@phdthesis{Weber2019, author = {Weber, Marie-Christin}, title = {Performance Enhancing Strategies in Different Negotiation Phases}, publisher = {Kovac}, address = {Hamburg}, isbn = {978-3-339-10946-0}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {78}, year = {2019}, abstract = {The present dissertation investigates profit-maximizing behavior in different phases of the negotiation process. Over the last decades, research dealt in detail with behavior of negotiation actors with the aim of identifying performance enhancing factors. The majority of those studies focused on behavior within the main negotiation phase. This work, however, considers phases which are, so far, underrepresented in research but show an impact on the negotiation process and outcome. Those phases are the pre-negotiation, the first offer, and the main negotiation phase which is further divided by breaks into several rounds. Within these phases, traits of behavior are analyzed that can be used strategically in order to impact the negotiation outcome. The dissertation contains three papers, each one dealing with a specific strategy within one phase. The first paper investigates communication behavior in the pre-negotiation phase. Content analysis of a negotiation experiment shows that the employment of positive communication elements such as the generation of enthusiasm for an upcoming project results in an increase of agreements on entering a negotiation and also leads to a higher willingness to make concessions. The second paper explores the impact of a semantic first anchor, which does not contain a specific number but only gives a numerical direction, on the opponent's concession behavior and the final outcome. By means of two scenario-based questionnaires and a negotiation experiment it is demonstrated that semantic offers reveal an anchoring effect and lead to better negotiation outcomes. The third paper deals with the introduction of breaks and their effect on the following negotiation process. Therefore, content and outcome of another negotiation experiment are investigated. The analysis shows that breaks evoke a dominant impression but can negatively impact the atmosphere and thereby also the outcome. Finally, the gathered insights are brought together and discussed. The dissertation closes with implications for practice, limitations of the work, and ideas for future research.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Mielke2018, author = {Mielke, Jahel}, title = {Coordination on Green Investment}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-42745}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-427459}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {viii, 209}, year = {2018}, abstract = {To reach its climate targets, the European Union has to implement a major sustainability transition in the coming decades. While the socio-technical change required for this transition is well discussed in the academic literature, the economics that go along with it are often reduced to a cost-benefit perspective of climate policy measures. By investigating climate change mitigation as a coordination problem, this thesis offers a novel perspective: It integrates the economic and the socio-technical dimension and thus allows to better understand the opportunities of a sustainability transition in Europe. First, a game theoretic framework is developed to illustrate coordination on green or brown investment from an agent perspective. A model based on the coordination game "stag hunt" is used to discuss the influence of narratives and signals for green investment as a means to coordinate expectations towards green growth. Public and private green investment impulses - triggered by credible climate policy measures and targets - serve as an example for a green growth perspective for Europe in line with a sustainability transition. This perspective also embodies a critical view on classical analyses of climate policy measures. Secondly, this analysis is enriched with empirical results derived from stakeholder involvement. In interviews and with a survey among European insurance companies, coordination mechanisms such as market and policy signals are identified and evaluated by their impact on investment strategies for green infrastructure. The latter, here defined as renewable energy, electricity distribution and transmission as well as energy efficiency improvements, is considered a central element of the transition to a low-carbon society. Thirdly, this thesis identifies and analyzes major criticisms raised towards stakeholder involvement in sustainability science. On a conceptual level, different ways of conducting such qualitative research are classified. This conceptualization is then evaluated by scientists, thereby generating empirical evidence on ideals and practices of stakeholder involvement in sustainability science. Through the combination of theoretical and empirical research on coordination problems, this thesis offers several contributions: On the one hand, it outlines an approach that allows to assess the economic opportunities of sustainability transitions. This is helpful for policy makers in Europe that are striving to implement climate policy measures addressing the targets of the Paris Agreement as well as to encourage a shift of investments towards green infrastructure. On the other hand, this thesis enhances the stabilization of the theoretical foundations in sustainability science. Therefore, it can aid researchers who involve stakeholders when studying sustainability transitions.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Bielefeldt2019, author = {Bielefeldt, Jonas}, title = {Toward Service-based Value Creation}, series = {Schriftenreihe zum Business Development ; 7}, journal = {Schriftenreihe zum Business Development ; 7}, publisher = {Kovac}, address = {Hamburg}, isbn = {978-3-339-10642-1}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {134}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Over the past decade, society has witnessed an increasing expansion of service economies as manufacturing (i.e., product-oriented) companies break free from their product-based business model and move toward more service-oriented value creation as a result of several economic, technological, and social changes. As they shift from products to (service) solutions, manufacturing companies pursue new strategic direction, inter alia, by extensively employing service business development activities. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the considerable (re-)emerging stream of service business development by providing vital insights for academia and management into important focus areas that have hardly, if at all, been (empirically) investigated in the existing literature before. Therefore, these findings can be vital to informing a differentiation in current and future marketing strategies in business practice. First of all, this dissertation focuses on the extent to which service business development is transposed into business practice. Because scarce empirical-quantitative research has studied the current state of service business development across various industry and market sectors, this study analyzes a unique, manually collected dataset of 266 (product and service) business development activities. In so doing, this investigation contributes to literature by presenting a comprehensive, industry-wide status quo and trend report of service business development in practice. Furthermore, given the surprisingly limited scientific attention paid to the question of how service business development is strategically configured and further applied to different environmental circumstances, this dissertation provides comprehensive theoretical and practical implications by analyzing in detail a sample of 137 service business developments of 66 product-oriented companies. Lastly, manufacturers are recognizing that service-oriented value creation is moving toward a more collaborative process of co-creation as a promising measure to achieve competitive advantage, and even more as an appropriate response to complex business environments. Thus, an increasing number of companies around the world have recently introduced business models related to access-based services such as car-, scooter-, and bike-sharing systems. But despite the considerable advantages of access-based services as an alternative to ownership, these companies are now seeing that consumer adoption and (re-)usage rates remain insufficient. Owing to the lack of general and cross-national scientific knowledge, the purpose of this dissertation continues to explore which factors impede diffusion of related service business development activities from a consumer perspective and what kind of differences can be established between countries. Consequently, with a total of 1,443 participants, a cross-national survey was carried out in three countries, i.e., the United States, Germany, and China, to measure a vast number of different adoption barriers derived from a developed integrated framework that combines established theories within innovation and adoption behavior research.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Konon2018, author = {Konon, Alexander}, title = {Essays on career choice under risk and ambiguity}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-416466}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {x, 250, xxxv}, year = {2018}, abstract = {This dissertation consists of five self-contained essays, addressing different aspects of career choices, especially the choice of entrepreneurship, under risk and ambiguity. In Chapter 2, the first essay develops an occupational choice model with boundedly rational agents, who lack information, receive noisy feedback, and are restricted in their decisions by their personality, to analyze and explain puzzling empirical evidence on entrepreneurial decision processes. In the second essay, in Chapter 3, I contribute to the literature on entrepreneurial choice by constructing a general career choice model on the basis of the assumption that outcomes are partially ambiguous. The third essay, in Chapter 4, theoretically and empirically analyzes the impact of media on career choices, where information on entrepreneurship provided by the media is treated as an informational shock affecting prior beliefs. The fourth essay, presented in Chapter 5, contains an empirical analysis of the effects of cyclical macro variables (GDP and unemployment) on innovative start-ups in Germany. In the fifth, and last, essay in Chapter 6, we examine whether information on personality is useful for advice, using the example of career advice.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Weiss2018, author = {Weiß, Katharina}, title = {Three Essays on EFRAG}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-415355}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {II, 180}, year = {2018}, abstract = {This cumulative doctoral thesis consists of three papers that deal with the role of one specific European accounting player in the international accounting standard-setting, namely the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG). The first paper examines whether and how EFRAG generally fulfills its role in articulating Europe's interests toward the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The qualitative data from the conducted interviews reveal that EFRAG influences the IASB's decision making at a very early stage, long before other constituents are officially asked to comment on the IASB's proposals. The second paper uses quantitative data and investigates the formal participation behavior of European constituents that seek to determine EFRAG's voice. More precisely, this paper analyzes the nature of the constituents' participation in EFRAG's due process in terms of representation (constituent groups and geographical distribution) and the drivers of their participation behavior. EFRAG's official decision making process is dominated by some specific constituent groups (such as preparers and the accounting profession) and by constituents from some specific countries (e.g. those with effective enforcement regimes). The third paper investigates in a first step who of the European constituents choose which lobbying channel (participation only at IASB, only at EFRAG, or at both institutions) and unveils in a second step possible reasons for their lobbying choices. The paper comprises quantitative and qualitative data. It reveals that English skills, time issues, the size of the constituent, and the country of origin are factors that can explain why the majority participates only in the IASB's due process.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schiprowski2017, author = {Schiprowski, Amelie}, title = {Four empirical essays on the economics of job search}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-413508}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xiii, 209}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Modern welfare states aim at designing unemployment insurance (UI) schemes which minimize the length of unemployment spells. A variety of institutions and incentives, which are embedded in UI schemes across OECD countries, reflect this attempt. For instance, job seekers entering UI are often provided with personal support through a caseworker. They also face the requirement to regularly submit a minimum number of job applications, which is typically enforced through benefit cuts in the case of non-compliance. Moreover, job seekers may systematically receive information on their re-employment prospects. As a consequence, UI design has become a complex task. Policy makers need to define not only the amount and duration of benefit payments, but also several other choice parameters. These include the intensity and quality of personal support through caseworkers, the level of job search requirements, the strictness of enforcement, and the information provided to unemployed individuals. Causal estimates on how these parameters affect re-employment outcomes are thus central inputs to the design of modern UI systems: how much do individual caseworkers influence the transition out of unemployment? Does the requirement of an additional job application translate into increased job finding? Do individuals behave differently when facing a strict versus mild enforcement system? And how does information on re-employment prospects influence the job search decision? This dissertation proposes four novel research designs to answer this question. Chapters one to three elaborate quasi-experimental identification strategies, which are applied to large-scale administrative data from Switzerland. They, respectively, measure how personal interactions with caseworkers (chapter one), the level of job search requirements (chapter two) and the strictness of enforcement (chapter three) affect re-employment outcomes. Chapter four proposes a structural estimation approach, based on linked survey and administrative data from Germany. It studies how over-optimism on future wage offers affects the decision to search for work, and how the provision of information changes this decision.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kraft2018, author = {Kraft, Frederik}, title = {Be Creative, Now!}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-414009}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {VII, 230}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Purpose - This thesis set out to explore, describe, and evaluate the reality behind the rhetoric of freedom and control in the context of creativity. The overarching subject is concerned with the relationship between creativity, freedom, and control, considering freedom is also seen as an element of control to manage creativity. Design/methodology/approach - In-depth qualitative data gathered from at two innovative start-ups. Two ethnographic studies were conducted. The data are based on participatory observations, interviews, and secondary sources, each of which included a three months field study and a total of 41 interviews from both organizations. Findings - The thesis provides explanations for the practice of freedom and the control of creativity within organizations and expands the existing theory of neo-normative control. The findings indicate that organizations use complex control systems that allow a high degree of freedom that paradoxically leads to more control. Freedom is a cover of control, which in turn leads to creativity. Covert control even results in the responsibility to be creative outside working hours. Practical implications - Organizations, which rely on creativity might use the results of this thesis. Positive workplace control of creativity provides both freedom and structure for creative work. While freedom leads to organizational members being more motivated and committing themselves more strongly to their and the organization's goals, and a specific structure also helps to provide the requirements for creativity. Originality/value - The thesis provides an insight into an approach to workplace control, which has mostly neglected in creativity research and proposes a modified concept of neo-normative control. It serves to provide a further understanding of freedom for creativity and to challenge the liberal claims of new control forms.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Weissenberger2017, author = {Weißenberger, Martin}, title = {Start-up subsidies for the unemployed - New evaluation approaches and insights}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-406362}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {viii, 239}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Start-up incentives targeted at unemployed individuals have become an important tool of the Active Labor Market Policy (ALMP) to fight unemployment in many countries in recent years. In contrast to traditional ALMP instruments like training measures, wage subsidies, or job creation schemes, which are aimed at reintegrating unemployed individuals into dependent employment, start-up incentives are a fundamentally different approach to ALMP, in that they intend to encourage and help unemployed individuals to exit unemployment by entering self-employment and, thus, by creating their own jobs. In this sense, start-up incentives for unemployed individuals serve not only as employment and social policy to activate job seekers and combat unemployment but also as business policy to promote entrepreneurship. The corresponding empirical literature on this topic so far has been mainly focused on the individual labor market perspective, however. The main part of the thesis at hand examines the new start-up subsidy ("Gr{\"u}ndungszuschuss") in Germany and consists of four empirical analyses that extend the existing evidence on start-up incentives for unemployed individuals from multiple perspectives and in the following directions: First, it provides the first impact evaluation of the new start-up subsidy in Germany. The results indicate that participation in the new start-up subsidy has significant positive and persistent effects on both reintegration into the labor market as well as the income profiles of participants, in line with previous evidence on comparable German and international programs, which emphasizes the general potential of start-up incentives as part of the broader ALMP toolset. Furthermore, a new innovative sensitivity analysis of the applied propensity score matching approach integrates findings from entrepreneurship and labor market research about the key role of an individual's personality on start-up decision, business performance, as well as general labor market outcomes, into the impact evaluation of start-up incentives. The sensitivity analysis with regard to the inclusion and exclusion of usually unobserved personality variables reveals that differences in the estimated treatment effects are small in magnitude and mostly insignificant. Consequently, concerns about potential overestimation of treatment effects in previous evaluation studies of similar start-up incentives due to usually unobservable personality variables are less justified, as long as the set of observed control variables is sufficiently informative (Chapter 2). Second, the thesis expands our knowledge about the longer-term business performance and potential of subsidized businesses arising from the start-up subsidy program. In absolute terms, the analysis shows that a relatively high share of subsidized founders successfully survives in the market with their original businesses in the medium to long run. The subsidy also yields a "double dividend" to a certain extent in terms of additional job creation. Compared to "regular", i.e., non-subsidized new businesses founded by non-unemployed individuals in the same quarter, however, the economic and growth-related impulses set by participants of the subsidy program are only limited with regard to employment growth, innovation activity, or investment. Further investigations of possible reasons for these differences show that differential business growth paths of subsidized founders in the longer run seem to be mainly limited by higher restrictions to access capital and by unobserved factors, such as less growth-oriented business strategies and intentions, as well as lower (subjective) entrepreneurial persistence. Taken together, the program has only limited potential as a business and entrepreneurship policy intended to induce innovation and economic growth (Chapters 3 and 4). And third, an empirical analysis on the level of German regional labor markets yields that there is a high regional variation in subsidized start-up activity relative to overall new business formation. The positive correlation between regular start-up intensity and the share among all unemployed individuals who participate in the start-up subsidy program suggests that (nascent) unemployed founders also profit from the beneficial effects of regional entrepreneurship capital. Moreover, the analysis of potential deadweight and displacement effects from an aggregated regional perspective emphasizes that the start-up subsidy for unemployed individuals represents a market intervention into existing markets, which affects incumbents and potentially produces inefficiencies and market distortions. This macro perspective deserves more attention and research in the future (Chapter 5).}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Preuss2018, author = {Preuß, Melanie}, title = {New Perspectives on Negotiation Styles}, series = {Schriftenreihe zum Verhandlungsmanagement}, journal = {Schriftenreihe zum Verhandlungsmanagement}, number = {7}, publisher = {Verlag Dr. Kovač}, address = {Hamburg}, isbn = {978-3-8300-9794-5}, issn = {2365-7898}, pages = {XI, 110}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Companies have a keen interest in developing skilled negotiators in order to improve their negotiation outcome. A crucial determinant of the negotiation outcome are negotiation styles that represent the negotiator's actual behavior during the negotiation process. In this context, the author examines the variation in negotiation styles throughout the negotiation process, points out the relevance of the negotiator's characteristics and situational context as determinants of negotiation styles, and emphasizes the importance not only of actual but also of perceived negotiation behavior. As a result, existing negotiation research is advanced as new perspectives on negotiation styles are offered to improve a negotiator's performance.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Thaler2017, author = {Thaler, Verena}, title = {The interdependence between business development and brand management}, series = {Schriftenreihe zum Business Development}, journal = {Schriftenreihe zum Business Development}, number = {3}, publisher = {Dr. Kovač}, address = {Hamburg}, isbn = {978-3-8300-9744-0}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {XIII, 121}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Langfristiges Wachstum zu generieren, ist eine der bedeutendsten Herausforderungen von Unternehmen. Sie sind zunehmend mit saturierten (Kern-)M{\"a}rkten und immer k{\"u}rzer werdenden Produktlebenszyklen konfrontiert. Um die eigene Marktposition zu erhalten und zu wachsen, ist es daher f{\"u}r Unternehmen wichtiger denn je, kontinuierlich neue Gesch{\"a}ftsfelder zu erschließen. Gleichzeitig gewinnt der Aufbau einer starken Marke an Bedeutung, um die Kundenloyalit{\"a}t zu erh{\"o}hen und sich einem direkten Preiskampf zu entziehen. Vor diesem Hintergrund haben sich Business Development sowie Markenmanagement als strategische Kernfunktionen etabliert. Dieses Buch untersucht die Interdependenzen zwischen Business Development und Markenmanagement. Aufgrund der dominanten Stellung von Innovationen innerhalb des Business Developments bilden diese den Fokus der Untersuchung, und es wird analysiert, wie Innovations- und Markenmanagement voneinander profitieren k{\"o}nnen. Innovationen werden h{\"a}ufig als essentiell angesehen, um eine starke Marke aufzubauen und um deren Images kontinuierlich zu revitalisieren. Umgekehrt kann die Verwendung einer etablierten Marke eine Innovation bei deren Markteinf{\"u}hrung unterst{\"u}tzen. Marken dienen Konsumenten hierbei als erstes Qualit{\"a}tssignal und k{\"o}nnen somit Unsicherheiten minimieren, die mit dem Produktkauf verbunden sind. Die Autorin untersucht empirisch, ob solche Interdependenzen zwischen Innovations- und Markenmanagement existieren und wie Unternehmen diese bestm{\"o}glich f{\"u}r ihre Innovations- und Branding-Aktivit{\"a}ten nutzen k{\"o}nnen. Dabei wird analysiert, (1) wie Innovationen die Wahrnehmung und Einstellung von Konsumenten einer Marke gegen{\"u}ber ver{\"a}ndern k{\"o}nnen, (2) wie Branding den Markterfolg einer Innovation unterst{\"u}tzen kann und (3) wie der Aufbau von Brand Equity vor negativen Auswirkungen, zum Beispiel durch einen Produktskandal, sch{\"u}tzen kann. Die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse bieten relevante Implikationen f{\"u}r die Managementpraxis und Forschung. Sie zeigen Managern, wie Innovationen am besten eingesetzt werden k{\"o}nnen, um ihre jeweilige Marke zu st{\"a}rken und umgekehrt, unter welchen Umst{\"a}nden es f{\"u}r den Erfolg einer Innovation am f{\"o}rderlichsten ist, sie unter einer bestehenden Marke am Markt einzuf{\"u}hren oder eine neue Marke daf{\"u}r zu entwickeln.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Mahlstedt2017, author = {Mahlstedt, Robert}, title = {Essays on job search behavior and labor market policies}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-397081}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {252}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Persistently high unemployment rates are a major threat to the social cohesion in many societies. To moderate the consequences of unemployment industrialized countries spend substantial shares of their GDP on labor market policies, while in recent years there has been a shift from passive measures, such as transfer payments, towards more activating elements which aim to promote the reintegration into the labor market. Although, there exists a wide range of evidence about the effects of traditional active labor market policies (ALMP) on participants' subsequent labor market outcomes, a deeper understanding of the impact of these programs on the job search behavior and the interplay with long-term labor market outcomes is necessary. This allows policy makers to improve the design of labor market policies and the allocation of unemployed workers into specific programs. Moreover, previous studies have shown that many traditional ALMP programs, like public employment or training schemes, do not achieve the desired results. This underlines the importance of understanding the effect mechanisms, but also the need to develop innovative programs that are more effective. This thesis extends the existing literature with respect to several dimensions. First, it analyzes the impact of job seekers' beliefs about upcoming ALMPs programs on the effectiveness of realized treatments later during the unemployment spell. This provides important insights with respect to the job search process and relates potential anticipation effects (on the job seekers behavior before entering a program) to the vast literature evaluating the impact of participating in an ALMP program on subsequent outcomes. The empirical results show that training programs are more effective if the participants expect participation ex ante, while expected treatment effects are unrelated to the actual labor market outcomes of participants. A subsequent analysis of the effect mechanisms shows that job seekers who expect to participate also receive more information by their caseworker and show a higher willingness to adjust their search behavior in association with an upcoming ALMP program. The findings suggest that the effectiveness of training programs can be improved by providing more detailed information about the possibility of a future treatment early during the unemployment spell. Second, the thesis investigates the effects of a relatively new class of programs that aim to improve the geographical mobility of unemployed workers with respect to the job search behavior, the subsequent job finding prospects and the returns to labor market mobility. To estimate the causal impact of these programs, it is exploited that local employment agencies have a degree of autonomy when deciding about the regional-specific policy mix. The findings show that the policy style of the employment agency indeed affects the job search behavior of unemployed workers. Job seekers who are assigned to agencies with higher preferences for mobility programs increase their search radius without affecting the total number of job applications. This shift of the search effort to distant regions leads to a higher probability to find a regular job and higher wages. Moreover, it is shown that participants in one of the subsidy programs who move to geographically distant region a earn significantly higher wages, end up in more stable jobs and face a higher long-run employment probability compared to non-participants. Third, the thesis offers an empirical assessment of the unconfoundedness assumption with respect to the relevance of variables that are usually unobserved in studies evaluating ALMP programs. A unique dataset that combines administrative records and survey data allows us to observe detailed information on typical covariates, as well as usually unobserved variables including personality traits, attitudes, expectations, intergenerational information, as well as indicators about social networks and labor market flexibility. The findings show that, although our set of usually unobserved variables indeed has a significant effect on the selection into ALMP programs, the overall impact when estimating treatment effects is rather small. Finally, the thesis also examines the importance of gender differences in reservation wages that allows assessing the importance of special ALMP programs targeting women. In particular, when including reservation wages in a wage decomposition exercise, the gender gap in realized wages becomes small and statistically insignificant. The strong connection between gender differences in reservation wages and realized wages raises the question how these differences in reservation wages are set in the first place. Since traditional covariates cannot sufficiently explain the gender gap in reservation wages, we perform subgroup analysis to better understand what the driving forces behind this gender gap are.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Dirkwinkel2017, author = {Dirkwinkel, Lea}, title = {Trust and fairtrade consumption}, series = {Schriftenreihe Studien zum Konsumentenverhalten ; 77}, journal = {Schriftenreihe Studien zum Konsumentenverhalten ; 77}, publisher = {Kovac}, address = {Hamburg}, isbn = {978-3-8300-9599-6}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {XX, 235}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Wie h{\"a}ngen Vertrauen, Konsumeinstellungen und Verhalten bez{\"u}glich Fairtrade zusammen? Dies ist die grundlegende Frage, mit der sich diese Arbeit besch{\"a}ftigt. Lea Dirkwinkel analysiert die Fragestellung am Beispiel des Fairtrade-Labels, das als Symbol f{\"u}r das Produktzertifizierungssystem von Fairtrade International steht und das bekannteste Beispiel der Fairtrade-Bewegung darstellt. Die Forschungsfrage wird einerseits zur{\"u}ckgef{\"u}hrt auf die Tatsache, dass die Qualit{\"a}t von Fairtrade-G{\"u}tern durch Konsumenten nicht erfasst werden kann, und andererseits durch die sogenannte Einstellungs-Verhaltens-L{\"u}cke begr{\"u}ndet. Die Einstellungs-Verhaltens-L{\"u}cke beschreibt die kognitive Dissonanz zwischen positiven ethischen Einstellungen und Kaufintentionen sowie dem tats{\"a}chlichen Kaufverhalten und widerspricht traditionellen Einstellungs-Verhaltens-Modellen, die besagen, dass die Einstellung das Verhalten von Menschen bestimmt. Beide zuvor genannten Aspekte begr{\"u}nden in der Marketingtheorie die Relevanz von Vertrauen f{\"u}r den Konsum von Fairtrade-Produkten, aber auch anderen nachhaltigen G{\"u}tern. Die Analyse basiert auf einer Online-Datenerhebung und erfolgte anhand der Kombination aus Conjoint Analyse und Strukturgleichungsanalyse. Die innovative methodische Vorgehensweise lieferte sowohl f{\"u}r die Marketingforschung als auch f{\"u}r die Praxis relevante Ergebnisse. Zum einem wird die wichtige Rolle von Vertrauen f{\"u}r den Fairtrade-Konsum best{\"a}tigt; zum anderen erkl{\"a}rt die Arbeit, wie sich Fairtrade-Vertrauen auswirkt. Das Vertrauen in das Fairtrade-Label stellt den Ausgangspunkt f{\"u}r Vertrauensbeziehungen zwischen Fairtrade und den Konsumenten dar und wird auf die zertifizierten Produkte {\"u}bertragen. Empfehlungen, die sich daraus ergeben, konzentrieren sich auf Maßnahmen, die das Vertrauen in Fairtrade-Labels st{\"a}rken, z.B. durch die Reduzierung der Anzahl verschiedener Labels oder die verst{\"a}rkte Kommunikation der Unabh{\"a}ngigkeit von Zertifizierungsorganisationen.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Muehlenhoff2017, author = {M{\"u}hlenhoff, Judith}, title = {Culture-driven innovation}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-104626}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {143}, year = {2017}, abstract = {This cumulative dissertation deals with the potential of underexplored cultural sources for innovation. Nowadays, firms recognize an increasing demand for innovation to keep pace with an ever-growing dynamic worldwide competition. Knowledge is one of the most crucial sources and resource, while until now innovation has been foremost driven by technology. But since the last years, we have been witnessing a change from technology's role as a driver of innovation to an enabler of innovation. Innovative products and services increasingly differentiate through emotional qualities and user experience. These experiences are hard to grasp and require alignment in innovation management theory and practice. This work cares about culture in a broader matter as a source for innovation. It investigates the requirements and fundamentals for "culture-driven innovation" by studying where and how to unlock cultural sources. The research questions are the following: What are cultural sources for knowledge and innovation? Where can one find cultural sources and how to tap into them? The dissertation starts with an overview of its central terms and introduces cultural theories as an overarching frame to study cultural sources for innovation systematically. Here, knowledge is not understood as something an organization owns like a material resource, but it is seen as something created and taking place in practices. Such a practice theoretical lens inheres the rejection of the traditional economic depiction of the rational Homo Oeconomicus. Nevertheless, it also rejects the idea of the Homo Sociologicus about the strong impact of society and its values on individual actions. Practice theory approaches take account of both concepts by underscoring the dualism of individual (agency, micro-level) and structure (society, macro-level). Following this, organizations are no enclosed entities but embedded within their socio-cultural environment, which shapes them and is also shaped by them. Then, the first article of this dissertation acknowledges a methodological stance of this dualism by discussing how mixed methods support an integrated approach to study the micro- and macro-level. The article focuses on networks (thus communities) as a central research unit within studies of entrepreneurship and innovation. The second article contains a network analysis and depicts communities as central loci for cultural sources and knowledge. With data from the platform Meetup.com about events etc., the study explores which overarching communities and themes have been evolved in Berlin's start up and tech scene. While the latter study was about where to find new cultural sources, the last article addresses how to unlock such knowledge sources. It develops the concept of a cultural absorptive capacity, that is the capability of organizations to open up towards cultural sources. Furthermore, the article points to the role of knowledge intermediaries in the early phases of knowledge acquisition. Two case studies on companies working with artists illustrate the roles of such intermediaries and how they support firms to gain knowledge from cultural sources. Overall, this dissertation contributes to a better understanding of culture as a source for innovation from a theoretical, methodological, and practitioners' point of view. It provides basic research to unlock the potential of such new knowledge sources for companies - sources that so far have been neglected in innovation management.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Braun2014, author = {Braun, Andreas}, title = {Open innovation - an analysis of the individual level}, address = {Potsdam}, pages = {219 S.}, year = {2014}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Hewing2014, author = {Hewing, Martin}, title = {Collaboration with potential users for discontinuous innovation : eperimental research on user creativity}, publisher = {Springer Gabler}, address = {Wiesbaden}, isbn = {978-3-658-03752-9}, pages = {173 S.}, year = {2014}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{MeierComte2012, author = {Meier-Comte, Elvire}, title = {Knowledge transfer and innovation for a western multinational company in Chinese and Indian technology clusters : identification of local and firm's knowledge transfer mechanisms to develop successful innovations}, series = {Schriften zum Internationalen Managment}, volume = {26}, journal = {Schriften zum Internationalen Managment}, publisher = {Rainer Hampp Verlag}, address = {M{\"u}nchen}, isbn = {978-3-86618-802-0}, issn = {1612-2690}, pages = {319 S.}, year = {2012}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Alshyab2012, author = {Alshyab, Nooh}, title = {Rent, rentiersim, and the challenge of economic reforms : the case of Jordan}, publisher = {Shaker}, address = {Aachen}, isbn = {978-3-8440-1023-7}, pages = {223 S.}, year = {2012}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Bennecke2011, author = {Bennecke, Gudrun Elisabeth}, title = {Turning wind into power : effects of stakeholder networks on renewalbe energy governanace in India}, series = {European university studies : series XXXI political science}, volume = {23}, journal = {European university studies : series XXXI political science}, publisher = {Lang Peter GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften}, address = {Frankfurt}, isbn = {978-3-631-61570-6}, issn = {0721-3654}, pages = {278 S.}, year = {2011}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Wildmann2011, author = {Wildmann, Christian}, title = {Portfolioinvestitionen in Emerging Capital Markets}, series = {Schriftenreihe Finanzierung und Banken}, volume = {15}, journal = {Schriftenreihe Finanzierung und Banken}, publisher = {Verl. Wiss. und Praxis}, address = {Sternenfels}, isbn = {978-3-89673-580-5}, pages = {391, CXII S.}, year = {2011}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{LedererKessler2008, author = {Lederer, Markus and Kessler, Oliver}, title = {Weber, S., (Hrsg.) Globalization and the European Political Economy; New York, Univ., 2001}, year = {2008}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Zeller2012, author = {Zeller, Carolin}, title = {Self-regulation and labour standards : an exemplary study investigating the emergence and strenghening of self- regulation regimes in the apparel industry}, publisher = {Lang Peter GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften}, address = {Frankfurt}, isbn = {978-3-631-62433-3}, pages = {261 S.}, year = {2012}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schmidt2010, author = {Schmidt, Bj{\"o}rn B.}, title = {The Dynamics of M\&A Strategy}, series = {Europ{\"a}ische Hochschulschriften : Series V}, volume = {3366}, journal = {Europ{\"a}ische Hochschulschriften : Series V}, publisher = {Lang Peter GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften}, address = {Frankfurt}, isbn = {978-3-631-60093-1}, issn = {0531-7339}, pages = {337 S.}, year = {2010}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Wienges2010, author = {Wienges, Sebastian}, title = {Governance in global policy networks : individual strategies and collective action in five sustainable energy- realed type II Partnership}, publisher = {Lang}, address = {Frankfurt am Main}, isbn = {978-3-631-60311-6}, pages = {350 S.}, year = {2010}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Lederer2004, author = {Lederer, Markus}, title = {Paul, T. V., (Hrsg.), The Nation-State in Question; Princeton, Univ. Press, 2003}, year = {2004}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{vonWesternhagen2002, author = {von Westernhagen, Natalija}, title = {Systemic transformation, trade and economic growth : developments, theoretical analysis and empirical results}, series = {Contributions to economics}, journal = {Contributions to economics}, publisher = {Physica-Verl.}, address = {Heidelberg}, isbn = {3-7908-1521-7}, issn = {1431-1933}, pages = {289 S.}, year = {2002}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Boellhoff2003, author = {B{\"o}llhoff, Dominik}, title = {The regulatory capacity of agencies : a comparative study of telecoms regulatory agencies in Britain and Germany}, series = {Schriften zur {\"o}ffentlichen Verwaltung und {\"o}ffentlichen Wirtschaft}, volume = {188}, journal = {Schriften zur {\"o}ffentlichen Verwaltung und {\"o}ffentlichen Wirtschaft}, publisher = {BWV Berliner Wiss.-Verl.}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {3-8305-0845-X}, pages = {283 S.}, year = {2003}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Hartig2011, author = {Hartig, Juliane}, title = {Learning and innovation a distance : an empirical investigation into the benefits and liabilities of different froms of distance on interactive learning and novelty creation in German biotechnology SMEs}, publisher = {Gabler Verlag / Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH Wiesbaden}, address = {Wiesbaden}, isbn = {978-3-8349-3178-8}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-8349-6904-0}, pages = {410 S.}, year = {2011}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Andersen2005, author = {Andersen, Katja}, title = {Design and use patterns of adaptability in enterprise systems}, series = {Reihe Wirtschaftsinformatik : technische und organisatorische Gestaltungsoptionen}, volume = {5}, journal = {Reihe Wirtschaftsinformatik : technische und organisatorische Gestaltungsoptionen}, editor = {Gronau, Norbert}, publisher = {Gito-Verl.}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {3-936771-78-2}, pages = {147 S. : graph. Darst.}, year = {2005}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Meyer2006, author = {Meyer, Ina}, title = {International consumption patterns and climate change : a socioeconomic analysis of private car demand and associated CO2 emission}, series = {Dissertation Premium}, volume = {1180}, journal = {Dissertation Premium}, publisher = {dissertation.de}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {3-86624-080-5}, pages = {iv, 160 S. : graph. Darst.}, year = {2006}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{VillalobsJimenez2012, author = {Villalobs-Jimenez, Alonso}, title = {Small-forest holders and community-based organizations: analyzing perceptions of confidence in land tenure security and trust in potential REDD counterparts in Central America}, address = {Potsdam}, pages = {200 S.}, year = {2012}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Frank2007, author = {Frank, Jonas}, title = {Decentralization in Ecuador : actors, institutions, and incentives}, publisher = {Nomos}, address = {Baden-Baden}, isbn = {978-3-8329-2708-0}, pages = {327 S. : graph. Darst.}, year = {2007}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Henke2007, author = {Henke, Jan M.}, title = {Information as an envirommental policy instrument : a case study for the economics of Eco-Labeling}, publisher = {dissertation.de}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {978-3-86624-212-8}, pages = {XII, 197 S. : graph. Darst.}, year = {2007}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schumacher2016, author = {Schumacher, Reinhard}, title = {Adam Smith, foreign trade and economic development}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {143}, year = {2016}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Vu2012, author = {Vu, Thi Thanh Van}, title = {Local government on the way to good governance}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-93943}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {vii, 254}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Bad governance causes economic, social, developmental and environmental problems in many developing countries. Developing countries have adopted a number of reforms that have assisted in achieving good governance. The success of governance reform depends on the starting point of each country - what institutional arrangements exist at the out-set and who the people implementing reforms within the existing institutional framework are. This dissertation focuses on how formal institutions (laws and regulations) and informal institutions (culture, habit and conception) impact on good governance. Three characteristics central to good governance - transparency, participation and accountability are studied in the research. A number of key findings were: Good governance in Hanoi and Berlin represent the two extremes of the scale, while governance in Berlin is almost at the top of the scale, governance in Hanoi is at the bottom. Good governance in Hanoi is still far from achieved. In Berlin, information about public policies, administrative services and public finance is available, reliable and understandable. People do not encounter any problems accessing public information. In Hanoi, however, public information is not easy to access. There are big differences between Hanoi and Berlin in the three forms of participation. While voting in Hanoi to elect local deputies is formal and forced, elections in Berlin are fair and free. The candidates in local elections in Berlin come from different parties, whereas the candidacy of local deputies in Hanoi is thoroughly controlled by the Fatherland Front. Even though the turnout of voters in local deputy elections is close to 90 percent in Hanoi, the legitimacy of both the elections and the process of representation is non-existent because the local deputy candidates are decided by the Communist Party. The involvement of people in solving local problems is encouraged by the government in Berlin. The different initiatives include citizenry budget, citizen activity, citizen initiatives, etc. Individual citizens are free to participate either individually or through an association. Lacking transparency and participation, the quality of public service in Hanoi is poor. Citizens seldom get their services on time as required by the regulations. Citizens who want to receive public services can bribe officials directly, use the power of relationships, or pay a third person - the mediator ("C{\`o}" - in Vietnamese). In contrast, public service delivery in Berlin follows the customer-orientated principle. The quality of service is high in relation to time and cost. Paying speed money, bribery and using relationships to gain preferential public service do not exist in Berlin. Using the examples of Berlin and Hanoi, it is clear to see how transparency, participation and accountability are interconnected and influence each other. Without a free and fair election as well as participation of non-governmental organisations, civil organisations, and the media in political decision-making and public actions, it is hard to hold the Hanoi local government accountable. The key differences in formal institutions (regulative and cognitive) between Berlin and Hanoi reflect the three main principles: rule of law vs. rule by law, pluralism vs. monopoly Party in politics and social market economy vs. market economy with socialist orientation. In Berlin the logic of appropriateness and codes of conduct are respect for laws, respect of individual freedom and ideas and awareness of community development. People in Berlin take for granted that public services are delivered to them fairly. Ideas such as using money or relationships to shorten public administrative procedures do not exist in the mind of either public officials or citizens. In Hanoi, under a weak formal framework of good governance, new values and norms (prosperity, achievement) generated in the economic transition interact with the habits of the centrally-planned economy (lying, dependence, passivity) and traditional values (hierarchy, harmony, family, collectivism) influence behaviours of those involved. In Hanoi "doing the right thing" such as compliance with law doesn't become "the way it is". The unintended consequence of the deliberate reform actions of the Party is the prevalence of corruption. The socialist orientation seems not to have been achieved as the gap between the rich and the poor has widened. Good governance is not achievable if citizens and officials are concerned only with their self-interest. State and society depend on each other. Theoretically to achieve good governance in Hanoi, institutions (formal and informal) able to create good citizens, officials and deputies should be generated. Good citizens are good by habit rather than by nature. The rule of law principle is necessary for the professional performance of local administrations and People's Councils. When the rule of law is applied consistently, the room for informal institutions to function will be reduced. Promoting good governance in Hanoi is dependent on the need and desire to change the government and people themselves. Good governance in Berlin can be seen to be the result of the efforts of the local government and citizens after a long period of development and continuous adjustment. Institutional transformation is always a long and complicated process because the change in formal regulations as well as in the way they are implemented may meet strong resistance from the established practice. This study has attempted to point out the weaknesses of the institutions of Hanoi and has identified factors affecting future development towards good governance. But it is not easy to determine how long it will take to change the institutional setting of Hanoi in order to achieve good governance.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schroth2016, author = {Schroth, Maximilian}, title = {Microfinance and the enhancement of economic development in less developed countries}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-94735}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {XII, 287}, year = {2016}, abstract = {It is the intention of this study to contribute to further rethinking and innovating in the Microcredit business which stands at a turning point - after around 40 years of practice it is endangered to fail as a tool for economic development and to become a doubtful finance product with a random scope instead. So far, a positive impact of Microfinance on the improvement of the lives of the poor could not be confirmed. Over-indebtment of borrowers due to the pre-dominance of consumption Microcredits has become a widespread problem. Furthermore, a rising number of abusive and commercially excessive practices have been reported. In fact, the Microfinance sector appears to suffer from a major underlying deficit: there does not exist a coherent and transparent understanding of its meaning and objectives so that Microfinance providers worldwide follow their own approaches of Microfinance which tend to differ considerably from each other. In this sense the study aims at consolidating the multi-faced and very often confusingly different Microcredit profiles that exist nowadays. Subsequently, in this study, the Microfinance spectrum will be narrowed to one clear-cut objective, in fact away from the mere monetary business transactions to poor people it has gradually been reduced to back towards a tool for economic development as originally envisaged by its pioneers. Hence, the fundamental research question of this study is whether, and under which conditions, Microfinance may attain a positive economic impact leading to an improvement of the living of the poor. The study is structured in five parts: the three main parts (II.-IV.) are surrounded by an introduction (I.) and conclusion (V.). In part II., the Microfinance sector is analysed critically aiming to identify the challenges persisting as well as their root causes. In the third part, a change to the macroeconomic perspective is undertaken in oder to learn about the potential and requirements of small-scale finance to enhance economic development, particularly within the economic context of less developed countries. By consolidating the insights gained in part IV., the elements of a new concept of Microfinance with the objecitve to achieve economic development of its borrowers are elaborated. Microfinance is a rather sensitive business the great fundamental idea of which is easily corruptible and, additionally, the recipients of which are predestined victims of abuse due to their limited knowledge in finance. It therefore needs to be practiced responsibly, but also according to clear cut definitions of its meaning and objectives all institutions active in the sector should be devoted to comply with. This is especially relevant as the demand for Microfinance services is expected to rise further within the years coming. For example, the recent refugee migration movement towards Europe entails a vast potential for Microfinance to enable these people to make a new start into economic life. This goes to show that Microfinance may no longer mainly be associated with a less developed economic context, but that it will gain importance as a financial instrument in the developed economies, too.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Baumann2016, author = {Baumann, Julian}, title = {Four essays in innovation and industrial economics}, pages = {i-xii, 123, xiv-xxvii}, year = {2016}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schmidt2016, author = {Schmidt, Peter}, title = {Contributions to EU regional policy}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-90837}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xii, 137}, year = {2016}, abstract = {This cumulative dissertation contains four self-contained articles which are related to EU regional policy and its structural funds as the overall research topic. In particular, the thesis addresses the question if EU regional policy interventions can at all be scientifically justified and legitimated on theoretical and empirical grounds from an economics point of view. The first two articles of the thesis ("The EU structural funds as a means to hamper migration" and "Internal migration and EU regional policy transfer payments: a panel data analysis for 28 EU member countries") enter into one particular aspect of the debate regarding the justification and legitimisation of EU regional policy. They theoretically and empirically analyse as to whether regional policy or the market force of the free flow of labour (migration) in the internal European market is the better instrument to improve and harmonise the living and working conditions of EU citizens. Based on neoclassical market failure theory, the first paper argues that the structural funds of the EU are inhibiting internal migration, which is one of the key measures in achieving convergence among the nations in the single European market. It becomes clear that European regional policy aiming at economic growth and cohesion among the member states cannot be justified and legitimated if the structural funds hamper instead of promote migration. The second paper, however, shows that the empirical evidence on the migration and regional policy nexus is not unambiguous, i.e. different empirical investigations show that EU structural funds hamper and promote EU internal migration. Hence, the question of the scientific justification and legitimisation of EU regional policy cannot be readily and unambiguously answered on empirical grounds. This finding is unsatisfying but is in line with previous theoretical and empirical literature. That is why, I take a step back and reconsider the theoretical beginnings of the thesis, which took for granted neoclassical market failure theory as the starting point for the positive explanation as well as the normative justification and legitimisation of EU regional policy. The third article of the thesis ("EU regional policy: theoretical foundations and policy conclusions revisited") deals with the theoretical explanation and legitimisation of EU regional policy as well as the policy recommendations given to EU regional policymakers deduced from neoclassical market failure theory. The article elucidates that neoclassical market failure is a normative concept, which justifies and legitimates EU regional policy based on a political and thus subjective goal or value-judgement. It can neither be used, therefore, to give a scientifically positive explanation of the structural funds nor to obtain objective and practically applicable policy instruments. Given this critique of neoclassical market failure theory, the third paper consequently calls into question the widely prevalent explanation and justification of EU regional policy given in static neoclassical equilibrium economics. It argues that an evolutionary non-equilibrium economics perspective on EU regional policy is much more appropriate to provide a realistic understanding of one of the largest policies conducted by the EU. However, this does neither mean that evolutionary economic theory can be unreservedly seen as the panacea to positively explain EU regional policy nor to derive objective policy instruments for EU regional policymakers. This issue is discussed in the fourth article of the thesis ("Market failure vs. system failure as a rationale for economic policy? A critique from an evolutionary perspective"). This article reconsiders the explanation of economic policy from an evolutionary economics perspective. It contrasts the neoclassical equilibrium notions of market and government failure with the dominant evolutionary neo-Schumpeterian and Austrian-Hayekian perceptions. Based on this comparison, the paper criticises the fact that neoclassical failure reasoning still prevails in non-equilibrium evolutionary economics when economic policy issues are examined. This is surprising, since proponents of evolutionary economics usually view their approach as incompatible with its neoclassical counterpart. The paper therefore argues that in order to prevent the otherwise fruitful and more realistic evolutionary approach from undermining its own criticism of neoclassical economics and to create a consistent as well as objective evolutionary policy framework, it is necessary to eliminate the equilibrium spirit. Taken together, the main finding of this thesis is that European regional policy and its structural funds can neither theoretically nor empirically be justified and legitimated from an economics point of view. Moreover, the thesis finds that the prevalent positive and instrumental explanation of EU regional policy given in the literature needs to be reconsidered, because these theories can neither scientifically explain the emergence and development of this policy nor are they appropriate to derive objective and scientific policy instruments for EU regional policymakers.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Halecker2016, author = {Halecker, Bastian}, title = {New perspective and insights on business model innovation using systems thinking and action case studies}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-90404}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {IX, 239}, year = {2016}, abstract = {In recent years, entire industries and their participants have been affected by disruptive technologies, resulting in dramatic market changes and challenges to firm's business logic and thus their business models (BMs). Firms from mature industries are increasingly realizing that BMs that worked successfully for years have become insufficient to stay on track in today's "move fast and break things" economy. Firms must scrutinize the core logic that informs how they do business, which means exploring novel ways to engage customers and get them to pay. This can lead to a complete renewal of existing BMs or innovating completely new BMs. BMs have emerged as a popular object of research within the last decade. Despite the popularity of the BM, the theoretical and empirical foundation underlying the concept is still weak. In particular, the innovation process for BMs has been developed and implemented in firms, but understanding of the mechanisms behind it is still lacking. Business model innovation (BMI) is a complex and challenging management task that requires more than just novel ideas. Systematic studies to generate a better understanding of BMI and support incumbents with appropriate concepts to improve BMI development are in short supply. Further, there is a lack of knowledge about appropriate research practices for studying BMI and generating valid data sets in order to meet expectations in both practice and academia. This paper-based dissertation aims to contribute to research practice in the field of BM and BMI and foster better understanding of the BM concept and BMI processes in incumbent firms from mature industries. The overall dissertation presents three main results. The first result is a new perspective, or the systems thinking view, on the BM and BMI. With the systems thinking view, the fuzzy BM concept is clearly structured and a BMI framework is proposed. The second result is a new research strategy for studying BMI. After analyzing current research practice in the areas of BMs and BMI, it is obvious that there is a need for better research on BMs and BMI in terms of accuracy, transparency, and practical orientation. Thus, the action case study approach combined with abductive methodology is proposed and proven in the research setting of this thesis. The third result stems from three action case studies in incumbent firms from mature industries employed to study how BMI occurs in practice. The new insights and knowledge gained from the action case studies help to explain BMI in such industries and increase understanding of the core of these processes. By studying these issues, the articles complied in this thesis contribute conceptually and empirically to the recently consolidated but still increasing literature on the BM and BMI. The conclusions and implications made are intended to foster further research and improve managerial practices for achieving BMI in a dramatically changing business environment.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Pratsch2016, author = {Pratsch, Stephanie}, title = {The Role of Aspirations in Negotiation}, series = {Schriftenreihe zum Verhandlungsmanagement ; 4}, journal = {Schriftenreihe zum Verhandlungsmanagement ; 4}, publisher = {Hamburg}, address = {Kovac}, isbn = {978-3-8300-9006-9}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {122}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Buyer-seller negotiations have significant impact on a company's profitability, which makes practitioners aim at maximizing their performance. One lever for increasing bargaining performance is to pursue a clearly defined aspiration, i.e. one's most desired outcome. In this context, the author explores the role of such aspirations in the three negotiation phases: preparation, bargaining, and striking a deal. She investigates determinants of aspirations, unintended consequences such as unethical bargaining behavior, and the consequences of overly ambitious aspirations. As a result, she does not only close existing gaps in negotiation research, but also derives valuable implications for practitioners}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Hogenacker2015, author = {Hogenacker, Jens}, title = {Essays on the transition from unemployment to employment with a special emphasis on start-up subsidies in Germany}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-87464}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xvi, 272}, year = {2015}, abstract = {The promotion of self-employment as part of active labor market policies is considered to be one of the most important unemployment support schemes in Germany. Against this background the main part of this thesis contributes to the evaluation of start-up support schemes within ALMP. Chapter 2 and 4 focus on the evaluation of the New Start-up Subsidy (NSUS, Gr{\"u}ndungszuschuss) in its first version (from 2006 to the end of 2011). The chapters offer an advancement of the evaluation of start-up subsidies in Germany, and are based on a novel data set of administrative data from the Federal Employment Agency that was enriched with information from a telephone survey. Chapter 2 provides a thorough descriptive analysis of the NSUS that consists of two parts. First, the participant structure of the program is compared with the one of two former programs. In a second step, the study conducts an in-depth characterization of the participants of the NSUS focusing on founding motives, the level of start-up capital and equity used as well as the sectoral distribution of the new business. Furthermore, the business survival, income situation of founders and job creation by the new businesses is analyzed during a period of 19 months after start-up. The contribution of Chapter 4 is to introduce a new explorative data set that allows comparing subsidized start-ups out of unemployment with non-subsidized business start-ups that were founded by individuals who were not unemployed at the time of start-up. Because previous evaluation studies commonly used eligible non-participants amongst the unemployed as control group to assess the labor market effects of the start-up subsidies, the corresponding results hence referred to the effectiveness of the ALMP measure, but could not address the question whether the subsidy leads to similarly successful and innovative businesses compared to non-subsidized businesses. An assessment of this economic/growth aspect is also important, since the subsidy might induce negative effects that may outweigh the positive effects from an ALMP perspective. The main results of Chapter 4 indicate that subsidized founders seem to have no shortages in terms of formal education, but exhibit less employment and industry-specific experience, and are less likely to benefit from intergenerational transmission of start-ups. Moreover, the study finds evidence that necessity start-ups are over-represented among subsidized business founders, which suggests disadvantages in terms of business preparation due to possible time restrictions right before start-up. Finally, the study also detects more capital constraints among the unemployed, both in terms of the availability of personal equity and access to loans. With respect to potential differences between both groups in terms of business development over time, the results indicate that subsidized start-ups out of unemployment face higher business survival rates 19 months after start-up. However, they lag behind regular business founders in terms of income, business growth, and innovation. The arduous data collection process for start-up activities of non-subsidized founders for Chapter 4 made apparent that Germany is missing a central reporting system for business formations. Additionally, the different start-up reporting systems that do exist exhibit substantial discrepancies in data processing procedures, and therefore also in absolute numbers concerning the overall start-up activity. Chapter 3 is therefore placed in front of Chapter 4 and has the aim to provide a comprehensive review of the most important German start-up reporting systems. The second part of the thesis consists of Chapter 5 which contributes to the literature on determinants of job search behavior of the unemployed individuals by analyzing the effectiveness of internet search with regard to search behavior of unemployed individuals and subsequent job quality. The third and final part of the thesis outlines why the German labor market reacted in a very mild fashion to the Great Recession 2008/09, especially compared to other countries. Chapter 6 describes current economic trends of the labor market in light of general trends in the European Union, and reveals some of the main associated challenges. Thereafter, recent reforms of the main institutional settings of the labor market which influence labor supply are analyzed. Finally, based on the status quo of these institutional settings, the chapter gives a brief overview of strategies to adequately combat the challenges in terms of labor supply and to ensure economic growth in the future.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kamprath2014, author = {Kamprath, Martin}, title = {A microfoundations perspectives on fresight and business models}, pages = {224}, year = {2014}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Freudenreich2013, author = {Freudenreich, Johannes}, title = {Coalition Formation in Presidential Systems}, pages = {xii, 329}, year = {2013}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Loersch2014, author = {Loersch, Christian}, title = {Business start-ups and the effect of coaching programs}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-72605}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {XII, 282}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Entrepreneurship is known to be a main driver of economic growth. Hence, governments have an interest in supporting and promoting entrepreneurial activities. Start-up subsidies, which have been analyzed extensively, only aim at mitigating the lack of financial capital. However, some entrepreneurs also lack in human, social, and managerial capital. One way to address these shortcomings is by subsidizing coaching programs for entrepreneurs. However, theoretical and empirical evidence about business coaching and programs subsidizing coaching is scarce. This dissertation gives an extensive overview of coaching and is the first empirical study for Germany analyzing the effects of coaching programs on its participants. In the theoretical part of the dissertation the process of a business start-up is described and it is discussed how and in which stage of the company's evolvement coaching can influence entrepreneurial success. The concept of coaching is compared to other non-monetary types of support as training, mentoring, consulting, and counseling. Furthermore, national and international support programs are described. Most programs have either no or small positive effects. However, there is little quantitative evidence in the international literature. In the empirical part of the dissertation the effectiveness of coaching is shown by evaluating two German coaching programs, which support entrepreneurs via publicly subsidized coaching sessions. One of the programs aims at entrepreneurs who have been employed before becoming self-employed, whereas the other program is targeted at former unemployed entrepreneurs. The analysis is based on the evaluation of a quantitative and a qualitative dataset. The qualitative data are gathered by intensive one-on-one interviews with coaches and entrepreneurs. These data give a detailed insight about the coaching topics, duration, process, effectiveness, and the thoughts of coaches and entrepreneurs. The quantitative data include information about 2,936 German-based entrepreneurs. Using propensity score matching, the success of participants of the two coaching programs is compared with adequate groups of non-participants. In contrast to many other studies also personality traits are observed and controlled for in the matching process. The results show that only the program for former unemployed entrepreneurs has small positive effects. Participants have a larger survival probability in self-employment and a larger probability to hire employees than matched non-participants. In contrast, the program for former employed individuals has negative effects. Compared to individuals who did not participate in the coaching program, participants have a lower probability to stay in self-employment, lower earned net income, lower number of employees and lower life satisfaction. There are several reasons for these differing results of the two programs. First, former unemployed individuals have more basic coaching needs than former employed individuals. Coaches can satisfy these basic coaching needs, whereas former employed individuals have more complex business problems, which are not very easy to be solved by a coaching intervention. Second, the analysis reveals that former employed individuals are very successful in general. It is easier to increase the success of former unemployed individuals as they have a lower base level of success than former employed individuals. An effect heterogeneity analysis shows that coaching effectiveness differs by region. Coaching for previously unemployed entrepreneurs is especially useful in regions with bad labor market conditions. In summary, in line with previous literature, it is found that coaching has little effects on the success of entrepreneurs. The previous employment status, the characteristics of the entrepreneur and the regional labor market conditions play a crucial role in the effectiveness of coaching. In conclusion, coaching needs to be well tailored to the individual and applied thoroughly. Therefore, governments should design and provide coaching programs only after due consideration.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Burdack2014, author = {Burdack, Doreen}, title = {Water management policies and their impact on irrigated crop production in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, isbn = {978-3-86956-306-0}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-72245}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {307}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The economic impact analysis contained in this book shows how irrigation farming is particularly susceptible when applying certain water management policies in the Australian Murray-Darling Basin, one of the world largest river basins and Australia's most fertile region. By comparing different pricing and non-pricing water management policies with the help of the Water Integrated Market Model, it is found that the impact of water demand reducing policies is most severe on crops that need to be intensively irrigated and are at the same time less water productive. A combination of increasingly frequent and severe droughts and the application of policies that decrease agricultural water demand, in the same region, will create a situation in which the highly water dependent crops rice and cotton cannot be cultivated at all.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schmidl2014, author = {Schmidl, Ricarda}, title = {Empirical essays on job search behavior, active labor market policies, and propensity score balancing methods}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-71145}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2014}, abstract = {In Chapter 1 of the dissertation, the role of social networks is analyzed as an important determinant in the search behavior of the unemployed. Based on the hypothesis that the unemployed generate information on vacancies through their social network, search theory predicts that individuals with large social networks should experience an increased productivity of informal search, and reduce their search in formal channels. Due to the higher productivity of search, unemployed with a larger network are also expected to have a higher reservation wage than unemployed with a small network. The model-theoretic predictions are tested and confirmed empirically. It is found that the search behavior of unemployed is significantly affected by the presence of social contacts, with larger networks implying a stronger substitution away from formal search channels towards informal channels. The substitution is particularly pronounced for passive formal search methods, i.e., search methods that generate rather non-specific types of job offer information at low relative cost. We also find small but significant positive effects of an increase of the network size on the reservation wage. These results have important implications on the analysis of the job search monitoring or counseling measures that are usually targeted at formal search only. Chapter 2 of the dissertation addresses the labor market effects of vacancy information during the early stages of unemployment. The outcomes considered are the speed of exit from unemployment, the effects on the quality of employment and the short-and medium-term effects on active labor market program (ALMP) participation. It is found that vacancy information significantly increases the speed of entry into employment; at the same time the probability to participate in ALMP is significantly reduced. Whereas the long-term reduction in the ALMP arises in consequence of the earlier exit from unemployment, we also observe a short-run decrease for some labor market groups which suggest that caseworker use high and low intensity activation measures interchangeably which is clearly questionable from an efficiency point of view. For unemployed who find a job through vacancy information we observe a small negative effect on the weekly number of hours worked. In Chapter 3, the long-term effects of participation in ALMP are assessed for unemployed youth under 25 years of age. Complementary to the analysis in Chapter 2, the effects of participation in time- and cost-intensive measures of active labor market policies are examined. In particular we study the effects of job creation schemes, wage subsidies, short-and long-term training measures and measures to promote the participation in vocational training. The outcome variables of interest are the probability to be in regular employment, and participation in further education during the 60 months following program entry. The analysis shows that all programs, except job creation schemes have positive and long-term effects on the employment probability of youth. In the short-run only short-term training measures generate positive effects, as long-term training programs and wage subsidies exhibit significant locking-in'' effects. Measures to promote vocational training are found to increase the probability of attending education and training significantly, whereas all other programs have either no or a negative effect on training participation. Effect heterogeneity with respect to the pre-treatment level education shows that young people with higher pre-treatment educational levels benefit more from participation most programs. However, for longer-term wage subsidies we also find strong positive effects for young people with low initial education levels. The relative benefit of training measures is higher in West than in East Germany. In the evaluation studies of Chapters 2 and 3 semi-parametric balancing methods of Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and Inverse Probability Weighting (IPW) are used to eliminate the effects of counfounding factors that influence both the treatment participation as well as the outcome variable of interest, and to establish a causal relation between program participation and outcome differences. While PSM and IPW are intuitive and methodologically attractive as they do not require parametric assumptions, the practical implementation may become quite challenging due to their sensitivity to various data features. Given the importance of these methods in the evaluation literature, and the vast number of recent methodological contributions in this field, Chapter 4 aims to reduce the knowledge gap between the methodological and applied literature by summarizing new findings of the empirical and statistical literature and practical guidelines for future applied research. In contrast to previous publications this study does not only focus on the estimation of causal effects, but stresses that the balancing challenge can and should be discussed independent of question of causal identification of treatment effects on most empirical applications. Following a brief outline of the practical implementation steps required for PSM and IPW, these steps are presented in detail chronologically, outlining practical advice for each step. Subsequently, the topics of effect estimation, inference, sensitivity analysis and the combination with parametric estimation methods are discussed. Finally, new extensions of the methodology and avenues for future research are presented.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Ganahl2013, author = {Ganahl, Joseph Patrick}, title = {Corruption, good governance, and the African state : a critical analysis of the political-economic foundations of orruption in Sub-Saharan Africa}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, isbn = {978-3-86956-248-3}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-65167}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {x, 300}, year = {2013}, abstract = {African states are often called corrupt indicating that the political system in Africa differs from the one prevalent in the economically advanced democracies. This however does not give us any insight into what makes corruption the ruling norm of African statehood. Thus we must turn to the overly neglected theoretical work on the political economy of Africa in order to determine how the poverty of governance in Africa is firmly anchored both in Africa's domestic socioeconomic reality, as well as in the region's role in the international economic order. Instead of focusing on increased monitoring, enforcement and formal democratic procedures, this book integrates economic analysis with political theory in order to arrive at a better understanding of the political-economic roots of corruption in Sub-Saharan Africa.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kuenn2012, author = {K{\"u}nn, Steffen}, title = {Unemployment and active labor market policy : new evidence on start-up subsidies, marginal employment and programs for youth unemployed}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-62718}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2012}, abstract = {In industrialized economies such as the European countries unemployment rates are very responsive to the business cycle and significant shares stay unemployed for more than one year. To fight cyclical and long-term unemployment countries spend significant shares of their budget on Active Labor Market Policies (ALMP). To improve the allocation and design of ALMP it is essential for policy makers to have reliable evidence on the effectiveness of such programs available. Although the number of studies has been increased during the last decades, policy makers still lack evidence on innovative programs and for specific subgroups of the labor market. Using Germany as a case study, the dissertation aims at contributing in this way by providing new evidence on start-up subsidies, marginal employment and programs for youth unemployed. The idea behind start-up subsidies is to encourage unemployed individuals to exit unemployment by starting their own business. Those programs have compared to traditional programs of ALMP the advantage that not only the participant escapes unemployment but also might generate additional jobs for other individuals. Considering two distinct start-up subsidy programs, the dissertation adds three substantial aspects to the literature: First, the programs are effective in improving the employment and income situation of participants compared to non-participants in the long-run. Second, the analysis on effect heterogeneity reveals that the programs are particularly effective for disadvantaged groups in the labor market like low educated or low qualified individuals, and in regions with unfavorable economic conditions. Third, the analysis considers the effectiveness of start-up programs for women. Due to higher preferences for flexible working hours and limited part-time jobs, unemployed women often face more difficulties to integrate in dependent employment. It can be shown that start-up subsidy programs are very promising as unemployed women become self-employed which gives them more flexibility to reconcile work and family. Overall, the results suggest that the promotion of self-employment among the unemployed is a sensible strategy to fight unemployment by abolishing labor market barriers for disadvantaged groups and sustainably integrating those into the labor market. The next chapter of the dissertation considers the impact of marginal employment on labor market outcomes of the unemployed. Unemployed individuals in Germany are allowed to earn additional income during unemployment without suffering a reduction in their unemployment benefits. Those additional earnings are usually earned by taking up so-called marginal employment that is employment below a certain income level subject to reduced payroll taxes (also known as "mini-job"). The dissertation provides an empirical evaluation of the impact of marginal employment on unemployment duration and subsequent job quality. The results suggest that being marginal employed during unemployment has no significant effect on unemployment duration but extends employment duration. Moreover, it can be shown that taking up marginal employment is particularly effective for long-term unemployed, leading to higher job-finding probabilities and stronger job stability. It seems that mini-jobs can be an effective instrument to help long-term unemployed individuals to find (stable) jobs which is particularly interesting given the persistently high shares of long-term unemployed in European countries. Finally, the dissertation provides an empirical evaluation of the effectiveness of ALMP programs to improve labor market prospects of unemployed youth. Youth are generally considered a population at risk as they have lower search skills and little work experience compared to adults. This results in above-average turnover rates between jobs and unemployment for youth which is particularly sensitive to economic fluctuations. Therefore, countries spend significant resources on ALMP programs to fight youth unemployment. However, so far only little is known about the effectiveness of ALMP for unemployed youth and with respect to Germany no comprehensive quantitative analysis exists at all. Considering seven different ALMP programs, the results show an overall positive picture with respect to post-treatment employment probabilities for all measures under scrutiny except for job creation schemes. With respect to effect heterogeneity, it can be shown that almost all programs particularly improve the labor market prospects of youths with high levels of pretreatment schooling. Furthermore, youths who are assigned to the most successful employment measures have much better characteristics in terms of their pre-treatment employment chances compared to non-participants. Therefore, the program assignment process seems to favor individuals for whom the measures are most beneficial, indicating a lack of ALMP alternatives that could benefit low-educated youths.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kroll2012, author = {Kroll, Alexander}, title = {Why public managers use performance information : concepts, theory, and empirical analysis}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-59795}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Diese Dissertation untersucht die Verwendung von Performance-Informationen („Kennzahlen") durch F{\"u}hrungskr{\"a}fte in der {\"o}ffentlichen Verwaltung. Unter „Verwendung" wird dabei die zweckorientierte Nutzung der Daten verstanden, um zu steuern, zu lernen und {\"o}ffentliche Leistungen zu verbessern. Die zentrale Frage der Arbeit lautet: Wie k{\"o}nnen Unterschiede bei der Verwendung von Performance-Informationen erkl{\"a}rt werden? Um diese Frage zu beantworten, wird die bereits existierende Literatur strukturiert ausgewertet. Forschungsl{\"u}cken werden aufgezeigt und eigene Ans{\"a}tze vorgestellt, wie diese geschlossen werden k{\"o}nnen. Der erste Teil der Dissertation untersucht den Einfluss von Manager-bezogenen Faktoren auf die Nutzung von Performance-Daten, die bislang in der Forschung noch keine Ber{\"u}cksichtigung gefunden haben. Der zweite Abschnitt testet ein modifiziertes Modell aus der Psychologie, das auf der Annahme basiert, dass die Verwendung von Performance-Informationen ein bewusstes und durchdachtes Verhalten darstellt. Der dritte Teil untersucht, inwieweit sich die Erkl{\"a}rungen f{\"u}r die Nutzung von Performance-Informationen unterscheiden, wenn wir diese nicht nur als Kennzahlen definieren, sondern ebenfalls andere Quellen von „unsystematischem" Feedback ber{\"u}cksichtigen. Die empirischen Ergebnisse der Arbeit basieren auf einer Umfrage aus dem Jahr 2011. Im Rahmen dieses Surveys habe ich die mittleren Manager (Amtsleiter und Fachbereichsleiter) aus acht ausgew{\"a}hlten Bereichen aller kreisfreien St{\"a}dte in Deutschland befragt (n=954). Zur Auswertung der Daten wurden die Verfahren Faktorenanalyse, Multiple Regressionsanalyse und Strukturgleichungsmodellierung eingesetzt. Meine Forschung f{\"o}rderte unter anderem vier Erkenntnisse zu Tage, die durch {\"a}hnliche Befunde der verschiedenen Teile der Dissertation abgesichert sind: 1) Die Verwendung von Performance-Daten kann als bewusstes Verhalten von F{\"u}hrungskr{\"a}ften modelliert werden, das durch deren Einstellung sowie durch die Einstellung ihres sozialen Umfeldes bestimmt wird. 2) H{\"a}ufige Nutzer von Performance-Informationen zeigen {\"u}berraschenderweise keine generelle Pr{\"a}ferenz f{\"u}r das abstrakt-analytische Verarbeiten von Informationen. Stattdessen bevorzugen sie, Informationen durch pers{\"o}nliche Interaktionen aufzunehmen. 3) Manager, die sich fr{\"u}h im Rahmen der Ermittlung von Performance-Informationen engagieren, nutzen diese sp{\"a}ter auch h{\"a}ufiger, um Entscheidungen zu treffen. 4) Performance-Berichte sind nur eine Informationsquelle unter vielen. Verwaltungsmanager pr{\"a}ferieren verbales Feedback von Insidern sowie das Feedback von wichtigen externen Stakeholdern gegen{\"u}ber systematischen Performance-Daten. Die Dissertation erkl{\"a}rt diese Befunde theoretisch und verdeutlicht deren Implikationen f{\"u}r Theorie und Praxis.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Krause2011, author = {Krause, Jette}, title = {An expert-based Bayesian investigation of greenhouse gas emission reduction options for German passenger vehicles until 2030}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-57671}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2011}, abstract = {The present thesis introduces an iterative expert-based Bayesian approach for assessing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the 2030 German new vehicle fleet and quantifying the impacts of their main drivers. A first set of expert interviews has been carried out in order to identify technologies which may help to lower car GHG emissions and to quantify their emission reduction potentials. Moreover, experts were asked for their probability assessments that the different technologies will be widely adopted, as well as for important prerequisites that could foster or hamper their adoption. Drawing on the results of these expert interviews, a Bayesian Belief Network has been built which explicitly models three vehicle types: Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (which include mild and full Hybrid Electric Vehicles), Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles, and Battery Electric Vehicles. The conditional dependencies of twelve central variables within the BBN - battery energy, fuel and electricity consumption, relative costs, and sales shares of the vehicle types - have been quantified by experts from German car manufacturers in a second series of interviews. For each of the seven second-round interviews, an expert's individually specified BBN results. The BBN have been run for different hypothetical 2030 scenarios which differ, e.g., in regard to battery development, regulation, and fuel and electricity GHG intensities. The present thesis delivers results both in regard to the subject of the investigation and in regard to its method. On the subject level, it has been found that the different experts expect 2030 German new car fleet emission to be at 50 to 65\% of 2008 new fleet emissions under the baseline scenario. They can be further reduced to 40 to 50\% of the emissions of the 2008 fleet though a combination of a higher share of renewables in the electricity mix, a larger share of biofuels in the fuel mix, and a stricter regulation of car CO\$_2\$ emissions in the European Union. Technically, 2030 German new car fleet GHG emissions can be reduced to a minimum of 18 to 44\% of 2008 emissions, a development which can not be triggered by any combination of measures modeled in the BBN alone but needs further commitment. Out of a wealth of existing BBN, few have been specified by individual experts through elicitation, and to my knowledge, none of them has been employed for analyzing perspectives for the future. On the level of methods, this work shows that expert-based BBN are a valuable tool for making experts' expectations for the future explicit and amenable to the analysis of different hypothetical scenarios. BBN can also be employed for quantifying the impacts of main drivers. They have been demonstrated to be a valuable tool for iterative stakeholder-based science approaches.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Fucik2010, author = {Fucik, Markus}, title = {Bayesian risk management : "Frequency does not make you smarter"}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-53089}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2010}, abstract = {Within our research group Bayesian Risk Solutions we have coined the idea of a Bayesian Risk Management (BRM). It claims (1) a more transparent and diligent data analysis as well as (2)an open-minded incorporation of human expertise in risk management. In this dissertation we formulize a framework for BRM based on the two pillars Hardcore-Bayesianism (HCB) and Softcore-Bayesianism (SCB) providing solutions for the claims above. For data analysis we favor Bayesian statistics with its Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation algorithm. It provides a full illustration of data-induced uncertainty beyond classical point-estimates. We calibrate twelve different stochastic processes to four years of CO2 price data. Besides, we calculate derived risk measures (ex ante/ post value-at-risks, capital charges, option prices) and compare them to their classical counterparts. When statistics fails because of a lack of reliable data we propose our integrated Bayesian Risk Analysis (iBRA) concept. It is a basic guideline for an expertise-driven quantification of critical risks. We additionally review elicitation techniques and tools supporting experts to express their uncertainty. Unfortunately, Bayesian thinking is often blamed for its arbitrariness. Therefore, we introduce the idea of a Bayesian due diligence judging expert assessments according to their information content and their inter-subjectivity.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Boehme2011, author = {B{\"o}hme, Dimo}, title = {EU-Russia energy relations: What chance for solutions? : A focus on the natural gas sector}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, isbn = {978-3-86956-120-2}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-50210}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xix, 322}, year = {2011}, abstract = {Public debate about energy relations between the EU and Russia is distorted. These distortions present considerable obstacles to the development of true partnership. At the core of the conflict is a struggle for resource rents between energy producing, energy consuming and transit countries. Supposed secondary aspects, however, are also of great importance. They comprise of geopolitics, market access, economic development and state sovereignty. The European Union, having engaged in energy market liberalisation, faces a widening gap between declining domestic resources and continuously growing energy demand. Diverse interests inside the EU prevent the definition of a coherent and respected energy policy. Russia, for its part, is no longer willing to subsidise its neighbouring economies by cheap energy exports. The Russian government engages in assertive policies pursuing Russian interests. In so far, it opts for a different globalisation approach, refusing the role of mere energy exporter. In view of the intensifying struggle for global resources, Russia, with its large energy potential, appears to be a very favourable option for European energy supplies, if not the best one. However, several outcomes of the strategic game between the two partners can be imagined. Engaging in non-cooperative strategies will in the end leave all stakeholders worse-off. The European Union should therefore concentrate on securing its partnership with Russia instead of damaging it. Stable cooperation would need the acceptance that the partner may pursue his own goals, which might be different from one's own interests. The question is, how can a sustainable compromise be found? This thesis finds that a mix of continued dialogue, a tit for tat approach bolstered by an international institutional framework and increased integration efforts appears as a preferable solution.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Lkhagvadorj2009, author = {Lkhagvadorj, Ariunaa}, title = {Fiscal federalism and decentralization in Mongolia}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-41196}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2009}, abstract = {Fiscal federalism has been an important topic among public finance theorists in the last four decades. There is a series of arguments that decentralization of governments enhances growth by improving allocation efficiency. However, the empirical studies have shown mixed results for industrialized and developing countries and some of them have demonstrated that there might be a threshold level of economic development below which decentralization is not effective. Developing and transition countries have developed a variety of forms of fiscal decentralization as a possible strategy to achieve effective and efficient governmental structures. A generalized principle of decentralization due to the country specific circumstances does not exist. Therefore, decentralization has taken place in different forms in various countries at different times, and even exactly the same extent of decentralization may have had different impacts under different conditions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current state of the fiscal decentralization in Mongolia and to develop policy recommendations for the efficient and effective intergovernmental fiscal relations system for Mongolia. Within this perspective the analysis concentrates on the scope and structure of the public sector, the expenditure and revenue assignment as well as on the design of the intergovernmental transfer and sub-national borrowing. The study is based on data for twenty-one provinces and the capital city of Mongolia for the period from 2000 to 2009. As a former socialist country Mongolia has had a highly centralized governmental sector. The result of the analysis below revealed that the Mongolia has introduced a number of decentralization measures, which followed a top down approach and were slowly implemented without any integrated decentralization strategy in the last decade. As a result Mongolia became de-concentrated state with fiscal centralization. The revenue assignment is lacking a very important element, for instance significant revenue autonomy given to sub-national governments, which is vital for the efficient service delivery at the local level. According to the current assignments of the expenditure and revenue responsibilities most of the provinces are unable to provide a certain national standard of public goods supply. Hence, intergovernmental transfers from the central jurisdiction to the sub-national jurisdictions play an important role for the equalization of the vertical and horizontal imbalances in Mongolia. The critical problem associated with intergovernmental transfers is that there is not a stable, predictable and transparent system of transfer allocation. The amount of transfers to sub-national governments is determined largely by political decisions on ad hoc basis and disregards local differences in needs and fiscal capacity. Thus a fiscal equalization system based on the fiscal needs of the provinces should be implemented. The equalization transfers will at least partly offset the regional disparities in revenues and enable the sub-national governments to provide a national minimum standard of local public goods.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Biewald2008, author = {Biewald, Anne}, title = {A dynamic life cycle model for Germany with unemployment uncertainty}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-33111}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2008}, abstract = {This work analyzes the saving and consumption behavior of agents faced with the possibility of unemployment in a dynamic and stochastic life cycle model. The intertemporal optimization is based on Dynamic Programming with a backward recursion algorithm. The implemented uncertainty is not based on income shocks as it is done in traditional life cycle models but uses Markov probabilities where the probability for the next employment status of the agent depends on the current status. The utility function used is a CRRA function (constant relative risk aversion), combined with a CES function (constant elasticity of substitution) and has several consumption goods, a subsistence level, money and a bequest function.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Foerster2006, author = {F{\"o}rster, Hannah}, title = {Rationing \& Bayesian expectations with application to the labour market}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-15217}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2006}, abstract = {The first goal of the present work focuses on the need for different rationing methods of the The Global Change and Financial Transition (GFT) work- ing group at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK): I provide a toolbox which contains a variety of rationing methods to be ap- plied to micro-economic disequilibrium models of the lagom model family. This toolbox consists of well known rationing methods, and of rationing methods provided specifically for lagom. To ensure an easy application the toolbox is constructed in modular fashion. The second goal of the present work is to present a micro-economic labour market where heterogenous labour suppliers experience consecu- tive job opportunities and need to decide whether to apply for employ- ment. The labour suppliers are heterogenous with respect to their qualifi- cations and their beliefs about the application behaviour of their competi- tors. They learn simultaneously - in Bayesian fashion - about their individ- ual perceived probability to obtain employment conditional on application (PPE) by observing each others' application behaviour over a cycle of job opportunities.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Bauer2005, author = {Bauer, Niclas Alexandre}, title = {Carbon capture and sequestration : an option to buy time?}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-6544}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2005}, abstract = {The thesis assesses the contribution of technology option of Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) to climate change mitigation. CCS means that CO2 is captured at large industrial facilities and sequestered in goelogical structures. The technology uses the endogenous growth model MIND. Herein the various climate change mitigation options of reducing economic growth, increasing energy efficiency, changing the energy mix and CCS are assessed simultaneously. An important question is whether CCS is a temporary or long-term solution. The results show that in the middle of the 21st century CCS has its peak contribution, which allows prolonged use of relatively cheap fossil energy carriers. However, this leads to delayed introduction of renewable energy carriers. The technology path ways are accombined with different costs of climate change mitigation. The use of CCS delays and reduces the costs of climate change mitigation. However, the delayed introduction of renewable energy carriers leads to reduced technological learning, which induces higher costs in the longer term. All in all the temporary use of CCS reduces the costs of climate change mitigation costs. The result is robust, which is tested with various uncertainty analysis.}, subject = {Endogenes Wirtschaftswachstum}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Scholderer2004, author = {Scholderer, Joachim}, title = {Consumer attitudes towards genetically modified foods in Europe : structure and changeability}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-6245}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2004}, abstract = {Genetically modified foods have been at the center of debate in European consumer policy in the last two decades. Although the quasi-moratorium has been lifted in May 2004 and the road to the market is in principle reopened, strategies for product introduction are lacking. The aim of the research is to assess potential barriers in the area of consumer acceptance and suggest ways in which they can be overcome. After a short history of the genetically modified foods debate in Europe, the existing literature is reviewed. Although previous research converges in its central results, issues that are more fundamental have remained unresolved. Based on classical approaches in attitude research and modern theories of social cognition, a general model of the structure, function and dynamics of whole systems of attitudes is developed. The predictions of the model are empirically tested based on an attitude survey (N = 2000) and two attitude change experiments (N = 1400 and N = 750). All three studies were conducted in parallel in four EU member states. The results show that consumer attitudes towards genetically modified foods are embedded into a structured system of general socio-political attitudes. The system operates as a schema through which consumers form global evaluations of the technology. Specific risk and benefit judgments are mere epiphenomena of this process. Risk-benefit trade-offs, as often presupposed in the literature, do not appear to enter the process. The attitudes have a value-expressive function; their purpose is not just a temporary reduction of complexity. These properties render the system utterly resistant to communicative interventions. At the same time, it exerts stong anchoring effects on the processing of new information. Communication of benefit arguments can trigger boomerang effects and backfire on the credibility of the communicator when the arguments contrast with preexisting attitudes held by the consumer. Only direct sensory experience with high-quality products can partially bypass the system and lead to the formation of alternative attitude structures. Therefore, the recommended market introduction strategy for genetically modified foods is the simultaneous and coordinated launch of many high-quality products. Point of sale promotions should be the central instrument. Information campaigns, on the other hand, are not likely to have an effect on the product and technology acceptance of European consumers.}, subject = {Verbraucherforschung}, language = {en} }