I'm happy to report that my work on migration got published!

You can order the book on Amazon or read the original paper, including key results of the book, in a free online version.

Chicken legs, onion, ginger and salt go in boiling water. Wait till the chicken is tender.
Next, place the chicken in a hot pan with oil and broil it in soya sauce. Add sugar and salt. Lower the heat but keep adding chicken soup till the meat is nice and juicy.

Labels: Asia, eat+drink

I finished my work on migration simulation for the Research-Unit Economics.

It's based on a Two-Sector Migration Model inspired by Harris and Todaro and applied Agent Based Simulation aligned to Axtell’s Emergence of Firms to build "An n-Sector Migration Simulation".

Here is the abstract:
"Workers, considering costs of migration, tend to migrate to sectors where they expect higher wages. In revers, firms trying to increase profits, migrate to sectors with lower wages. The result of their combined movement determins wages in each sector. This Agent Based Simulation applies an inductive behavior models with various strategies for wage expectations, and yields patterns of migration in an n-sector scenario."

Here are some results:

Download: http://www.derbaum.com/n-sector-migration.pdf

Labels: Economics, Patrick, TU

This weeks issue of The Economist is running a special report on mobile telecoms: Nomads at last.

The report describes how today's ubiquitous mobile technology allows us to work, live and love like nomads (wanderer), without staying long in the same place.

Our documents, spreadsheets, contacts, calenders,... are always available online in the cloud. So unlike previous nomads, we don't have to carry much weight. An iPhone like device may do. Where ever we are we can sit down, do some work, play around with ideas or catch-up with customers, coworkers, or friends and family.

Who wants to be at the office from 9 to 5? If I'm working, does it matter if I sweat in a cubicle or enjoy fresh air in the park? Of course it does! And reading this report just gave me additional encouragement to stay out of that cubicle.

For some an office may be great to get focused, while others prefer a beach. If you find yourself bored or in need for inspiration, get moving. (Right now, I'm in a coffee shop, but that beach looks inviting). In the end, where we are becomes secondary. What counts is that we get things done and spend time with those we love.

Or, as Sigmund Freud put it, Menschen müssen arbeiten und lieben um Erfüllung zu finden (humans must work and love in order to find fulfillment). Mmm, I love it when The Economist runs quotes like that.

Labels: Economics, Patrick

I'm all about consumerism. Electronics made in China. A newspaper from Britan. Shirts from Turkey and eggs from Aldi (no idea where they come from).

I try to marginally improve the world by bringing at least a small part of my euros to workers in poor or developing countries (even the most capitalistic company creates jobs and incomes). However there are some who restrict their consumption.

• pescatarian a person who does not eat meat, but fish.
• vegetarian a person who does not eat animals.
• vegan a vegetarian who also does not eat or use animal products.
• fruitarian a person who will eat only what falls (or would fall) naturally from a plant.
• locavorian a person who only eats local food.

While I could see myself as a pescatarian, I find it hard to imagine life as a fruitarian. However, today I read about a group called freegans.

• freegan a vegetarian who only eats or uses things from other people’s garbage.

It's some kind of antiglobalisation thing, which -obviously- I don't understand.

I found those freegans on 3 Extreme Ways To Go Green (via digg).
A related post on derbaum.com is: Eier von Glücklichen Bauern

Labels: eat+drink

My friend Peter was kind enough to bring me an iPhone from New York. It looked cool, but initially it was locked to AT&T and therefor useless in Europe. But luckily I found an unlocking guide on the web: iPhone in Switzerland.

It looked tough, but doable. So Stefan and I decided to go for it.

• First we had to do some coding. Easy, except the HEX editing which was a bit tiring.
• Second we had to open the device. Hard, since you constantly have to worry about breaking the device.
• Third we had to connect a circuit with a capacitor on the motherboard. Impossible, since those gates are only 0.08mm tick. But somehow we managed it.

After seven hours of sweat and pain we reassembled the device. And...
NO SERVICE, PLEASE INSERT AT&T SIM CARD
Agrr...

But wait, we forgot to enter:

AT+CLCK=”PN”,0,”00000000″
AT+CLCK=”PN”,2

And surprise, surprise: the iPhone is now unlocked!

Labels: Apple

Walking around Vienna, one is easily reminded of the current season: Summerbreak. The time when small and mid-sized shops hang a little sign in the window saying "Summerpause". They leave early in August and most return in September.

I'm glad to see how successful those shops must be. How else could their owners afford to close and take a month long vacation? I always misunderstood their past complains about international competition. An ironic joke it must have been.

It must be a fest, for the shop owners on vacation, to lay in the sun and laugh about their competitors working thru the summer heath. "Those poor bastards" they might think. "Who knows, if allowed, they would probably work on Sunday as well."

Labels: Incentives

Another fun illustration of China's economic relations with the USA.

Labels: Asia, Economics

I always keep an eye on cheap flights to Asia. I hailed Lufthansa's "Ready to Fly" for it's 300€ flights to China, but this offer seems to be expired. Anyway, help is on it's way: Oasis Hong Kong Airline promises flights from London to Hong Kong for 50€.

Checking flights for next week showed nothing below 400€. But a month later, flights show up for about 130€. Adding a discount flight to London Gatewick, and one should get from about anywhere in Europe to Hong Kong for under 200€ (one-way).

Now if I just buy a nicely trailered suit and a few gadgets, I can quickly save 2x200€ in the tax-free-shopping-haven also known as Hong Kong. Which leaves me a free flight to Hong Kong. Right?

Labels: Asia, Economics

Twice a year (next on May 22nd) the economic leadership of China and America meets for a Strategic Economic Dialogue to disuse trade relations.

The dialogue was coined by Hank Paulson, America's treasury secretary and ex CEO of Goldman Sachs. He will welcome Wu Yi, the woman behind China's economic policy since 1991 and current vice-premier of China.

Unfortunately discussions are overshadowed by increasing hostility against China. The American congress accuses China among other things of stealing their economic leadership, natural resources and jobs. (This weeks issue of The Economist runs a survey about America's fear of China.)

First, China's population is more than four times bigger than America's population. Obviously China should command a bigger economy at some point (as it did in the past).

Second, natural resources are bought and sold internationally. As the world economy grows and more people live a decent life, so does demand for resources and their price. America could easily improve a thing or two in its efficiency of using resources. A higher price (and regard for the environment) provides the right incentives. The same counts for China.

Lastly: jobs. Is China stealing American jobs? Some members of congress seem to believe that world trade (or trade in general) is a zero-sum game. One job more in China's export industry means one job less in America.

That's not the case. As America imports from China, China imports from America. Jobs lost in one sector, will be gained in another. If America imports more than it exports (as it currently does), it pays with dollars. A promise of value which China can use for imports in the future. If China does not redeems those dollars, America basically imports for free. Hardly something to complain about.

In today's China Daily I read a smart statement by Ms. Wu: "The United States, as a global leader in science and technology, should give full play to its comparative advantage, enhance mutual trust and relax export controls to boost the competitiveness of American companies, revers the trend of dwindling market share of American hi-tech products in China, and reduce its trade deficit with China."

With comparative advantage, David Ricardo's theory on trade, Ms. Wu reminds us that even if America is far ahead in science and technology, it could still gain from trade in those fields.

As a previous investment banker, Mr. Paulson knows just as well about the gains from trade. That's why he should resist pressure from congress and further open the US economy. Ms. Wu would certainly welcome him.

Labels: Asia, Economics

10RMB = 1Euro

Labels: Asia, eat+drink, Economics

Today, tortured and with tears in my eyes, I finished my first marathon.
I'm pleased with my time (4:30:40). If I keep running, maybe I can beat 4 hours next year.

OK, I will fall asleep now and pray that I can still walk tomorrow.

Labels: Patrick

My friend Konrad and I occasionally compare our living costs in German and Austria. Communication costs are particular interesting. Since years, we find broadband internet to be cheaper in German, while mobile telephony is cheaper in Austria. Why that?

Let's try some back-of-the-envelope calculations:

• Population density and broadband internet: Wiring a highly populated area is cheaper (per head) than wiring a low populated area. Population density turns out to be more than double in Germany than in Austria. 231 people/km² in Germany vs. 99 people/km² in Austria.
• Competition and mobile telephony: Higher competition means lower prices. Austria has a 12 times higher ratio of mobile phone companies per people. 4/82m in Germany vs. 5/8m in Austria.

If we follow the Voice-over-Internet trend, it's save to say that telephony is moving online. So cheaper internet, gives Germany an edge. But new technologies like HSDPA offer broadband on a mobile device. So, Austria with cheaper mobile communication, may have the better deal after all.

Labels: Economics

China's share of world GDP is nearly four times more than it was in 1980. Measured at purchasing power parity, it approaches that of the world's rich countries. It's just a matter of time* before China returns to it's ancient status as the Central Kingdom.

*Goldman Sachs predicts that China's GDP will overtake the US GDP (in PPP terms) by 2011.

Labels: Asia, Economics

International newspapers only write about Austria in their culture or travel section. If it does come up in the politics or business section, it's usually rather embarrassing.

Last weeks edition of The Economist had a fun (but sad, since true) sentence, stating that "the elan of Austrian business was stifled for many years by a bloated public sector, Kafkaesque bureaucracy and politicized boardrooms".

Examples of Austrias Kafkaesque Bureaucracy:

• Office Hours (Parteinverkehr): Mo, We, Thu 8-12am
• Tenant's rights (Mieterschutz): Enjoyed by renters, but dare you if you think about renting out yourself.
• Government Expenditure: 49% of GDP (that's 66billion Euro).
• Civil Servant (Beamte): Learn to deal with them (they make up half the employed population). If you need something, prepare compliments and little presents like a cake or wine.
• Documents (Akten) must be long and hard to read.
• Labor law (Arbeitnehmerschutz): Better not to hire.
• Community housing (Gemeindewohnung): Apartments which are partly paid for by the government. Mostly for civil servants or their closest relatives.
• ??? (Kommerzialrat): Someone who has been civil servant for a long time.
• Post office: To get the full Kafkaesque experience, try sending a letter to Asia on a Friday around 5pm.

*The impossible fight against government regulation and monopolies, as described in Franz Kafka's "Das Schloß" and "Der Prozeß".