharing via platforms. It investigates the Business-to-Business (B2B) data sharing platform design implications for promoting industrial data sharing. In particular, Study 3 investigates the dimensions control and transparency regarding their effect in eliciting cooperation and encouraging data sharing among firms. In summary, this thesis examines and reveals how access and availability of data can be increased through creating beneficial data sharing conditions in B2B relationships. Particularly, the thesis contributes to the understanding of a) the implications of data sharing laws, defined in the GDPR for personal data and b) the challenges and measures of the not yet successfully established, non-personal data sharing.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Holeczek2021, author = {Holeczek, Nikolai}, title = {The hazardous materials vehicle routing problem}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-8927}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {vii, 115, xlix Seiten}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Hazardous materials (hazmat) have become important goods for satisfying the industrial and customer demand in our modern society. The transportation of these materials is always associated with safety, security and environmental concerns due to the dangerous nature of the cargo. To improve the safety of the transportation process hazmat transportation problems have become a popular research topic in the field of operations research. This thesis contributes to the ongoing research on the hazmat transportation problem. It provides an extensive overview of the existing literature on the hazardous materials transportation problem and offers a new classification extending the existing ones. With particular focus on the hazardous materials vehicle routing problem (HMVRP), this thesis compares different risk models and analyses their influence on the problem outcomes. Additionally, heuristic and meta-heuristic solution procedures are proposed for handling the NP-hard nature of the problem. For this purpose, four different studies are conducted. Study 1 presents a state of the art literature review including over 300 contributions to the hazmat transportation problem. The historical development of the research field is analyzed and the most important journals are identified. A detailed classification focusing on hazmat transportation on public roads is provided. Furthermore, the study identifies research gaps and presents new research opportunities. Study 2 and 3 investigate the effects of path generation in a realistic urban network on the outcomes of the HMVRP. Additionally, different risk models for the HMVRP are compared and their influence on the problem solutions is analyzed. Study 2 proposes a simple but effective heuristic algorithm to solve the HMVRP with load-independent risk models. Study 3 extends the focus and includes load-dependent risk models. The influence of six different risk models on the solution outcomes of the HMVRP is compared and the tradeoff between risk minimization and the minimization of traveled distance is investigated. For this purpose, more than 1,700 problem instances are solved to optimality using CPLEX. In study 4 a hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA) for solving the HMVRP with a load-depending risk model is proposed. The HGA aims to find pareto-optimal solutions for the bi-objective HMVRP when risk and travel distance are addressed simultaneously. The structure of the HGA is explained and experimental findings are presented. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to an improved understanding of the general development in the research field of hazmat logistics and the influence of different risk models on the solution outcomes of the HMVRP. Additionally, heuristic solution methods are proposed and tested for finding compromise solutions when the bi-objective case of risk and distance minimization is addressed. Furthermore, this thesis helps new researchers the access to the field of hazmat logistics as it provides a structured overview of the research field while pointing out research gaps. To address some of the identified research gaps, the thesis provides an extensive analysis of the risk modelling approaches. Thereby, it provides new insights to the basic research on risk modelling for the HMVRP. Finally, to overcome the long computation times of large problem instances heuristic solution approaches are proposed.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kocer2021, author = {Ko{\c{c}}er, Volkan}, title = {Three Essays on Global and Local Brands}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-10722}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XIII, 157 Seiten}, year = {2021}, abstract = {In three essays, this dissertation examines the past, present and future of branding in an international context, contributing to the research area of global/local brands, while also offering managers valuable insights for their branding strategies. The first essay provides scholars and practitioners a detailed state of the art of global/local brand research and proposes promising angles for future research, especially considering major challenges for our societies. The second essay incorporates the segment of cosmopolitan consumers into perceived brand globalness/localness research. Theoretically grounded in the concepts of social identity theory and complexity, the essay builds on perceived brand globalness/localness to analyze how cosmopolitans arrange both their global and local orientations. Aside offering scholars a new theoretical lens regarding consumer cosmopolitanism, managers can benefit from the gained insights, if cosmopolitans are a particular target group in their business strategy. The third and final essay meta-analytically investigates how the variables perceived brand globalness and localness materialize on various key outcome variables. At heart of this essay is a comparison of both perceived brand globalness and localness, offering scholars and practitioners valuable empirical insights on similarities and differences between their effects on outcomes such as brand quality.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Steudner2021, author = {Steudner, Tobias}, title = {Understanding Consumers' Digital Data Disclosure Decision-Making: A Focus on Data Sharing Cooperations, Perceived Risks and Low-Cognitive-Effort Processing}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-10583}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {vii, 155 Seiten}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Due to the advances of digitalization, firms are able to collect more and more personal consumer data and strive to do so. Moreover, many firms nowadays have a data sharing cooperation with other firms, so consumer data is shared with third parties. Accordingly, consumers are confronted regularly with the decision whether to disclose personal data to such a data sharing cooperation (DSC). Despite privacy research has become highly important, peculiarities of such disclosure settings with a DSC between firms have been neglected until now. To address this gap is the first research objective in this thesis. Another underexplored aspect in privacy research is the impact of low-cognitive-effort decision-making. This is because the privacy calculus, the most dominant theory in privacy research, assumes for consumers a purely cognitive effortful and deliberative disclosure decision-making process. Therefore, to expand this perspective and examine the impact of low-cognitive-effort decision-making is the second research objective in this thesis. Additionally, with the third research objective, this thesis strives to unify and increase the understanding of perceived privacy risks and privacy concerns which are the two major antecedents that reduce consumers' disclosure willingness. To this end, five studies are conducted: i) essay 1 examines and compares consumers' privacy risk perception in a DSC disclosure setting with disclosure settings that include no DSC, ii) essay 2 examines whether in a DSC disclosure setting consumers rely more strongly on low-cognitive-effort processing for their disclosure decision, iii) essay 3 explores different consumer groups that vary in their perception of how a DSC affects their privacy risks, iv) essay 4 refines the understanding of privacy concerns and privacy risks and examines via meta-analysis the varying effect sizes of privacy concerns and privacy risks on privacy behavior depending on the applied measurement approach, v) essay 5 examines via autobiographical recall the effects of consumers' feelings and arousal on disclosure willingness. Overall, this thesis shines light on consumers' personal data disclosure decision-making: essay 1 shows that the perceived risk associated with a disclosure in a DSC setting is not necessarily higher than to an identical firm without DSC. Also, essay 3 indicates that only for the smallest share of consumers a DSC has a negative impact on their disclosure willingness and that one third of consumers do not intensively think about consequences for their privacy risks arising through a DSC. Additionally, essay 2 shows that a stronger reliance on low-cognitive-effort processing is prevalent in DSC disclosure settings. Moreover, essay 5 displays that even unrelated feelings of consumers can impact their disclosure willingness, but the effect direction also depends on consumers' arousal level. This thesis contributes in three ways to theory: i) it shines light on peculiarities of DSC disclosure settings, ii) it suggests mechanisms and results of low-effort processing, and iii) it enhances the understanding of perceived privacy risks and privacy concerns as well as their resulting effect sizes. Besides theoretical contributions, this thesis offers practical implications as well: it allows firms to adjust the disclosure setting and the communication with their consumers in a way that makes them more successful in data collection. It also shows that firms do not need to be too anxious about a reduced disclosure willingness due to being part of a DSC. However, it also helps consumers themselves by showing in which circumstances they are most vulnerable to disclose personal data. That consumers become conscious of situations in which they are especially vulnerable to disclose data could serve as a countermeasure: this could prevent that consumers disclose too much data and regret it afterwards. Similarly, this thesis serves as a thought-provoking input for regulators as it emphasizes the importance of low-cognitive-effort processing for consumers' decision-making, thus regulators may be able to consider this in the future. In sum, this thesis expands knowledge on how consumers decide whether to disclose personal data, especially in DSC settings and regarding low-cognitive-effort processing. It offers a more unified understanding for antecedents of disclosure willingness as well as for consumers' disclosure decision-making processes. This thesis opens up new research avenues and serves as groundwork, in particular for more research on data disclosures in DSC settings.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Floerecke2019, author = {Floerecke, Sebastian}, title = {Cloud-Computing-{\"O}kosystem - Entwicklung eines {\"O}kosystemmodells und Identifikation von erfolgswirksamen Gesch{\"a}ftsmodellcharakteristika}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-7508}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {IX, 274 Seiten}, year = {2019}, abstract = {In der wissenschaftlichen Literatur existieren zahlreiche Versuche, das Cloud-Computing-{\"O}kosystem als rollenbasiertes Beschreibungsmodell abzubilden. Diese Modellvorschl{\"a}ge unterscheiden sich jedoch in Bezug auf ihre enthaltenen Konstrukte und Darstellungsform erheblich voneinander. Zudem wurden nur wenige dieser Modelle einer den wissenschaftlichen Standards gen{\"u}genden Evaluation unterzogen. Demzufolge existiert gegenw{\"a}rtig ein nur unzureichendes Wissen hinsichtlich der tats{\"a}chlichen Struktur und Zusammensetzung des Cloud-Computing-{\"O}kosystems. Vor diesem Hintergrund besteht das erste Ziel dieser kumulativen Dissertation in der Analyse und Synthese der bisherigen Modellvorschl{\"a}ge sowie der anschließenden auf einer quantitativen Querschnittanalyse basierenden Evaluation und Finalisierung des daraus resultierenden, integrierenden Cloud-Computing-{\"O}kosystemmodells im Hinblick auf Struktur{\"a}quivalenz und Vollst{\"a}ndigkeit. Dieses Modell schafft die bislang fehlende, aber dringend ben{\"o}tigte Transparenz und stellt zugleich ein feingranulares und differenzierendes Kategorienschema f{\"u}r Organisationen des Cloud-Computing-{\"O}kosystems dar, das zuk{\"u}nftige zielgerichtete Forschung erm{\"o}glicht. Das zweite Ziel dieser kumulativen Dissertation ist die Verwendung des Cloud-Computing-{\"O}kosystemmodells zur Identifikation von dominanten Rollenclustern, isolierten und nicht-isolierten Rollen auf Basis eines erstellten umfangreichen Datensatzes bestehend aus 758 Unternehmen. Daneben wird das Modell zur feingranularen und zielgerichteten Ermittlung der erfolgswirksamen Gesch{\"a}ftsmodellcharakteristika der drei Kernrollen des Cloud-Computing-{\"O}kosystems - IaaS-, PaaS- und SaaS-Anbieter - eingesetzt. Dazu werden zwei explorative multiple Fallstudien mit 21 beziehungsweise 19 erfolgreichen Unternehmen durchgef{\"u}hrt. Bei der Analyse der Gesch{\"a}ftsmodelle wird besonderes Augenmerk auf die Forschungsl{\"u}cke des Kampfs um Marktanteile zwischen den global agierenden Hyperscalern und der Vielzahl an regionalen Anbietern im IaaS-Segment gerichtet.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Lenz2022, author = {Lenz, Luciane}, title = {The diffusion of modern energy technologies in low-income settings - evidence from rural sub-Saharan Africa}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-10550}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {x, 192 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {This collection of three chapters responds to today's energy challenges. It explores innovative policy aimed to equip the energy poor with access to improved cooking energy and electricity, looking both at the demand and supply side of modern energy technologies. Concretely, it discusses mechanisms to increase uptake of off-grid solar electricity in rural Rwanda based on experimental demand measurements (Chapter 1), it studies how to diffuse improved cooking technologies in rural Senegal via supply-side mechanisms (Chapter 2), and it identifies the need to target cooking technologies in consideration of the broader household context in rural Senegal and beyond (Chapter 3).}, subject = {Subsaharisches Afrika}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Beierl2021, author = {Beierl, Stefan}, title = {Public Works Programmes: Review of their effectiveness and empirical essays on their contribution to climate resilience and social cohesion}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-10491}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {vii, 154 Seiten}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Poverty, underemployment, lack of infrastructure, low agricultural productivity, degradation of natural resources, climate change, and eroding social cohesion are among the biggest challenges that many low and lower-middle income countries are facing. Objectives linked to addressing these pressing challenges have been ascribed to public works programmes (PWPs). These are social protection instruments which offer remuneration (in cash or kind) for vulnerable people in exchange for temporary work on labour-intensive low-skill activities with social benefits. PWPs are being implemented in around two out of three developing countries. Given the substantial amounts spent on PWPs, it is critical to know to what extent the expectations towards them are backed by evidence. This dissertation sheds light on this overarching question with three self-contained essays. The first essay synthesises the evidence from PWPs in Sub-Saharan Africa, guided by three questions: First, what can we infer from the available impact evaluations regarding the effectiveness of PWPs as a social protection instrument? Second, what do we know about the role of the wage vector, asset vector, and skills vector in this respect? Third, what can we infer about the role of design features in explaining differences in outcomes? The other two essays use empirical evidence from Malawi to address more specific questions regarding the potential of PWPs to strengthen climate resilience and the relationship between PWPs and social cohesion. What sets the evidence synthesis in my first essay apart from existing reviews of PWPs is that it accounts for their heterogeneity by systematically differentiating results by PWP type and outcome area (income, consumption and expenditures, labour supply, food security, nutrition, asset holdings, agricultural production and techniques, and education). Programmes that offer short-term ad-hoc employment (Type 1) are distinguished from programmes that offer more predictable employment over longer periods (Type 2). For the review of impacts, this paper relies solely on (quasi-)experimental studies, but for the analysis of the role of design factors also on other literature. In line with existing reviews, my results suggest that Type 1 programmes can effectively enable consumption smoothing in the wake of acute crises, whereas in contexts of chronic poverty, Type 2 programmes perform, on balance, better. Offering complementary access to extension services in Type 2 programmes can boost impacts further. However, in all cases, evidence is too scant and mixed to safely conclude whether the higher benefits of costlier PWP types justify the cost premium. The second essay investigates the potential of PWPs to strengthen climate resilience. Among the main social protection instruments, the biggest potential to strengthen climate resilience is often ascribed to PWPs if they create climate-smart community assets and transfer knowledge of climate-smart practices. Yet, there is a lack of evidence whether design changes to this end can indeed enhance the contribution of an existing PWP to climate resilience. I use a difference-in-differences approach based on two-period panel data to analyse how a modified PWP model performs compared to the standard model of Malawi's largest PWP after 24 months. The key modification is to embed public works in a communal watershed management plan with a strong emphasis on collective action and capacity building. I find that the modified approach considerably increased communal watershed management activities through voluntary labour contributions on top of the paid public works labour. While this increase was mainly driven by PWP participants, non-participants also made substantial contributions. I also find a small increase in the adoption of soil and water conservation practices on respondents' private land, especially by non-PWP participants. These findings imply that such modest changes can make PWPs climate-smarter. In particular, they can broaden the engagement in and adoption of climate-smart activities beyond the group of PWP participants. The co-authored third essay investigates the relationship between Malawi's MASAF PWP and social cohesion, specifically within-community cooperation for the common good. Like the existing studies, we face the challenge that neither the assignment of the programme to communities nor the selection of individual participants is randomised. We try to mitigate the endogeneity concerns by triangulating fixed effects panel analyses for a set of outcomes and sectors using two datasets with different units of analysis (households and communities). We find that public works are positively associated with coordination activities and voluntary (unpaid) contributions to public goods, along both vertical ties (between community members and local leaders) and horizontal ties (among community members). Especially for school-building activities, voluntary inputs in the form of labour and other in-kind contributions are higher in the presence of the public works programme. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the link between social protection programmes with community-driven features and social cohesion. Overall, the findings of the three essays in this dissertation contribute to the knowledge base regarding effectiveness and potential of PWPs across a broad range of outcome areas. Specifically, they offer new insights how to harness the potential of PWP to strengthen climate resilience and into the seemingly positive relationship between PWPs and social cohesion. The findings can help researchers and policy makers who are interested specifically in PWPs or in any of the many objectives that can be pursued through PWPs.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Luck2021, author = {Luck, Nathalie}, title = {Transformation towards a more sustainable agricultural system in Indonesia: Empirical essays on the role of information and endorsement}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-10037}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {x, 152 Seiten}, year = {2021}, abstract = {In many cases, transitioning towards sustainable agricultural production requires farmers to change their practices. These changes can include the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, water-saving, or the disadoption of excessive chemical input use or land burning. Policy makers interested in making agricultural production more sustainable need to understand what encourages the uptake of sustainable practices and what is effective in reducing unsustainable practices. This thesis seeks to understand whether and how information provision and endorsement can contribute to the transition towards more sustainable agricultural systems. The thesis consists of three self-contained papers. The first paper explores the potential of religious endorsement for inducing pro-environmental behaviour and encouraging the disadoption of fire as an agricultural practice, thereby preventing forest fires. The paper analyses the impact of a fatwa (an Islamic religious ruling) on reducing fire incidence in Indonesia. Results indicate that fire incidence decreased in Muslim majority villages following the issuing of the fatwa. For the post-fatwa period from August 2016 to December 2019, the average monthly effect amounts to around 2.2 prevented fire events per village. This is a considerable effect. The paper concludes that fire prevention efforts, and potentially other environmental conservation efforts, could benefit significantly from support by religious institutions and stakeholders. The second paper investigates the role of information provision and training for the adoption of organic farming practices in Java, Indonesia. We use a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to identify the impact of a three-day hands-on training in organic farming for smallholder farmers. We find that the training intervention increased the adoption of organic inputs and had a positive and statistically significant effect on farmers' knowledge and perceptions of organic farming. Overall, our findings suggest that information constraints are a barrier to the adoption of organic farming, as information provision increased the use of organic farming practices. The third paper investigates whether urban and suburban Indonesian consumers are willing to pay a price premium for organic food. We use an incentive-compatible auction based on the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) approach to elicit consumers' WTP. We further study the effect of income and a randomised information treatment about the benefits of organic food on respondents' WTP. Estimates suggest that consumers are willing to pay a price premium for organic rice, on average 20 percent more than what they paid for conventional rice outside of our experiment. However, our results also indicate that raising consumers' WTP further is complex. Showing participants a video about the health or, alternatively, environmental benefits of organic food was not effective in further raising WTP. Exposure to the environmental benefits video was, however, effective in raising stated organic food consumption intentions.}, subject = {Landwirtschaft}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Behm2022, author = {Behm, Svenia}, title = {Four essays on statistical modelling of environmental data}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-10539}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XIII, 137 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {This dissertation deals with geostatistical, time series, and regression analytical approaches for modelling spatio-temporal processes, using air quality data in the applications. The work is structured into four essays the abstracts of which are given in the following. The first essay is titled 'Spatial detrending revisited: Modelling local trend patterns in NO2-concentration in Belgium and Germany'. It is written in co-authorship by Prof. Dr. Harry Haupt and Dr. Angelika Schmid and published in 2018 in Spatial Statistics 28, pp. 331-351 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spasta.2018.04.004). Abstract Short-term predictions of air pollution require spatial modelling of trends, heterogeneities, and dependencies. Two-step methods allow real-time computations by separating spatial detrending and spatial extrapolation into two steps. Existing methods discuss trend models for specific environments and require specification search. Given more complex environments, specification search gets complicated by potential nonlinearities and heterogeneities. This research embeds a nonparametric trend modelling approach in real-time two-step methods. Form and complexity of trends are allowed to vary across heterogeneous environments. The proposed method avoids ad hoc specifications and potential generated predictor problems in previous contributions. Examining Belgian and German air quality and land use data, local trend patterns are investigated in a data driven way and are compared to results computed with existing methods and variations thereof. An important aspect of our empirical illustration is the heterogeneity and superior performance of local trend patterns for both research regions. The findings suggest that a nonparametric spatial trend modelling approach is a valuable tool for real-time predictions of pollution variables: it avoids specification search, provides useful exploratory insights and reduces computational costs. The second essay is titled 'Predictability of hourly nitrogen dioxide concentration'. It is written in co-authorship with Prof. Dr. Harry Haupt and published in 2020 in Ecological Modelling 428, 109076 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2020.109076). Abstract Temporal aggregation of air quality time series is typically used to investigate stylized facts of the underlying series such as multiple seasonal cycles. While aggregation reduces complexity, commonly used aggregates can suffer from non-representativeness or non-robustness. For example, definitions of specific events such as extremes are subjective and may be prone to data contaminations. The aim of this paper is to assess the predictability of hourly nitrogen dioxide concentrations and to explore how predictability depends on (i) level of temporal aggregation, (ii) hour of day, and (iii) concentration level. Exploratory tools are applied to identify structural patterns, problems related to commonly used aggregate statistics and suitable statistical modeling philosophies, capable of handling multiple seasonalities and non-stationarities. Hourly times series and subseries of daily measurements for each hour of day are used to investigate the predictability of pollutant levels for each hour of day, with prediction horizons ranging from one hour to one week ahead. Predictability is assessed by time series cross validation of a loss function based on out-of-sample prediction errors. Empirical evidence on hourly nitrogen dioxide measurements suggests that predictability strongly depends on conditions (i)-(iii) for all statistical models: for specific hours of day, models based on daily series outperform models based on hourly series, while in general predictability deteriorates with exposure level. The third essay is titled 'Agglomeration and infrastructure effects in land use regression models for air pollution - Specification, estimation, and interpretations'. It is written in co-authorship with Dr. Markus Fritsch and published in 2021 in Atmospheric Environment 253, 118337 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2021.118337). Abstract Established land use regression (LUR) techniques such as linear regression utilize extensive selection of predictors and functional form to fit a model for every data set on a given pollutant. In this paper, an alternative to established LUR modeling is employed, which uses additive regression smoothers. Predictors and functional form are selected in a data-driven way and ambiguities resulting from specification search are mitigated. The approach is illustrated with nitrogen dioxide (NO2) data from German monitoring sites using the spatial predictors longitude, latitude, altitude and structural predictors; the latter include population density, land use classes, and road traffic intensity measures. The statistical performance of LUR modeling via additive regression smoothers is contrasted with LUR modeling based on parametric polynomials. Model evaluation is based on goodness of fit, predictive performance, and a diagnostic test for remaining spatial autocorrelation in the error terms. Additionally, interpretation and counterfactual analysis for LUR modeling based on additive regression smoothers are discussed. Our results have three main implications for modeling air pollutant concentration levels: First, modeling via additive regression smoothers is supported by a specification test and exhibits superior in- and out-of-sample performance compared to modeling based on parametric polynomials. Second, different levels of prediction errors indicate that NO2 concentration levels observed at background and traffic/industrial monitoring sites stem from different processes. Third, accounting for agglomeration and infrastructure effects is important: NO2 concentration levels tend to increase around major cities, surrounding agglomeration areas, and their connecting road traffic network. The fourth essay is titled 'Outlier detection and visualisation in multi-seasonal time series and its application to hourly nitrogen dioxide concentration'. It is written in single authorship and has not been published yet. Abstract Outlier detection in data on air pollutant recordings is conducted to uncover data points that refer to either invalid measurements or valid but unusually high concentration levels. As air pollutant data is typically characterised by multiple seasonalities, the task of outlier detection is associated with the question of how to deal with such non-stationarities. The present work proposes a method that combines time series segmentation, seasonal adjustment, and standardisation of random variables. While the former two are employed to obtain subseries of homoskedastic data, the latter ensures comparability across the subseries. Further, the standardised version of the seasonally adjusted subseries represents a scaled measure for the outlyingness of each data point in the original time series from its mean and therefore forms a suitable basis for outlier detection. In an empirical application to data on hourly NO2 concentration levels recorded at a traffic monitoring site in Cologne, Germany, over the years 2016 to 2019, the common boxplot criterion is used to examine each standardised seasonally adjusted subseries for positive outliers. The results of the analyses are put into their natural temporal order and displayed in a heatmap layout that provides information on when single and sequential outliers occur.}, subject = {Statistik}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Zierke2021, author = {Zierke, Oliver}, title = {Innovation and Competition in the Digital Economy: Implications for Internet Platforms, Telecommunications Networks and Data Sharing Initiatives}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-10006}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {iii, 104 Seiten}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Governments around the world currently focus on shaping the digital economy. Particular attention is paid to Internet platforms, Internet infrastructure and data as essential components of the digital economy. The three studies in this thesis contribute to the understanding of the behavior of firms in each of these domains and derive insights for future regulations and business projects. The first study deals with the ranking of content on Internet platforms and how it affects the incentives of content providers to invest in content quality. The focus of the study is on sponsored ranking and organic ranking, but the case that a vertically integrated content provider is favored by an Internet platform is also taken into account. Using a game theoretic model, it is shown that there is no ranking design that strictly leads to more investment compared to the other designs. It is also shown that the Internet platform usually chooses the type of ranking that, from the perspective of the Internet platform and consumers, yields the best expected overall content quality. The second study deals with the incentive of Internet service providers to throttle specific Internet content. The key finding is that Internet service providers use this instrument to utilize the capacity of their telecommunications network more efficiently. This leads not only to more benefits for Internet users, but also to a higher incentive to invest in network capacity due to better monetization. The third study examines the circumstances under which firms are willing to share data with other firms. By means of an economic laboratory experiment, it is shown that more data is shared if the firms have control over who exactly they share data with. Thus, for example, data pools that grant unrestricted data access to all participating firms can be expected to perform worse than data pools that give their participating firms control over with whom their uploaded data is shared. In addition, the third study finds that established relationships are characterized by more data sharing and less volatility in the amount of shared data than new relationships. The study concludes that data sharing projects should not be expected to work optimally right away. In summary, the studies in this thesis identify a number of costs that may arise when digital firms' choice is restricted by regulation or design. The ability of Internet service providers to throttle certain content and the ability of Internet platforms to choose the ranking design are usually used in the best interests of consumers. Data sharing also works best when firms are free to decide who gets their data.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Dzepina2022, author = {Dzepina, Aleksandra}, title = {Qualit{\"a}t von Prozessmodellen - Entwicklung eines Ordnungsrahmens zur Analyse, Klassifikation und Bestimmung der Qualit{\"a}tsanforderungen an Prozessmodelle}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-11864}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {IX, 259 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Die vorliegende Dissertation behandelt die Qualit{\"a}t von Prozessmodellen. Vor diesem Hintergrund haben Experteninterviews mit Forschungs- und Praxispartnern zur Entwicklung und Evaluierung eines Ordnungsrahmens zur Qualit{\"a}tsbestimmung von Prozessmodellen beigetragen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass unter anderem die Einsatzzwecke der Prozessmodelle sowie die mit den Prozessmodellen in Ber{\"u}hrung kommenden Personengruppen differenziert betrachtet werden m{\"u}ssen, um Auswirkungen auf die Prozessmodellqualit{\"a}t untersuchen zu k{\"o}nnen.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Mini2022, author = {Mini, Tobias}, title = {An Exploration of Tensions in Centralized and Decentralized Digital Platform Contexts}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-11322}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {vi, 154 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Digital platforms consist of technical elements such as software and hardware and associated social elements such as organizational processes and standards. When such social or technical elements seem logical individually but inconsistent when juxtaposed they form tensions. Prior research on platforms often focused on individual elements of digital platforms but neglected possible related and conflicting elements which offers limited insight about underlying tensions. While some studies on platforms considered tensions, they largely assumed that centralized platform owners being responsible for responding to tensions, neglecting collective response mechanisms in blockchain-based decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) where decentralized participants typically respond to tensions. The examination of tensions in the context of centralized platforms and decentralized autonomous organizations offers an opportunity to surface conflicting elements that form novel types of socio-technical tensions which require collective and technology-enabled response mechanisms. This thesis explored what tensions exist in centralized and decentralized digital platform contexts and how platform participants can respond to selected tensions. For this purpose, this thesis comprises five essays that employ multiple different research methods including interviews analyzed by using techniques of grounded theory, qualitative meta-analysis of published case studies, and systematic literature reviews. The findings derived from all five essays contribute to a better understanding of tensions in digital platforms. In particular, this thesis (1) offers a lens for analyzing platforms as collective organizations in which tensions arise at the collective meta-organizational level requiring collective responses, (2) identifies new tensions and response mechanisms related to generativity and collectivity, and (3) points to a novel category of socio-technical tensions that are especially salient in digital platforms.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Resch2022, author = {Resch, Ren{\´e} Matthias}, title = {Three Essays on Brand Management in the Business-to-Business Context: Brand Identity, Brand Culture, and Brand Essence}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-11589}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XVI, 187 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {This dissertation examines the overarching research question of how the suppliers' brand management in the form of brand identity, brand culture, and brand essence influences buyer-seller relationships in three independent essays. In Essay 1, I address the structure, capabilities, and outcomes of brand identity from a supplier perspective. Through qualitative interviews with suppliers, I examine how widespread the concept of brand identity is in practice and what exactly practitioners understand by it. Going further, I look at what capabilities and conditions are necessary for brand identity to be successful and what outcomes suppliers hope to achieve. Using an Information-Display-Matrix (IDM) test and a sample of Master of Business Administration (MBA) students, I examine the relevance of brand functions in more detail. In Essay 2, I use a dyadic dataset with matched buyer-seller dyads to examine the causes and effects of perceptual congruence and incongruence of brand culture strength on the buyer-seller relationship, while considering relationship-specific investments and interaction mechanisms as moderating effects. I show that congruence and incongruence have different effects on customer loyalty and price sensitivity and that these are strongly context-dependent. In Essay 3, I deal with brand essence strength interactions and their effects on the buyer-seller relationship. I use a dyadic dataset with matched buyer-seller dyads to show how brand essence strength influences customer loyalty and customer profitability, and how it interacts with key customer attitudes and other important buyer-seller relationship closeness indicators. This dissertation makes a significant contribution to the literature on brand identity, brand culture, and brand essence in buyer-seller relationships. Furthermore, my dissertation offers practical implications for managers at B2B suppliers who (re)shape their brand management with a focus on the inner parts of the brand.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schubach2019, author = {Schubach, Sebastian}, title = {Caught between two stools? Four essays on value creation and value extraction on free digital platforms}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-6451}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XII, 192 Seiten}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Free digital platforms constitute one of the most important phenomena of modern times; they create value by bringing together customer groups that would not have interacted without digital technology or that could have done so only by incurring increased costs. In the free digital platform model, firms pay for the interaction with end consumers that use the digital platform for free. Extant research on two-sided markets has provided rich evidence for how digital platforms can attract enough members from both customer groups to enable the interaction between the customer groups. However, this research lacks insights into how free digital platforms can create value for their customer groups once these customer groups joined the platform, and extract this value for themselves. To address this substantial research gap, in this dissertation, I investigate the overall research question of how activities of free digital platforms affect the value creation for their customer groups and the ability of the platform to extract this value. In a first step, I examine this value creation and value extraction by focusing on concrete activities of free digital platforms. In Study 1, I investigate how offering firms the possibility of personalizing and positioning their search ads on search engines affects consumers' search engine click behavior. In Study 2, I examine how adapting ad positions to consumers' previous online shopping behavior on search engines influences consumers' click and conversion behavior. In Study 3, I investigate the impact of a review platform's policy of tagging reviews as written on either mobile or nonmobile devices on consumers' perceptions of review helpfulness. In a second step, in Study 4, I generalize these findings by investigating the overall impact of such customer-oriented activities on value creation for customer groups and on the extraction of this value by free digital platforms. These four studies yield three major findings. First, free digital platforms' activities toward one customer group always affect the value creation of the other customer group as well. Second, free digital platforms should emphasize value creation activities especially for non-paying customer groups. Third, internal, operative, and macro-environments influence the value creation and value extraction of free digital platforms. With this dissertation, I make substantial contributions to research on two-sided markets, customer orientation, search engine advertising, and online reviews. In addition, my dissertation provides numerous actionable recommendations for managers of free digital platforms and outlines promising avenues for further research.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Fisch2016, author = {Fisch, Tasja}, title = {Fremdfinanzierung, Unterkapitalisierung und internationale Konzernsteuerplanung}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-7656}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {xiii, 275 Seiten}, year = {2016}, abstract = {F{\"u}r grenz{\"u}berschreitend t{\"a}tige Unternehmen besteht durch das internationale Steuersatzgef{\"a}lle und die fehlende Finanzierungsneutralit{\"a}t ein Anreiz, durch konzerninterne Finanzierungsstrukturen Gewinne zu verlagern, um dadurch die Gesamtsteuerbelastung auf Konzernebene zu senken. W{\"a}hrend Unternehmen in Niedrigsteuerl{\"a}ndern vorrangig mit Eigenkapital ausgestattet werden, haben Hochsteuerl{\"a}nder mit der Problematik einer {\"u}berm{\"a}ßigen Fremdkapitalausstattung und der damit verbundenen Erosion des Steuersubstrats zu k{\"a}mpfen. Um solchen Gewinnverschiebungen entgegenzuwirken, greifen viele Staaten auf Regelungen zu einer Beschr{\"a}nkung von {\"u}berm{\"a}ßiger Fremdfinanzierung zur{\"u}ck. Insbesondere sollen mit diesen Regelungen Steuergestaltungen und Missbrauchsm{\"o}glichkeiten eingeschr{\"a}nkt und den damit verbundenen asymmetrischen Finanzierungsstrukturen entgegengewirkt werden. Vor diesem Hintergrund analysiert die vorliegende Arbeit den Einfluss von verschiedenen Zinsabzugsbeschr{\"a}nkungen auf konzerninterne Finanzierungsentscheidungen. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist, grundlegende Wirkungszusammenh{\"a}nge zwischen der Vergabe von Eigen- und Fremdkapital im grenz{\"u}berschreitenden Kontext aufzuzeigen, wobei verschiedene Ans{\"a}tze zur Beschr{\"a}nkung einer {\"u}berm{\"a}ßigen Fremdfinanzierung Ber{\"u}cksichtigung finden.}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Bongers2020, author = {Bongers, Franziska Maria}, title = {Three essays on digital and non-digital transformations in business-to-business markets}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-9149}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XVI, 231 Seiten}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Fundamental changes in business-to-business (B2B) buying behavior confront B2B supplier firms with unprecedented challenges. On the one hand, a rising share of industrial buyers demands digitalized offerings and processes from suppliers. Consequently, suppliers are urged to implement digital transformations by expanding the range of both digital offerings and processes. On the other hand, B2B buyers increasingly expect suppliers to provide individually tailored solutions to their idiosyncratic needs. Hence, suppliers are also required to implement non-digital transformations by providing offerings and processes that are customized to each customers' specific requirements. The rise of these digital and non-digital transformations calls established knowledge into question. Thus, B2B marketing research and practice are urged to create a comprehensive understanding of digital and non-digital transformations by means of novel and empirically grounded insights and derive actionable response strategies. In respond, my dissertation addresses the overall research question of how B2B supplier firms can successfully implement both digital and non-digital transformations in three individual essays. In Essay 1, I offer a broader perspective on both digital and non-digital transformations by investigating digital service customization (i.e., the tailoring of digital B2B services to customers' individual needs). Through a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis, I outline a comprehensive set of factors that favor the application of distinct digital service customization strategies. Essay 2 represents a deep dive into digital transformations of sales processes. By making use of two rich sets of qualitative interview material from supplier and buyer firms, I identify the challenges resulting for B2B salespeople from the introduction of digital sales channels into personal selling. Moreover, I uncover facilitating mechanisms that sales managers can employ to support salespeople in coping with digital sales channels. Finally, Essay 3 constitutes a deep dive into non-digital transformations. Based on qualitative interview material and survey data from matched sales manager-salesperson dyads, the essay explores how configurations of individual salespeople's personal and procedural competencies facilitate success at selling customer solutions (i.e., highly customized, performance-oriented offerings comprising products and/or services). The essay shows that successfully selling customized offerings like solutions hinges on salespeople's unique configurations of present and absent competencies. In a nutshell, these essays provide three major insights on how B2B suppliers can successfully implement digital and non-digital transformations. First, they underscore that a comprehensive understanding of the origins and spillover effects of transformations is a key prerequisite to successfully implementing them. Second, they unveil that digital and non-digital transformations impact on multiple organizational levels. Third, they point out important resources and capabilities that help suppliers to successfully implement transformations, be they digital or non-digital. With this dissertation, I make substantial contributions to the broader literature on digital and non-digital transformations in B2B contexts. At the same time, my dissertation provides hands-on implications for managers in B2B supplier firms that are facing fundamental transformations in the marketplace—both digital and non-digital in nature.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Calmels2020, author = {Calmels, Dorothea}, title = {Job Sequencing and Tool Switching Problems with a Generalisation to Non-Identical Parallel Machines}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-8436}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {v, 103, lxxiv Seiten}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Manufacturing tools have been dominating the manufacturing process since the 1960s. The job sequencing and tool switching problem is an NP-hard combinatorial optimization that has first been introduced in the context of flexible manufacturing systems in the late 1980s. Since then, production systems have undisputedly changed and improved but manufacturing tools still dominate manufacturing processes. Production and system operation processes are continuously adjusted and optimised to changing customer requirements. If the product variety requires an increasing number of tools for processing that exceeds the local tool magazine capacity of the manufacturing system, tool switches become necessary. Although tool changing times within a manufacturing centre or cell may nowadays be very small due to the high degree of automation, tool switching within a dynamic production environment is still a time consuming process that must be avoided. In order to minimize the total tool setup time to enhance productivity, the objectives of the basic job sequencing and tool switching problem are to sequence a set of jobs and simultaneously to determine the best tool loading. Therefore, job sequencing and tool switching problems are gaining considerable attention. Several solution approaches to the standard problem and related versions of the problem exist. The first part of this dissertation assesses the current state-of-the-art of the job sequencing and tool switching problem and provides a classification scheme for literature on the job sequencing and tool switching problem and its variations. Only few authors consider generalisations of the problem because the level of complexity of extended problems is high. A general approach of the job sequencing and tool switching problem with non-identical parallel machines and sequence-dependent setup times is described in this dissertation. A novel mathematical model based on time periods is presented and analysed which can be adapted to different objective functions. The last part of this dissertation is a quantitative evaluation of fast and effective construction heuristics as well as of an iterated local search algorithm tested on a new set of benchmark instances. As such this dissertation provides a broad basis for future evaluations of solution approaches to the job sequencing and tool switching problem with non-identical parallel machines and sequence-dependent setup times as well as a basis for further generalisations of the problem like for example tool availability constraints or tool-size dependent variations.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schmid2020, author = {Schmid, Angelika}, title = {Geographic and Social Space in Latent Factor Models - Four Essays}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-7947}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XLVI, 187 Seiten}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Geography, social context, time, and cultural mindset are four (out of many) cornerstones of human interaction. When building statistical models, their consideration is vital: They all cause dependency between individual observations, violating assumptions of independence and exchangeability. While this can be problematic and inhibit the unbiased inference of parameters, it can also be a fruitful source of insights and enhance prediction performance. One class of models that serves to manage or profit from the presence of dependence is the class of latent variable models. This class of models assumes that the presence of non-explicit, unobserved causes of continuous or discrete nature can explain the observed correlations. Latent variable models explicitly take account of dependency, for example, by modeling an unobserved local source of pollution as a continuous spatial variable. Through their widespread use for information fitering, link prediction, and statistical inference, latent variable models have developed an essential impact on our daily life and the way we consume information. The four articles in this thesis shed light on assumptions, usage, and potential drawbacks of latent variable models in various contexts that involve geographic and interaction data. We model unobserved sources of pollution in geophysical data, explore individual taste and mindsets in cross-cultural contexts, and predict the evolution of social relationships in software development projects. This combination of various perspectives contributes to the interdisciplinary exchange of methodological knowledge on the modeling of dependent data.}, language = {en} } @article{GrafLambsdorffGiamatteiWerneretal.2018, author = {Graf Lambsdorff, Johann and Giamattei, Marcus and Werner, Katharina and Schubert, Manuel}, title = {Team reasoning - Experimental evidence on cooperation from centipede games}, series = {PloS ONE}, volume = {13}, journal = {PloS ONE}, number = {11}, publisher = {PLOS}, address = {San Francisco}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0206666}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-5913}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Previous laboratory studies on the centipede game have found that subjects exhibit surprisingly high levels of cooperation. Across disciplines, it has recently been highlighted that these high levels of cooperation might be explained by "team reasoning", the willingness to think as a team rather than as an individual. We run an experiment with a standard centipede game as a baseline. In two treatments, we seek to induce team reasoning by making a joint goal salient. First, we implement a probabilistic variant of the centipede game that makes it easy to identify a joint goal. Second, we frame the game as a situation where a team of two soccer players attempts to score a goal. This frame increases the salience even more. Compared to the baseline, our treatments induce higher levels of cooperation. In a second experiment, we obtain similar evidence in a more natural environment-a beer garden during the 2014 FIFA Soccer World Cup. Our study contributes to understanding how a salient goal can support cooperation.}, subject = {Spieltheorie}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Bidler2019, author = {Bidler, Margarita}, title = {Consumers' Privacy-Related Decision-Making in the Digital Landscape}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-7996}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {XV, 169 Seiten}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Nowadays, consumers are often required to disclose private data in various contexts such as while surfing the internet, downloading a mobile application, or engaging in a business relationship with a firm. Privacy-related decision-making research has so far mainly investigated data disclosure as a cognitive risk-benefit trade-off analysis. While this cognitive approach might be appropriate for situations where consumers have the opportunity for cognitive evaluations, there are many situations in the modern landscape where consumers cannot or do not want to engage in cognitive processing. Decision-making under stress or data disclosure to a business network of collaborating firms, for example, constitute challenges to purely cognitive decision-making approaches, calling for an extension of the established paradigm of cognitive privacy-related decision making. This dissertation advocates for the crucial role of affective processing in many modern data disclosure situations, where consumers do not engage in purely cognitive processing due to external hindrances or a lack of personal involvement in the data disclosure situation.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Stoffer2019, author = {Stoffer, Torben}, title = {Service Provisions and Business Relationships in the Digital Era - Four Essays in the B2B Context}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-7558}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {v, 99 Seiten}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Digitalization has fundamentally changed how services are provided and how service providers and their customers interact with each other in the business-to-business (B2B) context. Against the backdrop of these developments, this thesis considers - in four essays - the changes brought about by both service and sales digitalization. Each essay investigates for one research topic the aspects of existing knowledge regarding non-digital services and/or sales which can be transferred to digital services and sales and which aspects must be adjusted. The aim is to support B2B firms that offer or receive services or plan to do so in the future which cope with the challenges of service and sales digitalization. In doing so, the first and second essay investigate the contingency effect of service digitalization on service characteristics from the provider and customer views, respectively. Both essays aim at explaining service value as an endogenous variable. In the first essay, service modularity and service flexibility are considered as predecessors that help explain service value. The second essay investigates the effect of customer cocreation on service value. Whereas the first and second essay focus on service characteristics, the third and fourth essay focus on business relationships. Both essays explain relational conflict, one important facet of business relationships, as the endogenous variable and consider the perspectives of both providers and customers. The third essay elaborates on the diverging effect of service digitalization on relational conflict from these two perspectives. The fourth essay incorporates both service and sales digitalization and investigates the contingency effects of the two forms of digitalization on the relationship between coercive power use and relational conflict. In conclusion, this thesis provides a more fine-grained view on the construct digitalization by differentiating explicitly between service digitalization and sales digitalization and introduces a new conceptualization of service (see all four essays) and sales digitalization (see the fourth essay) by treating digitalization as a continuum. Furthermore, this thesis investigates the opportunities and challenges brought about by digitalization. In particular, the first and second essays show the opportunities service digitalization creates for providers, who could benefit from service modularity, and customers, who could benefit from the integration of their own resources into service provisions. In addition, the third essay shows that for providers service digitalization has a positive and for customers contrarily a negative effect on relation conflict. The fourth essay shows that sales and service digitalization positively moderate the effect of coercive power use on relational conflict for weaker parties in business relationships (except for weaker providers) but not for stronger parties. In sum, this thesis contributes to a better understanding of the consequences of service and sales digitalization and provides recommendations for companies facing challenges and decisions related to this development.}, language = {en} } @article{HauptFritsch, author = {Haupt, Harry and Fritsch, Markus}, title = {Quantile Trend Regression and Its Application to Central England Temperature}, series = {Mathematics}, volume = {10}, journal = {Mathematics}, number = {3}, editor = {Rykov, Vladimir V.}, publisher = {MDPI}, issn = {2227-7390}, doi = {10.3390/math10030413}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-10382}, abstract = {The identification and estimation of trends in hydroclimatic time series remains an important task in applied climate research. The statistical challenge arises from the inherent nonlinearity, complex dependence structure, heterogeneity and resulting non-standard distributions of the underlying time series. Quantile regressions are considered an important modeling technique for such analyses because of their rich interpretation and their broad insensitivity to extreme distributions. This paper provides an asymptotic justification of quantile trend regression in terms of unknown heterogeneity and dependence structure and the corresponding interpretation. An empirical application sheds light on the relevance of quantile regression modeling for analyzing monthly Central England temperature anomalies and illustrates their various heterogenous trends. Our results suggest the presence of heterogeneities across the considered seasonal cycle and an increase in the relative frequency of observing unusually high temperatures.}, language = {en} } @article{Fritsch2021, author = {Fritsch, Markus}, title = {Data for modeling nitrogen dioxide concentration levels across Germany}, series = {Data in Brief}, journal = {Data in Brief}, doi = {10.1016/j.dib.2021.107324}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-10086}, pages = {9 Seiten}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The described secondary data provide a comprehensive basis for modeling conditional mean nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentration levels across Germany. Besides concentration levels, meta data on monitoring sites from the German air quality monitoring network, geocoordinates, altitudes, and data on land use and road lengths for different types of roads are provided. The data are based on a grid of resolution 1 × 1 km, which is also included. The underlying raw data are open access and were retrieved from different sources. The statistical software R was used for (pre-)processing the data and all codes are provided in an online repository. The data were employed for modeling mean annual NO2 concentration levels in the paper "Agglomeration and infrastructure effects in land use regression models for air pollution - Specification, estimation, and interpretations" by Fritsch and Behm (2021).}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Donner2024, author = {Donner, Eva Katharina}, title = {4 Essays on Sustainable Development and Organizations' Response to Stakeholder's Expectations}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-14516}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, pages = {181 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {As integral part of the society, environment, and economy, the organization's survival and growth depend on legitimacy which reflects the social support and acceptance of its stakeholders, the institutions and individuals it interacts with. Organizations interact with internal and external stakeholder groups which not necessarily have the same legitimacy expectations. Due to several reasons, such as the adoption of new laws or the invention of new technologies, stakeholders' expectations of legitimate actions can change in the course of time. Thus, to respond to changing stakeholder's expectations, as integral part of a changing environment, is complex. The main objective of this dissertation is to answer the research question: "How do organizations respond to changing stakeholder's expectations in context of sustainable development?". Building on two empirical settings with four essays, this dissertation provides insights into organizations' responses as reaction to changing stakeholder expectations with regard to sustainable development. In particular, it takes a closer look on the interplay between internal stakeholders, such as employees, and external stakeholders, such as politics or customers. The first essay summarizes the organizational factors for the implementation of a research data management (RDM) system within higher education institutes (HEI) and how they interact with each other. Based on Leavitt's (1965) classical model of organizational change, the essay provides an overview about the interrelation between the individual components that make up an RDM system. The second essay investigates how early career researchers within HEI make use of different respond strategies to the state, market, professional, and community logic in context of RDM. It provides insights how employees deal with changing environmental conditions and the organization's response to them. The third essay analyses the shift from voluntary to mandatory sustainability reporting and demonstrates different strategies organizations adopt to respond to it. The fourth essay incorporates the findings of the third essay and investigates which factors influence the organization's strategy to respond. It focuses on the interface between the top management team and the chief executive officer. This dissertation makes at least two overall contributions to management and organization studies research. First, it emphasizes the role of different stakeholder groups and their impact on the organizations' activities. Second, this dissertation shows the value of connecting different theoretical approaches such as institutional logics, upper echelon theory, and organizational transparency research in context of organizational legitimacy and demonstrates that a nuanced view is necessary to understand the concept of organizational legitimacy. This cumulative dissertation is structured as follows. Part A is an introduction to the study organizational legitimacy. Part B contains the four essays.}, subject = {Strategisches Management}, language = {en} }