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National Action Plans (NAPs) have been increas-ingly adopted world-wide after the Vienna Dec-laration in 1993, where it was urged to consider the improvement and promotion of Human Rights. In this paper, we discuss their usefulness and success by analysing the challenges present-ed during NAP processes as well as the benefits this set of actions entails: The challenges for their implementation outweigh its actual benefits. Nevertheless, NAPs have great potential. Based on new research, we elaborate a set of recom-mendations for improving the design and imple-mentation of national action planning. In order to effectively bring NAP into practice, we consider it crucial to plan and analyse every state local circumstances in detail. The latter is important, since the implementation of a concrete set of actions is intended to directly transform and improve the local living conditions of the people. In a long-term perspective, we defend the benefit of NAP’s implementation for complying obliga-tions set up by HR treaties.
The last years have been affected by Covid-19 and the international emergency mecha-nism to deal with health-related threats. The effects of this period manifested differ-ently worldwide, depending on matters such as international relations, national policies, power dynamics etc. Additionally, the impact of this time will likely have long-term effects which are yet to be known. This paper gives a critical overview of the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) mechanism in the context of Covid-19. It does so by explaining the legal framework for states of emergency, specifically in the context of a PHEIC, while considering its restrictions and limitations on human rights. It further outlines issues in the manifestation of global protections and limitations on human rights during Covid-19. Lastly, considering the likelihood of future PHEICs and the known systemic obstructions, this paper offers ways to im-prove this mechanism from a holistic, non-zero-sum perspective.
We use the prolonged Greek crisis as a case study to understand how a lasting economic shock affects the innovation strategies of firms in economies with moderate innovation activities. Adopting the 3-stage CDM model, we explore the link between R&D, innovation, and productivity for different size groups of Greek manufacturing firms during the prolonged crisis. At the first stage, we find that the continuation of the crisis is harmful for the R&D engagement of smaller firms while it increased the willingness for R&D activities among the larger ones. At the second stage, among smaller firms the knowledge production remains unaffected by R&D investments, while among larger firms the R&D decision is positively correlated with the probability of producing innovation, albeit the relationship is weakened as the crisis continues. At the third stage, innovation output benefits only larger firms in terms of labor productivity, while the innovation-productivity nexus is insignificant for smaller firms during the lasting crisis.
The large literature that aims to find evidence of climate migration delivers mixed findings. This meta-regression analysis i) summarizes direct links between adverse climatic events and migration, ii) maps patterns of climate migration, and iii) explains the variation in outcomes. Using a set of limited dependent variable models, we meta-analyze thus-far the most comprehensive sample of 3,625 estimates from 116 original studies and produce novel insights on climate migration. We find that extremely high temperatures and drying conditions increase migration. We do not find a significant effect of sudden-onset events. Climate migration is most likely to emerge due to contemporaneous events, to originate in rural areas and to take place in middle-income countries, internally, to cities. The likelihood to become trapped in affected areas is higher for women and in low-income countries, particularly in Africa. We uniquely quantify how pitfalls typical for the broader empirical climate impact literature affect climate migration findings. We also find evidence of different publication biases.
The paper aims to lay out a framework for evaluating value shifts in the international legal order for the purposes of a forthcoming book. In view of current contestations it asks whether we are observing yet another period of norm change (Wandel) or even a more fundamental transformation of international law – a metamorphosis (Verwandlung). For this purpose it suggests to look into the mechanisms of how norms change from the perspective of legal and political science and also to approximate a reference point where change turns into metamorphosis. It submits that such a point may be reached where specific legally protected values are indeed changing (change of legal values) or where the very idea of protecting certain values through law is renounced (delegalizing of values). The paper discusses the benefits of such an interdisciplinary exchange and tries to identify differences and commonalities among both disciplinary perspectives.
Once the “popular plaything of Realpolitiker” the doctrine of rebus sic stantibus post the 1969 VCLT is often described as an objective rule by which, on grounds of equity and justice, a fundamental change of circumstances may be invoked as a ground for termination. Yet recent practice from States such as Ecuador, Russia, Denmark and the United Kingdom suggests that it is returning with a new livery. They point to an understanding based on vital States’ interests––a view popular among scholars such as Erich Kaufmann at the beginning of the last century.
Social segregation in cities takes place where different household groups exist and when, according to Schelling, their location choice either minimizes the number of differing households in their neighborhood or maximizes their own group. In this contribution an evolutionary simulation based on a monocentric city model with externalities among households is used to discuss the spatial segregation patterns of four groups. The resulting complex spatial patterns can be shown as graphic animations. They can be applied as initial situation for the analysis of the effects a rent control has on segregation.
Das dritte Working Paper in der KFG Working Paper Series analysiert Zustand und Perspektiven völkerrechtlicher Abrüstungsverträge unter der Ägide der Vereinten Nationen. Während die dreißig Jahre zwischen der Kuba-Krise und dem Fall des Eisernen Vorhangs für die Abrüstung eine erfolgreiche Periode gewesen seien, seien in den Vereinten Nationen seither außer dem Waffenhandelsvertrag keine weiteren Abrüstungsverträge abgeschlossen worden. Die gegenwärtige Stimmung sei abwartend bis negativ, obwohl es ein Nachholbedürfnis gebe, Abrüstungsverträge an die heutigen politischen Gegebenheiten sowie an den Stand der Technik anzupassen. Die Verfasserin schlägt als Lösung vor, durch eine Politik der kleinen Schritte ein besseres Abrüstungsklima zu schaffen, indem dem Diskurs auf Grundlage zusätzlicher Protokolle zu bestehenden Verträgen und notfalls auch durch ein Ausweichen auf andere Gremien eine neue Richtung verliehen werde.
Access to digital finance
(2024)
Financing entrepreneurship spurs innovation and economic growth. Digital financial platforms that crowdfund equity for entrepreneurs have emerged globally, yet they remain poorly understood. We model equity crowdfunding in terms of the relationship between the number of investors and the amount of money raised per pitch. We examine heterogeneity in the average amount raised per pitch that is associated with differences across three countries and seven platforms. Using a novel dataset of successful fundraising on the most prominent platforms in the UK, Germany, and the USA, we find the underlying relationship between the number of investors and the amount of money raised for entrepreneurs is loglinear, with a coefficient less than one and concave to the origin. We identify significant variation in the average amount invested in each pitch across countries and platforms. Our findings have implications for market actors as well as regulators who set competitive frameworks.
This article re-examines the relationship between Africa and the International Criminal Court (ICC). It traces the successive changes of the African attitude towards this Court, from states' euphoria, to hostility against its work, to regional counter-initiatives through the umbrella of the African Union (AU). The main argument goes beyond the idea of "the Court that Africa wants" in order to identify concrete reasons behind such a formal argument which may have fostered, if not enticed, the majority of African states to become ICC members and actively cooperate with it, when paradoxically some great powers have decided to stay outside its jurisdiction. It also seeks to understand, from a political and legal viewpoint, which parameters have changed since then to provoke that hostile attitude against the Court's work and the entrance of the AU into the debate through the African Common Position on the ICC. Lastly, this article explores African alternatives to the contested ICC justice system. It examines the need to reform the Rome Statute in order to give more independence, credibility and legitimacy to the ICC and its duplication to some extent by the new "Criminal Court of the African Union". Particular attention is paid to the resistance against this idea to reform the ICC justice system.
Inhalt 1 Einführung und Grundlagen 1.1 Problemstellung und Vorgehensweise 1.2 Ordnungsökonomische Systematisierung 1.3 „Neue“ Besonderheitenlehre für Netzindustrien 2 Ansatzpunkte zur Liberalisierung in Netzindustrien 2.1 Liberalisierung durch Privatisierung 2.1.1 Interdependenz von Privatisierung und Marktöffnung 2.1.2 Privatisierungsstufen 2.2 Liberalisierung durch Deregulierung und Re-Regulierung 2.2.1 Abgrenzung des relevanten Marktes: Netzinfrastruktur versus Netzdienstleistungen 2.2.2 Lokalisierung und Kontrolle von Marktmacht bei Netzinfrastruktur 2.3 Modelle zur Gewährleistung eines diskriminierungsfreien Netzzugangs 2.3.1 Verhandelter Netzzugang mit Missbrauchsaufsicht im Sinne der Essential-Facilities-Doktrin 2.3.2 Staatliche Regulierung des Netzzugangs 2.4 Theorie der vertikalen (Des-)Integration 2.4.1 Allokativ-statische, wohlfahrtsökonomische Analyse vertikaler Integration 2.4.2 Institutionenökonomische Analyse vertikaler Integration 2.4.3 Dynamische, wettbewerbsökonomische Analyse vertikaler Integration 2.4.4 Konsequenz: Vertikale Desintegration 3 Institutionelle Ausgestaltung der Wettbewerbsaufsicht 3.1 Systematisierung der Träger und Kompetenzabgrenzung 3.2 Kriterien für eine effiziente Wettbewerbsaufsicht 4 Schlussfolgerungen und intersektoraler Vergleich des Liberalisierungsprozessesin Netzindustrien
During its sessions in 2016 and 2017 the UN International Law Commission (ILC) debated the question whether the immunity of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction is subject to exceptions for international crimes and provisionally adopted a Draft Article 7 on immunity ratione materiae. The following analytical presentation classifies and documents the reactions of States to draft article 7, paragraph 1, as they have been expressed in the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the General Assembly in 2017.
Auftrag und Möglichkeiten der Kommission für Friedenskonsolidierung im System der Vereinten Nationen
(2019)
Vor dem Hintergrund der international steigenden Zahl an Konfliktrückfällen insbesondere im Anschluss an bereits offiziell für beendet erklärte Bürgerkriege und die daraus folgende zunehmende Relevanz von Peacebuilding-Maßnahmen der internationalen Gemeinschaft, wird in diesem Beitrag die Arbeit der Kommission für Friedenskonsolidierung der Vereinten Nationen untersucht. Einerseits werden hierbei, nach einigen einführenden Erläuterungen zum Begriff der Friedenskonsolidierung an sich sowie der Zusammensetzung und Funktionsweise der Kommission, zunächst ihre einzelnen Aufträge systematisch unter Einordnung in den Kontext des Peacebuilding-Systems der Vereinten Nationen herausgearbeitet und eine auswertende Bilanz unter ihre bisherige Erfüllung gezogen. Daran anschließend erfolgt eine Darstellung der zukünftigen Möglichkeiten der Kommission im Bereich der Friedenskonsolidierung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung ihres Potenzials innerhalb des Systems der Vereinten Nationen sowie der einschlägigen völkerrechtlichen Aspekte.
The author discusses the question of authority when determining the content of an international legal rule. Taking Article 38(1)(d) of the ICJ Statute as a point of departure, he determines through meticolous analysis what ranks as judicial decisions as well as teachings within the meaning of the norm. The author then proceeds to a number of factors to determine authoritativeness: objectivity, knowledgeability, depth of analysis, and the presence or otherwise of reasoning and, in particular, the persuasiveness of an opinion. In the case of judicial pronouncements, the author points out that the paradox between Article 59 and Article 38(1)(d) of the ICJ Statute is only an apparent one. While judgments of the Court are binding only between the parties, it is merely the underlying reasoning that can be taken into account in the context of Article 38(1)(d) if considered persuasive. Without central authority, authoritativenes in international law must always be earned which is also the reason for the lack of an hierarchical order between as well as within judicial pronouncements and learned writings though the former are usually more likely to fulfil the criteria of authoritativeness. In both cases, however, previously acquired reputation of a court or even an individual judge as well as of a learned writer can create a presumption of authoritativeness. On a more general level, the author concludes with a call for a more careful differentiation between the determination of law and its application. Putting the issue discussed into perspective, the author argues that situations of law determination arise, contrary to common understanding, in fact far less often than situations of law application.
This study examines how the size of trade unions relative to the la- bor force impacts on the desirability of different organizational forms of self-financing unemployment insurance (UI) for workers, firms, and with reference to an efficiency criterion. For this purpose, we respectively nu- merically compare the outcome of a model with a uniform payroll tax to a model where workers pay taxes according to their systematic risk of unemployment. Our results highlight the importance of the bargaining structure for the assessment of a particular UI scheme. Most importantly, it depends on the size of the unions whether efficiency favors a uniform or a differentiated UI scheme.
Berlin – New York
(2018)
Beginning in January 2019, the new German government will face a particular new responsibility for world affairs: provided the elections in June 2018 lead to the desired result, Germany will be an elected member of the UN Security Council for two years from January 2019 until December 2020. However, Germany has been a respected and highly relevant member of the United Nations not only during its terms on the Security Council but also in “normal” times. The present article attempts to shed light on a few aspects of Germany’s role in the UN during Merkel’s chancellorship with an emphasis on her third term (2014-2017), such as the cooperative relationship between Germany and the UN Secretary-General in important policy fields, Germany’s financial contributions to the UN, the impact of Germany’s EU membership on its UN membership and the country’s efforts with regard to the reform of the Security Council. The paper further provides context for Germany’s abstention in the vote on Security Council Resolution 1973 on Libya in 2011. It concludes by ascertaining that Germany with its approach of active multilateralism has taken its place as one of the leading nations in Europe and is ready to take on responsibility with its partners to achieve a peaceful and stable world order.
In Mikro- und Industrieökonomik ist scheinbar gewiss, dassWettbewerb zu niedrigeren Preisen führt und dass Konsumenten von Wettbewerb profitieren, während die etablierten Unternehmen einen Nachteil erleiden. Dieser Beitrag verwendet ein raumwirtschaftliches Standardmodell, um zu zeigen, dass dies nicht immer so sein muss. Der Grund ist, dass durch den Marktzutritt gerade die Konsumenten, deren Preiselastizität am größten ist, von dem Unternehmen bei der Preisbildung nicht berücksichtigt werden.
German international legal scholarship has been known for its practice-oriented, doctrinal approach to international law. On the basis of archival material, this article tracks how this methodological take on international law developed in Germany between the 1920s and the 1980s. In 1924, as a reaction to the establishment of judicial institutions in the Treaty of Versailles, the German Reich founded the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law. Director Viktor Bruns institutionalized the practice-oriented method to advance the idea of international law as a legal order as well as to safeguard the interests of the Weimar government before the various courts. Under National Socialism, members of the Institute provided legal justifications for Hitler’s increasingly radical foreign policy. At the same time, some of them did not engage with völkisch-racist theories, but systematized the existing ius in bello. After 1945, Hermann Mosler, as director of the renamed Max Planck Institute, took the view that the practice-oriented approach was not as discredited as the more theoretical approach of völkisch international law. Furthermore, he regarded the method as a promising vehicle to support the policy of Westintegration of Konrad Adenauer. Also, he tried to promote the idea of ‘international society as a legal community’ by analysing international practice.
Draft Art. 15 CCAH attempts to strike a balance between State autonomy and robust judicial supervision. It largely follows Article 22 CERD conditioning the jurisdiction of the ICJ on prior negotiations. Hence, the substance of the clause is interpreted in light of the Court’s recent case law, especially Georgia v. Russia. Besides, several issues regarding the scope ratione temporis of the compromissory clause are discussed. The article advances several proposals to further improve the current draft, addressing the missing explicit reference to State responsibility, as well as the relationship between the Court and a possible treaty body, It also proposes to recalibrate the interplay of a requirement of prior negotiations respectively the seizing of a future treaty body on the one hand and provisional measures to be indicated by the Court on the other.
From an active labor market policy perspective, start-up subsidies for unemployed individuals are very effective in improving long-term labor market outcomes for participants. From a business perspective, however, the assessment of these public programs is less clear since they might attract individuals with low entrepreneurial abilities and produce businesses with low survival rates and little contribution to job creation, economic growth, and innovation. In this paper, we use a rich data set to compare participants of a German start-up subsidy program for unemployed individuals to a group of regular founders who started from nonunemployment and did not receive the subsidy. The data allows us to analyze their business performance up until 40 months after business formation. We find that formerly subsidized founders lag behind not only in survival and job creation, but especially also in innovation activities. The gaps in these business outcomes are relatively constant or even widening over time. Hence, we do not see any indication of catching up in the longer run. While the gap in survival can be entirely explained by initial differences in observable start-up characteristics, the gap in business development remains and seems to be the result of restricted access to capital as well as differential business strategies and dynamics. Considering these conflicting results for the assessment of the subsidy program from an ALMP and business perspective, policy makers need to carefully weigh the costs and benefits of such a strategy to find the right policy mix.
In its Burmych and Others v. Ukraine judgment of October 2017 the European Court of Human Rights has dismissed more than 12.000 applications due to the fact that given that they were not only repetitive in nature, but also mutatis mutandis identical to applications covered by a previous pilot judgment rendered against Ukraine. This raises fundamental issues as to the role of the Court within the human rights protection system established by the ECHR, as well as those concerning the interrelationship between the Court and the Committee of Ministers.
Challenging the Paris Peace Treaties, State Sovereignty, and Western-Dominated International Law
(2018)
The genesis of the jus cogens doctrine in international law for long has been associated with a turn to a more value-laden international law after the Second World War promoted by British rapporteurs in the International Law Commission. This paper builds on this narrative but adds two seemingly contradictory story lines. In the 1920s and 1930s German-speaking international legal scholars like Alfred Verdross developed the concept as a tool to renounce the disliked Paris Peace Treaties in the context of more and more aggressive German revision policies. Furthermore, after 1945 Soviet thinkers of the Khrushchev era used jus cogens to criticize Western economic and military integration, while newly independent states regarded the concept as a promising vehicle for distancing themselves from traditional Western international legal notions in the era of decolonization. Hence, instead of embracing a progress narrative, a dark sides-account or a contributionist reading of the history of international law, this paper highlights the multifaceted origins of the jus cogens doctrine.
Numerous studies investigate which sanctioning institutions prevent cartel formation but little is known as to how these sanctions work. We contribute to understanding the inner workings of cartels by studying experimentally the effect of sanctioning institutions on firms’ communication. Using machine learning to organize the chat communication into topics, we find that firms are significantly less likely to communicate explicitly about price fixing when sanctioning institutions are present. At the same time, average prices are lower when communication is less explicit. A mediation analysis suggests that sanctions are effective in hindering cartel formation not only because they introduce a risk of being fined but also by reducing the prevalence of explicit price communication.
This paper examines the attempts of implement-ing components of the concept called Civiliza-tional Hexagon as a pathway to civilizing conflict in the Sub-Saharan Africa in the post-Cold War period. Despite significant decline in the violent conflict and substantial progress socio-economic aspects in the period, most states in the region have been facing challenges in their way to civilize conflict related to absence of inclusive political system, weak state unable to monopolize the use of violence in its territory, and social injustice. On the other hand, states like Botswana and Mauritius managed to civilize conflict through significant improvement in democratic consolidation. Besides their relative success in implementing six elements, these states enabled to integrate traditional institutions with modern state apparatus that helped them to fill the gap created as result of exogenous state formation process and the resulting unfinished nation-building project. Additionally, traditional institutions contributed to managing diversity.
This paper develops the incentives to collude in a model with spatially separated markets and quantity setting firms. We find that increases in transportation costs stabilize the collusive agreement. We also show that, the higher the demand in both markets the less likely will collusion be sustained. Gross and Holahan (2003) use a similar model with price setting firms, we compare their results with ours to analyze the impact of the mode of competition on sustainability of collusion. Further we analyze the impact of collusion on social welfare and find that collusion may be welfare enhancing.
This paper develops a spatial model to analyze the stability of a market sharing agreement between two firms. We find that the stability of the cartel depends on the relative market size of each firm. Collusion is not attractive for firms with a small home market, but the incentive for collusion increases when the firm’s home market is getting larger relative to the home market of the competitor. The highest stability of a cartel and additionally the highest social welfare is found when regions are symmetric. Further we can show that a monetary transfer can stabilize the market sharing agreement.
Caribbean States organised in CARICOM recently brought forward reparation claims against several European States to compensate slavery and (native) genocides in the Caribbean and even threatened to approach the International Court of Justice. The paper provides for an analysis of the facts behind the CARICOM claim and asks whether the law of state responsibility is able to provide for the demanded compensation. As the intertemporal principle generally prohibits retroactive application of today’s international rules, the paper argues that the complete claim must be based on the law of state responsibility governing in the time of the respective conduct. An inquiry into the history of primary (prohibition of slavery and genocide) as well as secondary rules of State responsibility reveals that both sets of rules were underdeveloped or non-existent at the times of slavery and alleged (native) genocides. Therefore, the author concludes that the CARICOM claim is legally flawed but nevertheless worth the attention as it once again exposes imperial and colonial injustices of the past and their legitimization by historical international law and international/natural lawyers.
While the economic harm of cartels is caused by their price-increasing effect, sanctioning by courts rather targets at the underlying process of firms reaching a price-fixing agreement. This paper provides experimental evidence on the question whether such sanctioning meets the economic target, i.e., whether evidence of a collusive meeting of the firms and of the content of their communication reliably predicts subsequent prices. We find that already the mere mutual agreement to meet predicts a strong increase in prices. Conversely, express distancing from communication completely nullifies its otherwise price-increasing effect. Using machine learning, we show that communication only increases prices if it is very explicit about how the cartel plans to behave.
We investigate how the economic consequences of the pandemic, and of the government-mandated measures to contain its spread, affect the self-employed – particularly women – in Germany. For our analysis, we use representative, real-time survey data in which respondents were asked about their situation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings indicate that among the self-employed, who generally face a higher likelihood of income losses due to COVID-19 than employees, women are 35% more likely to experience income losses than their male counterparts. Conversely, we do not find a comparable gender gap among employees. Our results further suggest that the gender gap among the self-employed is largely explained by the fact that women disproportionately work in industries that are more severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis of potential mechanisms reveals that women are significantly more likely to be impacted by government-imposed restrictions, i.e. the regulation of opening hours. We conclude that future policy measures intending to mitigate the consequences of such shocks should account for this considerable variation in economic hardship.
Das Cluster-Modell von Krugman und Venables (1996) erklärt im Rahmen der Neuen Ökonomischen Geographie die Bildung von Agglomerationen bei regional immobilen Arbeitskräften. Die resultierenden Gleichgewichte hängen von der Höhe der Transportkosten ab, die allerdings in beiden Sektoren als gleich hoch unterstellt werden. Der vorliegende Beitrag erweitert dieses Modell um die Möglichkeit sektoral unterschiedlicher Transportkosten. Da eine analytische Lösung nichtmöglich ist, wird eine geeignete Simulationsmethode entwickelt. Anhand von Abbildungen wird dargestellt, welche Gleichgewichte sich bei verschiedenen Werten für die beiden Transportkostensätze ergeben.
Inhalt 1 Einleitung 2 Eine skizzenhafte Darstellung des deutschen Systemsder Hausmüllentsorgung 3 Zum Begriffsverständnis des Markt- und Wettbewerbsversagens 4 Transaktionales Marktversagen als Begründung für dasdeutsche System der Hausmüllentsorgung 4.1 Zur Theorie des transaktionalen Marktversagens 4.1.1 Definition und Formen des transaktionalen Marktversagens 4.1.2 Zu den zentralen Begriffen „Transaktion“ und „Transaktionskosten“ 4.2 Die Ermittelbarkeit der Transaktionskosten 4.3 Tendenzaussagen zur Höhe der Transaktionskosten mit Hilfe transaktionskostendeterminierenderFaktoren - Theorie und Anwendung 4.3.1 Spezifität 4.3.2 Messbarkeit 4.3.3 Unsicherheit 4.3.4 Transaktionshäufigkeit 4.3.5 Transaktionsatmosphäre 4.4 Marktpreis und Produktionskosten 4.5 Zum Nutzen der Abfallentsorgung für den privaten Haushalt 4.6 Das Verwaltungsmonopol als alternative, transaktionskostensenkende,nicht-marktliche Lösung 4.7 Transaktionales Marktversagen als Legitimationsgrundlage für einestaatliche Vorgabe des Koordinationsmechanismus 5 Fazit
Die Entwicklung der deutschen Regionen nach der Wiedervereinigung kann mit Hilfe der Neuen Ökonomischen Geographie erklärt werden. Die gängigen Modelle zeigen aber weder, wie dauerhafte Lohnsatzdifferenzen ohne vollständige Agglomeration entstehen, noch wird die Frage beantwortet, in welcher der betrachteten Regionen sich eine Agglomeration bildet. Diese Lücke wird hier geschlossen, indem das Modell von Ludema und Wooton (1997) erweitert und anschließend auf die Situation in Deutschland angewendet wird.
In diesem Beitrag wird das optimale Angebot für einen Wohnungsmarkt bestimmt. Die Nachfrage wird dafür aus einem offenen Modell der monozentrischen Stadt hergeleitet. Weiterhin wird davon ausgegangen, dass Wohnungen aufgrund der verschiedenen Standorte und aufgrund weiterer diskreter Wohnungsmerkmale heterogen sind. Der Wohnungsanbieter an einem Standort wird daher als Mehrproduktmonopolist aufgefasst. Als gewinnmaximale Angebotsstruktur zeigt sich, dass unter bestimmten Bedingungen Wohnungen gleichen Typs an verschiedenen Standorten gleich groß sind. Außerdem werden an den jeweiligen Standorten mehrere Wohnungstypen angeboten. Diese beiden Resultate stehen im deutlichen Gegensatz zu Modellen der Neuen Stadtökonomie, wonach an den Standorten jeweils nur ein Wohnungstyp angeboten wird, dessen Größe zudem über die verschiedenen Standorte variiert.
While a growing body of literature finds positive impacts of Start-Up Subsidies (SUS) on labor market outcomes of participants, little is known about how the design of these programs shapes their effectiveness and hence how to improve policy. As experimental variation in program design is unavailable, we exploit the 2011 reform of the current German SUS program for the unemployed which strengthened case-workers’ discretionary power, increased entry requirements and reduced monetary support. We estimate the impact of the reform on the program’s effectiveness using samples of participants and non-participants from before and after the reform. To control for time-constant unobserved heterogeneity as well as differential selection patterns based on observable characteristics over time, we combine Difference-in-Differences with inverse probability weighting using covariate balancing propensity scores. Holding participants’ observed characteristics as well as macroeconomic conditions constant, the results suggest that the reform was successful in raising employment effects on average. As these findings may be contaminated by changes in selection patterns based on unobserved characteristics, we assess our results using simulation-based sensitivity analyses and find that our estimates are highly robust to changes in unobserved characteristics. Hence, the reform most likely had a positive impact on the effectiveness of the program, suggesting that increasing entry requirements and reducing support in-creased the program’s impacts while reducing the cost per participant.
In many countries, women are over-represented among low-wage employees, which is why a wage floor could benefit them particularly. Following this notion, we analyse the impact of the German minimum wage introduction in 2015 on the gender wage gap. Germany poses an interesting case study in this context, since it has a rather high gender wage gap and set the minimum wage at a relatively high level, affecting more than four million employees. Based on individual data from the Structure of Earnings Survey, containing information for over one million employees working in 60,000 firms, we use a difference-in- difference framework that exploits regional differences in the bite of the minimum wage. We find a significant negative effect of the minimum wage on the regional gender wage gap. Between 2014 and 2018, the gap at the 10th percentile of the wage distribution was reduced by 4.6 percentage points (or 32%) in regions that were strongly affected by the minimum wage compared to less affected regions. For the gap at the 25th percentile, the effect still amounted to -18%, while for the mean it was smaller (-11%) and not particularly robust. We thus find that the minimum wage can indeed reduce gender wage disparities. While the effect is highest for the low-paid, it also reaches up into higher parts of the wage distribution.
Inhalt: Die Statistik als Spiegel der Gesellschaft - Statistik als „Weg in die Realität“ - Statistik als Spiegel des politischen Systems Grundelemente der demokratischen Ordnung Statistik und Gewaltenteilung - Das Legalitätsprinzip - Die vertikale Gewaltenteilung - Die Internationalisierung der Statistik - Exkurs: Statistik in einem monistischen System Statistik und konkurrierende Willensbildung - Mittel zur Konsensbildung - Die „informationelle Infrastruktur“ - Voraussetzungen der Infrastruktur - Statistik in der politischen Diskussion Statistik und partielle politische Integration - Grenzen der amtlichen Statistik - Statistik im staatsfreien Raum - Die Privatisierung der Statistik - Das Volkszählungsurteil
Inhalt 1 Einleitung 2 Die Ziele des EnWG 2005 3 Die wichtigsten Neuregelungen des EnWG 2005 3.1 Neuregelungen zwecks Förderung des Wettbewerbs 3.1.1 Netzzugang 3.1.2 Netzentgelte 3.1.3 Unbundling 3.1.4 Stromkennzeichnung 3.2 Neuregelungen im Interesse der Versorgungssicherheit 4 Auswirkungen der Neuregelungen auf die Ziele des EnWG 2005 4.1 Preisgünstigkeit 4.2 Versorgungssicherheit 4.3 Umweltverträglichkeit 4.4 Energieeffizienz und Verbraucherfreundlichkeit 5 Fazit
Im August 2007 verstarb Erich Hoppmann. Die Wettbewerbsökonomik hat ihm außerordentlich viel zu verdanken. Besondere Bekanntheit erlangte seine Kontroverse mit Erhard Kantzenbach über das adäquate Leitbild der Wettbewerbspolitik. Hoppmanns Leitbild der Wettbewerbsfreiheit entstand ab 1966 vornehmlich als Reaktion auf Kantzenbachs Leitbild der optimalen Wettbewerbsintensität. Hoppmanns Leitbild wandte sich aber auch gegen bestimmte Workability-Konzepte, ferner gegen die mit dem neoklassischen Modell der vollkommenen Konkurrenz verbundenen Gleichgewichtsvorstellungen. Wegen der für die Entwicklung der Wettbewerbspolitik in Deutschland bedeutsamen Kontroverse zwischen Hoppmann und Kantzenbach wollen wir uns im Folgenden auf deren Leitbilder konzentrieren. Zunächst werden beide Konzeptionen rekapituliert und sodann gegenübergestellt. Schließlich wird nach ihrer Bedeutung für die Theorie und Praxis der Wettbewerbspolitik gefragt.
Inhalt: 1 Einleitung 2 Definition Freier Berufe 3 Die relevanten Marktordnungsmaßnahmen bei Ärzten und Rechtsanwälten im Überblick 4 Klärung der Begrifflichkeiten des Markt- und Wettbewerbsversagens 5 Die Konzepte öffentlicher und meritorischer Güter: Darstellung, Diskussion und Vergleich beider Konzepte 5.1 Öffentliche Güter 5.1.1 Darstellung 5.1.1.1 Die Rolle der Transaktionskosten 5.1.1.2 Die Rolle der positiven externen Effekte 5.1.2 Diskussion 5.2 Meritorische Güter 5.2.1 Darstellung 5.2.1.1 Die Rolle der Transaktionskosten 5.2.1.2 Die Rolle der positiven externen Effekte 5.2.2 Diskussion 5.3 Vergleich beider Konzepte und weitere Vorgehensweise 6 Die Konzepte öffentlicher und meritorischer Güter angewendet auf ... 6.1 ... Ärzte 6.2 ... Rechtsanwälte 6.3 Ergebnisse 7 Kurzes Resümee und Ausblick
Inhalt 1 Einleitung 2 Theoretische Vor- und Nachteile vertikaler Trennung von Netz undTransportbetrieb 3 Ausgangslage in Schweden vor der Bahnreform 4 Ziele der schwedischen Eisenbahnreform 5 Maßnahmen der schwedischen Eisenbahnreform 6 Kritische Würdigung der Reform 6.1 Marktstruktur des schwedischen Eisenbahnverkehrs 6.1.1 Hauptakteure und Eigentumsstruktur 6.1.2 Wettbewerbssituation im schwedischen Eisenbahnverkehr 6.1.3 Finanzierung des schwedischen Eisenbahnsystems 6.2 Marktverhalten der marktbeherrschenden Unternehmen 6.3 Performance des heutigen schwedischen Eisenbahnsystems 7 Fazit
Die Mitglieder der Stadträte in den großen deutschen Städten sind ehrenamtlich tätig und müssen große Herausforderungen, wie die Europäisierung der lokalen Ebene oder die Finanzierungslücken im kommunalen Haushalt, bewältigen.
Die Ehrenämtler müssen die Aufgabenbelastung durch Professionalisierungsmechanismen ausgleichen. Welche Arten der Professionalisierungsbedürfnisse liegen aber vor und sollten in den deutschen Städten geprüft werden? Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit konkreten Veränderungen vor Ort, um die Faktoren Zeiteffektivität, Tranzparenz und Informationsverarbeitung zu verbessern. Das empirische Beispiel Potsdam wurde für die Analayse ausgewählt, da überdurchschnittlich lang und häufig getagt wird. Die Indikatoren Fraktionsgröße, Positionsmenge oder Engagementlänge sollen aufzeigen, in welchem konkreten Rahmen Veränderungen nötig und auch gewollt sind. Die Arbeit soll andere Städte zur Überprüfung ihrer eigenen Räte anregen.
Daraus ergibt sich die Frage, ob die Belastung der Mitglieder der Stadträte und Stadtverordnetenversammlungen so groß geworden ist, dass Deutschland gar eine dritte föderale Ebene benötigt, um die Aufgaben zu bewältigen. Ist nicht eine schleichende dritte Ebene in der Realität bereits vorhanden. Die Analysekriterien sind der zeitliche Umfang des Engagements, die finanzielle Kompensierung der Ehrenamtlichkeit und die Elemente der Parlamentarisierung.
Inhalt 1 Einleitung 2 Die Eisenbahnreform in Großbritaninien 2.1 Zum Bedarf einer Reorganisation von British Rail 2.2 Die Phase der Liberalisierung - Die Railtrack-Ära (1994 - 2001) 2.3 Die Problematik der Infrastrukturbetreiber 3 Das derzeitige britische Eisenbahnwesen 3.1 Die Hauptakteure und deren Beziehung zueinander 3.2 Die Marktstruktur des britischen Eisenbahnverkehrs 3.3 Das Marktverhalten der marktbeherrschenden Unternehmen 4 Die Performanceentwicklung des britischen Eisenbahnsystems seit dem Beginn der Bahnreform im Jahre 1994 4.1 Beschreibung der methodischen Herangehensweise 4.2 Die Entwicklung der Outout-IIndikatoren seit Beginn der Bahnreform 4.3 Die Entwicklung der Input-Indikatoren seit Beginn der Bahnreform 4.4 Ableitung eines Kosten-Nutzen-Trends seit Beginn der Bahnreform 5 Die aktuelle Reformpläne der britischen Regierung 6 Erfolgreiche Maßnahmen und Fehler der britischen Eisenbahnreform 7 Fazit
Divergent thinking is the ability to produce numerous and diverse responses to questions or tasks, and it is used as a predictor of creative achievement. It plays a significant role in the business organization’s innovation process and the recognition of new business opportunities. Drawing upon the cumulative process model of creativity in entrepreneurship, we hypothesize that divergent thinking has a lasting effect on post-launch entrepreneurial outcomes related to innovation and growth, but that this relation might not always be linear. Additionally, we hypothesize that domain-specific experience has a moderating role in this relation. We test our hypotheses based on a representative longitudinal sample of 457 German business founders, which we observe up until 40 months after start-up. We find strong relative effects for innovation and growth outcomes. For survival we find conclusive evidence for non-linearities in the effects of divergent thinking. Additionally, we show that such effects are moderated by the type of domain-specific experience that entrepreneurs gathered pre-launch, as it shapes the individual’s ideational abilities to fit into more sophisticated strategies regarding entrepreneurial creative achievement. Our findings have relevant policy implications in characterizing and identifying business start-ups with growth and innovation potential, allowing a more efficient allocation of public and private funds.
Do economists matter?
(2005)
Inhalt 1 Einleitung 2 Angebot an wettbewerbspolitischen Leitbildern 2.1 Ziele der Wissenschaftler 2.2 Bedeutung wettbewerbspolitischer Leitbilder 2.2.1 Ordoliberalismus 2.2.2 Workability-Konzepte 2.2.3 Kantzenbachs Leitbild der optimalen Wettbewerbsintensität 2.2.4 Hoppmanns Leitbild der Wettbewerbsfreiheit 2.2.5 Chicago School 3 Nachfrage nach wettbewerbspolitischen Leitbildern 3.1 Unterschiedliche Rollen der Politiker 3.2 Politiker und Ausrichtung der Wettbewerbspolitik 3.3 Wettbewerbspolitische Leitbilder und US-amerikanische Antitrustpolitik 4 Einfluss wettbewerbspolitischer Leitbilder auf die europäische Fusionskontroller 4.1 Deutsche Grundlagen 4.2 Materiell-rechtliche-Regelungen der FKVO 4.3 Einflüsse der wettbewerbspolitischen Leitbilder 4.4 Positionen der Interessengruppen 5 Fazit
Do institutions matter?
(2006)
Contens 1 Introduction 2 Institutions and the Institutional Change 2.1 Institutions and Theoretical Concepts in Economics 2.2 Path Dependence 2.3 Inconsistence of Institutional Development 2.4 Determinants of Effectiveness 2.5 Efficiency of New Institutions 3 What is “Competition Policy”? 4 The Competition Policy in Russia as an Institution 4.1 Establishment of the Competition Policy as an Institution 4.2 Market Structure and Competition Policy 4.3 Measures of Competition Policy 4.3.1 Prohibition of Competition Restrictive Agreements or Concerted Actions 4.3.2 Abuse of Dominance 4.3.3 Merger Control 4.3.4 Restrictive Action to Competition of Administrative Bodies 4.4 Violations of the Competition Law 4.5 Problems of the Russian Competition Policy 5 Which Mistakes Russia has made with the Implementation of theCompetition Policy? 6 Is a Lacking Effectiveness of Transplanted Institutions Inevitable? 7 Concluding Remarks
Envy is an unpleasant emotion. If individuals anticipate that comparing their payoff with the (potentially higher) payoff of others will make them envious, they may want to actively avoid information about other people’s payoffs. Given the opportunity to reduce another person’s payoff, an individual’s envy may trigger behavior that is detrimental to welfare. In this case, if individuals anticipate that they will react in a welfare-reducing way, they may also avoid information about other people’s payoffs from the outset. We investigated these two hypotheses using three experiments. We found that 13% of our potentially envious subjects avoided information when they did not have the opportunity to reduce another participant’s payoff. Psychological scales do not explain this behavior. We also found that voluntarily uninformed subjects did neither deduct less of the payoff nor less frequently than subjects who could not avoid the information.
We estimate the long-term effects of start-up subsidies (SUS) for the unemployed on subjective outcome indicators of well-being, as measured by the participants’ satisfaction in different domains. This extends previous analyses of the current German SUS program (“Gründungszuschuss”) that focused on objective outcomes – such as employment and income – and allows us to make a more complete judgment about the overall effects of SUS at the individual level. This is especially important because subsidizing the transition into self-employment may have unintended adverse effects on participants’ well-being due to its risky nature and lower social security protection, especially in the long run. Having access to linked administrative-survey data providing us with rich information on pre-treatment characteristics, we base our analysis on the conditional independence assumption and use propensity score matching to estimate causal effects within the potential outcomes framework. We find long-term positive effects on job satisfaction but negative effects on individuals’ satisfaction with their social security situation. Further findings suggest that the negative effect on satisfaction with social security may be driven by negative effects on unemployment and retirement insurance coverage. Our heterogeneity analysis reveals substantial variation in effects across gender, age groups and skill levels. The sensitivity analyses show that these findings are highly robust.
In this paper, we study one channel through which communication may facilitate cooperative behavior – belief precision. In a prisoner’s dilemma experiment, we show that communication not only makes individuals more optimistic that their partner will cooperate but also increases the precision of this belief, thereby reducing strategic uncertainty. To disentangle the shift in mean beliefs from the increase in precision, we elicit beliefs and precision in a two-stage procedure and in three situations: without communication, before communication, and after communication. We find that the precision of beliefs increases during communication.
We examine how the gender of business-owners is related to the wages paid to female relative to male employees working in their firms. Using Finnish register data and employing firm fixed effects, we find that the gender pay gap is – starting from a gender pay gap of 11 to 12 percent - two to three percentage-points lower for hourly wages in female-owned firms than in male-owned firms. Results are robust to how the wage is measured, as well as to various further robustness checks. More importantly, we find substantial differences between industries. While, for instance, in the manufacturing sector, the gender of the owner plays no role for the gender pay gap, in several service sector industries, like ICT or business services, no or a negligible gender pay gap can be found, but only when firms are led by female business owners. Businesses in male ownership maintain a gender pay gap of around 10 percent also in the latter industries. With increasing firm size, the influence of the gender of the owner, however, fades. In large firms, it seems that others – firm managers – determine wages and no differences in the pay gap are observed between male- and female-owned firms.
Expanding public or publicly subsidized childcare has been a top social policy priority in many industrialized countries. It is supposed to increase fertility, promote children’s development and enhance mothers’ labor market attachment. In this paper, we analyze the causal effect of one of the largest expansions of subsidized childcare for children up to three years among industrialized countries on the employment of mothers in Germany. Identification is based on spatial and temporal variation in the expansion of publicly subsidized childcare triggered by two comprehensive childcare policy reforms. The empirical analysis is based on the German Microcensus that is matched to county level data on childcare availability. Based on our preferred specification which includes time and county fixed effects we find that an increase in childcare slots by one percentage point increases mothers’ labor market participation rate by 0.2 percentage points. The overall increase in employment is explained by the rise in part-time employment with relatively long hours (20-35 hours per week). We do not find a change in full-time employment or lower part-time employment that is causally related to the childcare expansion. The effect is almost entirely driven by mothers with medium-level qualifications. Mothers with low education levels do not profit from this reform calling for a stronger policy focus on particularly disadvantaged groups in coming years.
Table of contens 1 Introduction 2 The concept of sustainability 2.1 Ecological sustainability 2.2 Social sustainability 2.3 Economic sustainability 2.4 The sustainability strategy of the german government 3 Effects of energy use on the enviromment 4 Requirements of the SSGG for energy policy 4.1 Ecological implications of thr SSGG 4.2 Social and economic requirements of the SSGG 5 The German Renewable Energies Act 5.1 Objectives 5.2 Design and mechanisms 5.3 Fees-in tariffs 6 Does the EEG meet the sustainability requirements of the SSGG? 6.1 Management rules 6.2 Social sustainability 6.3 Economic sustainability 6.4 Development tendencis 7 Possible amendments for more sustainability 7.1 Changing the promotional system 7.2 A European regulation
Drinking is Different!
(2020)
Unhealthy behavior can be extremely costly from a micro- and macroeconomic perspective and exploring the determinants of such behavior is highly important from an economist’s point of view. We examine whether locus of control (LOC) can explain alcohol consumption as an important domain of health behavior. LOC measures how much an individual believes that she is in control of the consequences of her own actions for her life’s future outcomes. While earlier literature showed that an increasing internal LOC is associated with increased health-conscious behavior in domains such as smoking, exercise or diets, we find that drinking seems to be different. Using German panel data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) we find a significant positive effect of having an internal LOC on the probability of moderate and regular drinking. We suggest and discuss two likely mechanisms for this relationship and find interesting gender differences. While social investments play an important role for both men and women, risk perceptions are especially relevant for men.
Dieses Promotionsvorhaben wird versuchen den Begriff der Due-Diligence im Rahmen des Menschenrechts- und Umweltschutzes weiterzuentwickeln. Dieser Terminus verweist auf einen vernünftigen Verhaltensstandard und wird öfters zum Schädigungsverbot in Verbindung gebracht. Ein bekanntes Synonym dafür ist die „Sorgfaltspflicht“. Nach dieser Norm müssen alle voraussehbaren Verletzungsrisiken (Personen-, Sach- und Umwelt) durch die Ergreifung von allen nötigen und angemessenen Maßnahmen vorgebeugt werden (s. z.B. Trail-Smelter und Korfu-Kanal Entscheidung). Dieser Begriff wird gegenwärtig weltweit verwendet um Globalisierungsprobleme zu adressieren, wie z.B. der mangelnde Klimaschutz oder die mangelnde Reglementierung von Transnationalen Unternehmen. Die Emergenz dieser offenen und allgemeinen Norm ist eindeutig und wird durch die Tatsache erleichtert, dass sie in viele Rechtssysteme vorhanden ist. Zum Beispiel, in dem bekannten Urgenda v. Holland Fall, fordert der Gerichtshof von Den Haag vom Staat eine angemessenere Aufsicht im Klimaschutz, da die ursprünglichen Reduktionsziele von Treibhausgasemissionen nicht die wissenschaftlichen Anforderungen entsprachen. Dieser Fall hat viele andere Klagen inspiriert. Der französische Gesetzgeber verpflichtet darüber hinaus seit kurzem mit dem Gesetz zur „devoir de vigilance“ herrschende Unternehmen zur Veröffentlichung eines ‚Sorgfaltsplans‘, so dass die Auswirkungen des gesamten Unternehmens auf die Menschenrechte und die Umwelt effektiv vorgebeugt werden. Dieses Gesetz hat auch die letzten UN-Vertragsverhandlungen bzgl. Multinationalen Unternehmen geprägt. In Anbetracht dessen, wird diese rechtsvergleichende Studie die Verrechtlichung der Norm und ihre Verbreitung in anderen Rechtssysteme untersuchen, so dass der Menschenrechts- und Umweltschutz effektiv gewährleistet werden kann, auch wenn die Politik und Unternehmen es verhindern wollen.
Table of contents 1 Introduction 2 Ecological regulation and cost effectiveness 2.1 Climate policy 2.2 Promotion of renewable energies 3 Ecological regulation and security of supply 3.1 Climate policy 3.2 Promotion of renewable energies 4 The German Renewable Energies Act (EEG) 4.1 Objectives 4.2 Design and mechanisms 5 The European emissions trading system (EETS) 5.1 Objectives 5.2 Framework 6 The EEG and the EETS: trade off between ecological objectivesand cost effectiveness, innovation and security of supply? 6.1 EEG 6.2 EETS 6.3 Comparison between the approaches of the EEG and the EETS 7 Conclusions and outlook
Economy vs. history
(2004)
The aim of this study is to examine in which cases economic forces or historical singularities prevail in the determination of the long-run distribution of firms. We develop a relatively general model of heterogenous firms' location choice in discrete space. The main force towards an agglomerated structure is the reduction of transaction costs for consumers if firms are located closely, whilst competition and transport costs work towards a more disperse structure. We then assess the importance of the initial conditions by simulating and comparing the resulting distribution of firms for identical economic parameters but varying initial settings. If the equilibrium distributions of firms are similar we conclude that economic forces have prevailed, while differences in the resulting distributions indicate that 'history' is more important. The (dis)similarity of distributions of firms is calculated by means of a measure, which exhibits a number of desirable features.
The paper sheds some light on the education returns in Germany in the post war period. After describing higher education in Germany the current stand of higher education financing within the single states is presented. In six states tuition fees will be introduced in 2007/08 and discussions are going on in even some more. In the second part of the paper an empirical analysis is done using longitudinal data from the German social pension system. The analysis over the whole lifecycle renders results which proof that the higher education advantages are quite remarkable and might be a justification for more intensified financing by tuition fees. But all this has to be embedded into an encompassing strategy of tax and social policy, especially to prevent a strengthened process of social selection, which would be counterproductive for an increased and highly qualified human capital in Germany.
In diesem Beitrag wird versucht, die optimale Größe einer Stadt, gemessen an der Einwohnerzahl, aus dem Entscheidungsverhalten der Haushalte zu bestimmen. Zunächst wird dargelegt, warum die von Christaller eingeführten und begründeten Hierarchien der Städte und Stadtgrößen sich sowohl einer dynamischen Betrachtung als auch einer Bestimmung des Bevölkerungsumfanges der Städte einer Hierarchieebene entzieht. In dem sich anschließenden einfachen Modell wird aus der Nutzenfunktion eines repräsentativen Haushaltes, in die auch der Umfang eines öffentlichen Gutes eingeht, die damit verbundene nutzenmaximale Stadtgröße ermitteln. Unbeachtet in diesem Modell bleibt die Frage nach der geographischen Ausdehnung der Stadt, da die Bodenrente nicht in Abhängigkeit der Entfernung vom Zentrum modelliert wird.
The self-employed faced strong income losses during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many governments introduced programs to financially support the self-employed during the pandemic, including Germany. The German Ministry for Economic Affairs announced a €50bn emergency-aid program in March 2020, offering one-off lump-sum payments of up to €15,000 to those facing substantial revenue declines. By reassuring the self- employed that the government ‘would not let them down’ during the crisis, the program had also the important aim of motivating the self-employed to get through the crisis. We investigate whether the program affected the confidence of the self-employed to survive the crisis using real-time online-survey data comprising more than 20,000 observations. We employ propensity score matching, making use of a rich set of variables that influence the subjective survival probability as main outcome measure. We observe that this program had significant effects, with the subjective survival probability of the self- employed being moderately increased. We reveal important effect heterogeneities with respect to education, industries, and speed of payment. Notably, positive effects only occur among those self-employed whose application was processed quickly. This suggests stress-induced waiting costs due to the uncertainty associated with the administrative processing and the overall pandemic situation. Our findings have policy implications for the design of support programs, while also contributing to the literature on the instruments and effects of entrepreneurship policy interventions in crisis situations.
We analyze how conventional emissions trading schemes (ETS) can be modified by introducing “clean-up certificates” to allow for a phase of net-negative emissions. Clean-up certificates bundle the permission to emit CO2 with the obligation for its removal. We show that demand for such certificates is determined by cost-saving technological progress, the discount rate and the length of the compliance period. Introducing extra clean-up certificates into an existing ETS reduces near-term carbon prices and mitigation efforts. In contrast, substituting ETS allowances with clean-up certificates reduces cumulative emissions without depressing carbon prices or mitigation in the near term. We calibrate our model to the EU ETS and identify reforms where simultaneously (i) ambition levels rise, (ii) climate damages fall, (iii) revenues from carbon prices rise and (iv) carbon prices and aggregate mitigation cost fall. For reducing climate damages, roughly half of the issued clean-up certificates should replace conventional ETS allowances. In the context of the EU ETS, a European Carbon Central Bank could manage the implementation of cleanup certificates and could serve as an enforcement mechanism.
Our analysis is concerned with the impact of a regionalisation of unemployment insurance (UI) on workers’ preferences, on firms’ profits, and on effciency. The existence and the extent of UI are endogenously derived by maximising an objective function of the state. Three different types of regionalisation are considered which differ with respect to the area the UI objective function is related to, and with respect to the policy variable used to maximise it. It comes to light that workers are always in favour of central UI, while it depends on the type of regionalisation whether or not firms are better off with regional or with central UI. The same somewhat surprising result applies for efficiency.
We study the effect of energy and transport policies on pollution in two developing country cities. We use a quantitative equilibrium model with choice of housing, energy use, residential location, transport mode, and energy technology. Pollution comes from commuting and residential energy use. The model parameters are calibrated to replicate key variables for two developing country cities, Maputo, Mozambique, and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. In the counterfactual simulations, we study how various transport and energy policies affect equilibrium pollution. Policies may be induce rebound effects from increasing residential energy use or switching to high emission modes or locations. In general, these rebound effects tend to be largest for subsidies to public transport or modern residential energy technology.
Underpinning a legal system with certain values and helping to resolve norm conflicts is in domestic legal systems usually achieved through hierarchical superiority of certain norms of a constitutional nature. The present paper examines the question whether jus cogens can discharge this function within the traditionally horizontal and decentralized international legal order. In so doing, it commences with an overview of the historical origins of peremptory norms in legal scholarship, followed by its endorsement by positive law and courts and tribunals. This analysis illustrates that there are lingering uncertainties pertaining to the process of identification of peremptory norms. Even so, the concept has been invoked in State executive practice (although infrequently) and has been endorsed by various courts. However, such invocation thus far has had a limited impact from a legal perspective. It was mainly confined to a strengthened moral appeal and did in particular not facilitate the resolution of norm conflicts. The contribution further suggests that this limited impact results from the fact that the content of peremptory obligations is either very narrow or very vague. This, in turn, implies a lack of consensus amongst States regarding the content (scope) of jus cogens, including the values underlying these norms. As a result, it is questionable whether the construct of jus cogens is able to provide meaningful legal protection against the erosion of legal norms. It is too rudimentary in character to entrench and stabilize core human rights values as the moral foundation of the international legal order.
Entrepreneurial persistence is demonstrated by an entrepreneur’s continued positive maintenance of entrepreneurial motivation and constantly-renewed active engagement in a new business venture despite counter forces or enticing alternatives. It is thus a crucial factor for entrepreneurs when pursuing and exploiting their business opportunities and to realize potential economic gains and benefits. Using rich data on a representative sample of German business founders, we investigate the determinants of entrepreneurial persistence. Next to observed survival we also construct a hybrid persistence measure capturing also the motivational dimension of persistence. We analyze the influence of individual-level (human capital and personality) and business-related characteristics on both measures as well as their relative importance. We find that the two indicators emphasize different aspects of persistence. For the survival indicator, the predictive power is concentrated in business characteristics and human capital, while for hybrid persistence, the dominant factors are business characteristics and personality. Finally, we show that results are heterogeneous across subgroups. In particular, formerly-unemployed founders do not differ in survival chances, but they are more likely to lack a high psychological commitment to their business ventures.
Interest in evaluating the effects of continuous treatments has been on the rise recently. To facilitate the estimation of causal effects in this setting, the present paper introduces entropy balancing for continuous treatments (EBCT) by extending the original entropy balancing methodology of Hainmüller (2012). In order to estimate balancing weights, the proposed approach solves a globally convex constrained optimization problem, allowing for much more computationally efficient implementation compared to other available methods. EBCT weights reliably eradicate Pearson correlations between covariates and the continuous treatment variable. This is the case even when other methods based on the generalized propensity score tend to yield insufficient balance due to strong selection into different treatment intensities. Moreover, the optimization procedure is more successful in avoiding extreme weights attached to a single unit. Extensive Monte-Carlo simulations show that treatment effect estimates using EBCT display similar or lower bias and uniformly lower root mean squared error. These properties make EBCT an attractive method for the evaluation of continuous treatments. Software implementation is available for Stata and R.
Seeming consensus has formed among legal scholars and practitioners that a rising China seeks changes in rules and institutions of international law. Yet, attendant accounts of how such changes may and already do restructure global legal order remain relatively underdeveloped. An observed rise in the international rule of law during immediate post-Cold War years has now been disrupted by a confluence of regional shifts in geopolitical power and contestation of law’s normative foundations by newly empowered states. In these circumstances, advocates for stability and continuity in variations of the “liberal international order” or “rules-based order” have sought to defend the authority and resilience of universally defined international legal norms against various regional challenges to the boundary between law and politics. Yet, as both global power and universal conceptions of law fragment, so too will the presumed equilibrium between international law’s political and normative foundations. Signs of fragmentation are now conspicuously playing out in East and Southeast Asia, where the relative rise of China is amplified by alternative Chinese conceptions of foundations and purposes of global legal order. This working paper introduces the concept of “geolegal power” to describe the competitive logic of a territorially bounded leading state restructuring interpretation and development of legal rules and institutions, which is emerging more explicitly within regional subsystems. Fragmentation of the international rule of law by a rising Chinese “geolegal order” is demonstrated by contested maritime rules in three key areas: freedom of navigation; third-party and judicial settlement; and, territorial claims under UNCLOS. Evidence that China is carving out an effective subsystem of rules designated as “law” in the most consequential of security and geopolitical domains poses a critical challenge to the structure of a unified and universal system of international law. Legal scholars and practitioners must better grasp reconfiguring foundations of international law in order to address rising orders of “geolegal power”, in which the regional meaning and operation of law is no longer reconcilable within the terms of an “international” rule of law.
The present paper proposes a novel approach for equilibrium selection in the infinitely repeated prisoner’s dilemma where players can communicate before choosing their strategies. This approach yields a critical discount factor that makes different predictions for cooperation than the usually considered sub-game perfect or risk dominance critical discount factors. In laboratory experiments, we find that our factor is useful for predicting cooperation. For payoff changes where the usually considered factors and our factor make different predictions, the observed cooperation is consistent with the predictions based on our factor.
Inhalt 1 Einleitung 2 Energiepolitische Zielsetzungen und Begründung für die Förderung EEin der EU 3 Ausgestaltung der Förderpolitik für EE in der EU 4 Überblick über die Fördersysteme für RS 5 Verteilung der Fördersysteme in der EU 6 Status quo vs. Harmonisierung - one size fits all? 7 RECS System 8 Welches Fördermodell für Europa? 9 Ausgestaltung eines europäischen Systems 10 Ausblick
Untersucht werden die von BulwienGesa erhobenen und aufbereiteten jahresdurchschnittlichen Wiederverkaufspreise von Eigentumswohnungen und Einfamilienhäusern in 401 kreisfreien Städten und Landkreisen für die Jahre 2004–2017. Dabei zeigt sich eine Zunahme der regionalen Streuung im Zeitverlauf vor allem in der auf die Finanzkrise 2007–2009 folgenden Zeit. Im Durchschnitt der Regionen (Landkreise und kreisfreie Städte) steigen die Preise; sie entwickeln sich aber regional stark unterschiedlich (in manchen Regionen stagnieren sie oder sind gefallen). Dies führt auch zur Zunahme der Variationskoeffizienten, also der relativen Streuung der regionalen Preise. Dies deutet auf eine Zunahme der regionalen Disparitäten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Besondere Divergenzen zeigen sich zwischen den alten und den neuen Bundesländern, wie auch zwischen prosperierenden kreisfreien Städten und deren Umland und ökonomisch schwächeren Städten und Landkreisen.
In light of current efforts at addressing the dangers of fake news, this article will revisit the international law relevant to the phenomenon, in particular the prohibition of intervention, the 1936 International Convention on the Use of Broadcasting in the Cause of Peace, and the 1953 Convention on the International Right of Correction. It will be argued that important lessons can be learned from the League of Nations’ (LON) efforts in the interwar period and the UN’s activities in the immediate post-WWII era, while taking into account the new challenges that arise from modern communication technology.
Taking up the LON’s and UN’s distinction between false and distorted news, the international legal framework will be tested, in particular, against the coverage of the 2016 ‘Lisa case’ by Russian Government-funded media. This coverage is widely considered to be fake news aimed at destabilizing Germany’s society and institutions.
The article argues that false news can be subject to repressive regulation in a sensible manner. Distorted news, however, will have to be tolerated legally, since prohibitions in this regard would be too prone to abuse. A free and pluralist media, complemented by an appropriate governmental information policy, remains the best answer to fake news in all its forms. Due diligence obligations to fact-check, transparency, and remedies that are effective despite difficulties in attribution, and despite a lack of universal acceptance, could likewise be conducive.
A rich literature links knowledge inputs with innovative outputs. However, most of what is known is restricted to manufacturing. This paper analyzes whether the three aspects involving innovative activity - R&D; innovative output; and productivity - hold for knowledge intensive services. Combining the models of Crepon et al. (1998) and of Ackerberg et al. (2015), allows for causal interpretation of the relationship between innovation output and labor productivity. We find that knowledge intensive services benefit from innovation activities in the sense that these activities causally increase their labor productivity. Moreover, the firm size advantage found for manufacturing in previous studies nearly disappears for knowledge intensive services.
The effects of energy price increases are heterogeneous between households and firms. Financially constrained poorer households, who spend a larger relative share of their income on energy, are particularly affected. In this analysis, we examine the macroeconomic and welfare effects of energy price shocks in the presence of credit-constrained households that have subsistence-level energy demand. Within a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model calibrated for the German economy, we compare the performance of different policy measures (transfers and energy subsidies) and different financing schemes (income tax vs. debt). Our results show that credit-constrained households prefer debt over tax financing regardless of the compensation measure due to their difficulty to smooth consumption. On the contrary, rich households tend to prefer tax-financed measures as they increase the labor supply of poor households. From an aggregate perspective, tax-financed measures targeting firms effectively cushion aggregate output losses.
We demonstrate how the incentives of firms that partially own their suppliers or customers to foreclose rivals depend on how the partial owner can extract profits from the target (tunneling). Compared to a fully vertically integrated firm, a partial owner may obtain only a share of the target’s profit but influence the target’s strategy significantly. We show that the incentives for customer and input foreclosure can be higher, equal, or even lower with partial ownership than with a vertical merger, depending on how the protection of minority shareholders and transfer price regulations affect the scope for profit extraction.
Inhalt 1 Einleitung 2 Institutionen aus ökonomischer Sicht 3 Rolle der Institutionen in der ökonomischen Theorie 4 Institutioneller Wandel 5 Besonderer Fall der Institutionenökonomie: Transformationsländer 6 Formelle und informelle Institutuionen in den Transformationsländern: ein Fall der Inkomsistenz 7 Fazit
Inhaltsverzeichnis 1. Einführung 1.1. Die Ausgangssituation 1.2. Maßnahmenbereiche der Forschungs- und Technologiepolitik 2. Grundlagen des Standortwettbewerbs 2.1. Standortwettbewerb als Kontrollmechanismus und Entdeckungsverfahren 2.2. Voraussetzungen des Standortwettbewerbs 2.3. Vermutetes Standortwettbewerbsversagen 3. Subventionswettläufe bei der anwendungsnahen Forschungsförderung 3.1. Subventionen als Wettbewerbsparameter 3.2. Notwendigkeit internationaler Vereinbarungen zur Begrenzung von Forschungs- und Entwicklungssubventionen 4. Grundlagenforschung im Standortwettbewerb 4.1. Grundlagenwissen und Forschungsinfrastruktur als Standortfaktoren 4.2. Kritische Anmerkungen 5. Zusammenfassung der Ergebnisse und Schlußfolgerungen
Heute sind die Themen Frauen und Frieden auf der Ebene der Sicherheitspolitik der Vereinten Nationen als Resultat von Resolution 1325 (2000) eng miteinander verbunden. Welche rechtlichen und tatsächlichen Konsequenzen haben sich aus dieser Entwicklung einerseits für die Arbeit der Vereinten Nationen selbst, andererseits für die Mitgliedstaaten ergeben und wie steht es um ihre Umsetzung? Die Studie zeichnet die WPS-Agenda nach und diskutiert die diesbezüglichen Aktivitäten der Vereinten Nationen. Die Umsetzungsmaßnahmen Deutschlands werden im Anschluss untersucht und bewertet.
Inhalt 1 Gegenstand der Untersuchung 2 SV aus wirtschaftstheoretischer Sicht:(neoklassische) Umweltökonomik 3 SV aus wirtschaftspolitischer Sicht:(ordoliberale) ordnungspolitische Aspekte 4 SV aus empirischer Sicht 5 Realitätsbezogene Probleme und Lösungsansätze 6 Realitätsnähere Analyse der Effektivität, Effizienz undWettbewerbskonformität von SV 7 Realitätsnähere Analyse der ordnungspolitischen Aspekte 8 Kriterien erfolgreicher SV 9 Aktuelle Problematik: SV versus Emissionsrechtehandel
In diesem Beitrag untersuchen wir den Einfluß einer sozioökonomischen Variablen -- die Wertschätzung der Freizeit durch die Haushalte -- auf das innerstädtische Siedlungsverhalten. Die Diskussion dieser Variablen soll zunächst im Rahmen eines Standardmodells der Stadtökonomie erfolgen. Dabei zeigt sich ein eindeutiges Ergebnis: Jene Haushalte, für die die Freizeit einen hohen Nutzen stiftet, siedeln sich am Stadtzentrum an. Danach wenden wir uns der Empirie zu. Am Beispiel Potsdams soll das tatsächliche Siedlungsverhalten der Haushalte aufgezeigt werden. Der Vergleich der Modellergebnisse mit den empirischen Befunden verdeutlicht zum einen, daß die Modelle vermutlich wesentliche Einflußgrößen, die das Siedlungsverhalten bestimmen, nicht erfassen. Zum anderen zeigen die empirischen Ergebnisse die große Bedeutung der singulären, einer allgemeinen Theorie prinzipiell nicht zugänglichen Einflüsse auf die Zusammensetzung und Verteilung der Wohnbevölkerung.
Inhalt 1 Einleitung 2 Standortwettbewerb und Race-to-the-bottom 2.1 Theorie des Standortwettbewerbs 2.2 Prozess des Race-to-the-bottom 2.3 Modelltheoretische Fundierung des Race-to-the-bottom 3 Fusionskontrolle als Standortfaktor 4 Instrumentalisierung der Fusionskontrolle im Standortwettbewerb 4.1 Die deutsche Ministererlaubnis 4.2 Race-to-the-bottom im Rahmen der deutschen Ministererlaubnis? 4.3 Restriktive Handhabung der deutschen Ministererlaubnis 4.4 Das Kriterium der internationalen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit in der deutschenMinistererlaubnis 5 Fazit
Economic agents often irrationally base their decision-making on irrelevant information. This research analyzes whether men and women react to futile information about past outcomes. For this purpose, we run a laboratory experiment (Study 1) and use field data (Study 2). In both studies, the behavior of men is consistent with falsely assumed negative autocorrelation, often referred to as gambler’s fallacy Women’s behavior aligns with falsely assumed positive autocorrelation, a notion of the hot hand fallacy. On the aggregate, the two fallacies cancel out. Even when individuals are, on average, rational, the biases in the decision-making of subgroups might cause inefficient outcomes. In a mediation analysis, we find that a) the agents stated perceived probabilities of future outcomes are not blurred by irrelevant information and b) about 40 % of the observed biases are driven by differences in the perceived attractiveness of available choices caused by the irrelevant information.
An exhaustive and disjoint decomposition of social choice situations is derived in a general set theoretical framework using the new tools of the Lifted Pareto relation on the power set of social states representing a pre-choice comparison of choice option sets. The main result is the classification of social choice situations which include three types of social choice problems. First, we usually observe the common incompleteness of the Pareto relation. Second, a kind of non-compactness problem of a choice set of social states can be generated. Finally, both can be combined. The first problem root can be regarded as natural everyday dilemma of social choice theory whereas the second may probably be much more due to modeling technique implications. The distinction is enabled at a very general set theoretical level. Hence, the derived classification of social choice situations is applicable on almost every relevant economic model.
We use a quantitative spatial equilibrium model to evaluate the distributional and welfare impacts of a recent temporary rent control policy in Berlin, Germany. We calibrate the model to key features of Berlin’s housing market, in particular the recent gentrification of inner city locations. As expected, gentrification benefits rich homeowners, while poor renter households lose. Our counterfactual analysis mimicks the rent control policy. We find that this policy reduces welfare for rich and poor households and in fact, the percentage change in welfare is largest for the poorest households. We also study alternative affordable housing policies such as subsidies and re-zoning policies, which are better suited to address the adverse consequences of gentrification.
The Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPSA) is an international framework addressing the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on women and girls and promoting their meaningful participation in peacebuilding efforts. The Security Council called on Member States to develop National Action Plans (NAPs) to operationalize the four pillars of the Agenda. This study looks at the relevant steps undertaken by both Germany and the European Union. The author calls for improvements on either level and makes four recommendations.
Getting a Yes
(2019)
This paper studies how the request for a favor has to be devised in order to maximize its chance of success. We present results from a mini-dictator game, in which the recipient can send a free-form text message to the dictator before the latter decides. We find that putting effort into the message, writing in a humorous way and mentioning reasons why the money is needed pays off. Additionally, we find differences in the behavior of male and female dictators. Only men react positively to efficiency arguments, while only women react to messages that emphasize the dictator’s power and responsibility.
Aus der Einführung: Betrachtet man Größe und Funktionsfähigkeit von Städten weltweit, so scheint der Eindruck unabwendbar, daß es einerseits Städte gibt, die über das Maß einer organisierbaren urbanen Einheit hinausgewachsen sind (Megacities) und andererseits kleine Städte existieren, die nicht in der Lage sind, ihren Einwohnern in einem notwendigen Umfang Dienste zur Verfügung zu stellen. Diese Überlegung wird vielfach unterstützt durch die Tatsache, daß die Megacity größer ist, als sie aufgrund ihres Bedeutungsüberschusses in einem hierarchischen Städtesystem im Sinne Christallers sein müßte. Für kleine Städte in einem dünn besiedelten Umland ergibt sich das Problem, daß es für bestimmte private Dienste und öffentliche Leistungen technisch bedingte Mindestmengen der Produktion gibt (z. B. Feuerwehr, Medizintechnik, Ausbildungsstätten etc.), die Nachfrage aus Stadt und Umland aber kleiner ist und aus diesem Grund das Angebot fehlt. Die betriebswirtschaftliche Entscheidung, die entsprechenden Dienste nicht anzubieten, kann zu gesamtwirtschaftlichen Wohlfahrtsverlusten führen, die aus den weiträumigen Beschaffungsfahrten der Haushalte resultieren. Wenn es nun einerseits Städte gibt, die zu groß sind und andererseits Städte existieren, die offenbar zu klein sind, so stellt sich die Frage, ob es eine optimale Stadtgröße gibt. Diese Frage könnte in eine weitere übertragen werden: Gibt es eine - möglicherweise von Christaller abweichende - optimale Städtehierarchie? Die Antworten auf die Fragen können von verschiedenen Disziplinen gegeben werden, sowohl die Stadtsoziologie als auch die Stadtplanung kann Beiträge liefern; in den nachfolgenden Überlegungen sollen wirtschaftliche Gesichtspunkte im Zentrum einer raumwirtschaftlichen und stadtökonomischen Analyse stehen.
In this paper, we study the effect of exogenous global crop price changes on migration from agricultural and non-agricultural households in Sub-Saharan Africa. We show that, similar to the effect of positive local weather shocks, the effect of a locally-relevant global crop price increase on household out-migration depends on the initial household wealth. Higher international producer prices relax the budget constraint of poor agricultural households and facilitate migration. The order of magnitude of a standardized price effect is approx. one third of the standardized effect of a local weather shock. Unlike positive weather shocks, which mostly facilitate internal rural-urban migration, positive income shocks through rising producer prices only increase migration to neighboring African countries, likely due to the simultaneous decrease in real income in nearby urban areas. Finally, we show that while higher producer prices induce conflict, conflict does not play a role for the household decision to send a member as a labor migrant.
Inhalt 1 Globalisierung und Wettbewerb 1.1 Einzelne Aspekte 1.2 Unterschiedliche Bewertungen 2 Das MacDougall-Kemp-Modelldes institutionellen Wettbewerbs 2.1 Modellprämissen und -implikationen 2.2 Empirische Evidenz 3 Untersuchung weiterer Politikbereiche 3.1 Sozial- und Umweltpolitik 3.2 Wettbewerbspolitik 4 Mängel der betrachteten Ansätze 4.1 Transaktionskosten von Individuen und Unternehmen 4.2 Verhaltensweisen privater und politischer Akteure 5 Wirtschaftspolitische Konsequenzen
Gruppierung von Daten
(2022)
Dieser Beitrag beinhaltet einen Vergleich zwischen den Methoden der Topologischen Datenanalyse (TDA) und statistischen Clusterverfahren bei der Gruppierung von Daten. Es werden Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede bei der Bildung der Cluster und Zuordnung der statistischen Einheiten identifiziert. Hierzu werden zwei empirische Datensätze aus der Biologie und Medizin herangezogen.
Zusammengefasst haben sich die Verfahren der TDA als ein praktikables Werkzeug bei der Gruppierung von Objekten erwiesen. Vor allem mit dem Mapper-Algorithmus konnten adäquate Cluster erkannt werden. Beim Iris Flower-Datensatz hat die TDA ähnliche Ergebnisse wie die Clusteranalyse erzielt. Der Heart Disease-Datensatz war schwieriger zu behandeln. Die genutzten clusteranalytischen Verfahren waren nicht geeignet, die beiden Gruppen von Patienten korrekt zu identifizieren. Im Vergleich zu den Standardverfahren der Clusteranalyse zeigte sich eine leichte Überlegenheit der topologischen Verfahren.
Against a background of increasing violence against non-natives, we estimate the effect of hate crime on refugees’ mental health in Germany. For this purpose, we combine two datasets: administrative records on xenophobic crime against refugee shelters by the Federal Criminal Office and the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees. We apply a regression discontinuity in time design to estimate the effect of interest. Our results indicate that hate crime has a substantial negative effect on several mental health indicators, including the Mental Component Summary score and the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 score. The effects are stronger for refugees with closer geographic proximity to the focal hate crime and refugees with low country-specific human capital. While the estimated effect is only transitory, we argue that negative mental health shocks during the critical period after arrival have important long-term consequences. Keywords: Mental health, hate crime, migration, refugees, human capital.
This article explores, whether domestic judges might be held accountable under international criminal law (ICL). To date, international criminal justice has almost entirely focused on prosecuting political or military leaders. The Justice Case tried before the Nuremberg Military Tribunal in 1946 marks the most prominent exception. Prior to it, the judiciary – otherwise considered the epitome of justice – had mutated into a murderous machinery under Nazi rule. Judicial decisions do have far-reaching implications possibly constituting or contributing to international crimes. This holds true in a wide range of cases, for instance on practices of warfare and torture, on the use of certain weapon technologies, or on policies relating to minorities or racial segregation. I argue that domestic judges are accountable when engaging in international crimes. The article delves into technical aspects of criminal law; as well as the notions of judicial independence and immunity. While guaranteeing the rule of law, these two notions challenge the core idea of ICL: its equal application vis-à-vis all perpetrators of international crimes irrespective of official capacity. In order to differentiate due judicial conduct and its abuse in violation of ICL, I suggest a threshold a judicial act needs to exceed for entailing accountability for an international crime.
This paper sheds new light on the role of communication for cartel formation. Using machine learning to evaluate free-form chat communication among firms in a laboratory experiment, we identify typical communication patterns for both explicit cartel formation and indirect attempts to collude tacitly. We document that firms are less likely to communicate explicitly about price fixing and more likely to use indirect messages when sanctioning institutions are present. This effect of sanctions on communication reinforces the direct cartel-deterring effect of sanctions as collusion is more difficult to reach and sustain without an explicit agreement. Indirect messages have no, or even a negative, effect on prices.
How to identify customary international law is an important question of international law. The International Law Commission has in 2018 adopted a set of sixteen conclusions, together with commentaries, on this topic. The paper consists of three parts: First, the reasons are discussed why the Commission came to work on the topic “Identification of customary international law”. Then, some of its conclusions are highlighted. Finally, the outcome of the work of the Commission is placed in a general context, before concluding.
In light of climate change mitigation efforts, revenues from climate policies are growing, with no consensus yet on how they should be used. Potential efficiency gains from reducing distortionary taxes and the distributional implications of different revenue recycling schemes are currently debated. To account for households heterogeneity and dynamic trade-offs, we study the macroeconomic and welfare performance of different revenue recycling schemes using an Environmental Two-Agent New-Keynesian model, calibrated on the German economy. We find that, in the long run, welfare gains are higher when revenues are used to reduce distortionary taxes on capital, but this comes at the cost of higher inequality: while all households prefer labor income tax reductions to lump-sum transfers, only financially unconstrained households are better off when reducing taxes on capital income. Interestingly, we find that over the transition period relevant to meet short-medium run climate targets, labor income tax cuts are the most efficient and equitable instrument.
International courts regularly cite each other, in part as a means of building legitimacy. Such international, cross-court use of precedent (or “judicial dialogue”) among the regional human rights courts and the Human Rights Committee has an additional purpose and effect: the construction of a rights-based global constitutionalism. Judicial dialogue among the human rights courts is purposeful in that the courts see themselves as embedded in, and contributing to, a global human rights legal system. Cross-citation among the human rights courts advances the construction of rights-based global constitutionalism in that it provides a basic degree of coordination among the regional courts. The jurisprudence of the U.N. Human Rights Committee (HRC), as an authoritative interpreter of core international human rights norms, plays the role of a central focal point for the decentralized coordination of jurisprudence. The network of regional courts and the HRC is building an emergent institutional structure for global rights-based constitutionalism.
Im Zentrum Europas
(2008)
European integration provokes competition between the European metropolitan areas. At the same time, the question at which locations services of highest centrality are produced remains open. The paper analyses how far the German capital Berlin accepts the challenge to accomodate headquarters of multinational firms. Our investigation shows that Berlin's qualifications to attract headquarters are quite well. The number of headquarters residing in Berlin has increased subtly but contiuous during the last 15 years. One advantage could be the spatial proximity to the Eastern European markets.