Climate Innovation - The Case of the Central German Chemical Industry
Wilfried Ehrenfeld
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 2,
2012
Abstract
In this article, we describe the results of a multiple case study on the indirect corporate innovation impact of climate change in the Central German chemical industry. We investigate the demands imposed on enterprises in this context as well as the sources, outcomes and determining factors in the innovative process at the corporate level. We argue that climate change drives corporate innovations through various channels. A main finding is that rising energy prices were a key driver for incremental energy efficiency innovations in the enterprises’ production processes. For product innovation, customer requests were a main driver, though often these requests are not directly related to climate issues. The introduction or extension of environmental and energy management systems as well as the certification of these are the most common forms of organizational innovations. For marketing purposes, the topic of climate change was hardly utilized so far. As the most important determinants for corporate climate innovations, corporate structure and flexibility of the product portfolio, political asymmetry regarding environmental regulation and governmental funding were identified.
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Intellectual Property Rights Policy, Competition and Innovation
Daron Acemoglu, Ufuk Akcigit
Journal of the European Economic Association,
No. 1,
2012
Abstract
To what extent and in what form should the intellectual property rights (IPR) of innovators be protected? Should a company with a large technology lead over its rivals receive the same IPR protection as a company with a more limited advantage? In this paper, we develop a dynamic framework for the study of the interactions between IPR and competition, in particular to understand the impact of such policies on future incentives. The economy consists of many industries and firms engaged in cumulative (step-by-step) innovation. IPR policy regulates whether followers in an industry can copy the technology of the leader. We prove the existence of a steady-state equilibrium and characterize some of its properties. We then quantitatively investigate the implications of different types of IPR policy on the equilibrium growth rate and welfare. The most important result from this exercise is that full patent protection is not optimal; instead, optimal policy involves state-dependent IPR protection, providing greater protection to technology leaders that are further ahead than those that are close to their followers. This is because of a trickle-down effect: providing greater protection to firms that are further ahead of their followers than a certain threshold increases the R&D incentives also for all technology leaders that are less advanced than this threshold.
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Protect and Survive? Did Capital Controls Help Shield Emerging Markets from the Crisis?
Makram El-Shagi
Economics Bulletin,
No. 1,
2012
Abstract
Using a new dataset on capital market regulation, we analyze whether capital controls helped protect emerging markets from the real economic consequences of the 2009 financial and economic crisis. The impact of the crisis is measured by the 2009 forecast error of a panel state space model, which analyzes the business cycle dynamics of 63 middle-income countries. We find that neither capital controls in general nor controls that were specifically targeted to derivatives (that played a crucial role during the crisis) helped shield economies. However, banking regulation that limits the exposure of banks to global risks has been highly successful.
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The Role of Investment Banking for the German Economy: Final Report for Deutsche Bank AG, Frankfurt/Main
Michael Schröder, M. Borell, Reint E. Gropp, Z. Iliewa, L. Jaroszek, G. Lang, S. Schmidt, K. Trela
ZEW-Dokumentationen, Nr. 12-01,
No. 1,
2011
Abstract
The aim of this study is to assess the contributions of investment banking to the economy with a particular focus on the German economy. To this end we analyse both the economic benefits and the costs stemming from investment banking.
The study focuses on investment banks as this part of banking is particularly relevant for financing companies as well as the development and use of specific products to support the needs of private and professional clients. The assessment of benefits and costs of investment banking has been conducted from a European perspective. Nevertheless there is a focus on the German economy to allow a more detailed analysis of certain aspects as for example the use of derivatives by German companies, the success of M&As in Germany or the effect of securitization on loan supply and GDP in Germany. For comparison purposes other European countries and also the U.S. have been taken into account.
The last financial crisis has shown the negative impacts of banks on the financial system and the whole economy. In a study on the contribution of investment banks to systemic risk we quantify the negative side of the investment banking business.
In the last part of the study we assess how the effects of regulatory changes on investment banking. All important changes in banking and capital market regulation are taken into account such as Basel III, additional capital requirements for systemically important financial institutions, regulation of OTC derivatives and specific taxes.
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Entrepreneurial Opportunity and the Formation of Photovoltaic Clusters in Eastern Germany
Matthias Brachert, Christoph Hornych
R. Wüstenhagen, R. Wuebker (Hrsg.), Handbook of Research on Energy Entrepreneurship,
2011
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to explain the evolution of the spatial structures of one particular type of renewable energy in Germany – the photovoltaic (PV) industry. We first demonstrate how environmental movements have contributed to institutional change and government action, leading to changes in the legal and regulative structure in Germany. We describe how these changes opened up a window of locational opportunity (WLO), thus combining the WLO concept with the entrepreneurial opportunity concept. As market entries occurred mainly in Eastern Germany, the paper also explores the factors leading to a concentration of economic activity related to the new PV industry in this part of the country. Based on the WLO concept, we combine this framework with the industrial dynamics literature by Klepper (2007) and illustrate the spatial evolution of the PV industry.
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Informed and Uninformed Investment in Housing: The Downside of Diversification
Elena Loutskina, Philip E. Strahan
Review of Financial Studies,
No. 5,
2011
Abstract
Mortgage lenders that concentrate in a few markets invest more in information collection than diversified lenders. Concentrated lenders focus on the information-intensive jumbo market and on high-risk borrowers. They are better positioned to price risks and, thus, ration credit less. Adverse selection, however, leads to higher retention of mortgages relative to diversified lenders. Finally, concentrated lenders have higher profits than diversified lenders, their profits vary less systematically, and their stock prices fell less during the 2007—2008 credit crisis. The results imply that geographic diversification led to a decline in screening by lenders, which likely played a role in the 2007–2008 crisis.
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Regulation and Taxation: A Complementarity
Benjamin Schoefer
Journal of Comparative Economics,
No. 4,
2010
Abstract
I show how quantity regulation can lower elasticities and thereby increase optimal tax rates. Such regulation imposes regulatory incentives for particular choice quantities. Their strength varies between zero (laissez faire) and infinite (command economy). In the latter case, regulation effectively eliminates any intensive behavioral responses to taxes; a previously distortionary tax becomes a lump sum. For intermediate regulation (where some deviation is feasible), intensive behavioral responses are still weaker than under zero regulation, and so quantity regulation reduces elasticities, thereby facilitating subsequent taxation. I apply this mechanism to labor supply and present correlational evidence for this complementarity: hours worked in high-regulation countries are compressed, and these countries tax labor at higher rates.
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Preventing Innovative Cooperations: The Legal Exemptions Unintended Side Effect
Christian Growitsch, Nicole Nulsch, Margarethe Rammerstorfer
European Journal of Law and Economics,
No. 1,
2012
Abstract
In 2004, European competition law had been considerable changed by the introduction of the new Council Regulation No. 1/2003. One of the major renewals was the replacement of the centralized notification system for inter-company cooperations in favor of a so-called legal exemption system. We analyze the implications of this reform and its arising uncertainty on the agreements firms implement, especially on innovative agreements like vertical R&D agreements. By means of a decision theoretic approach, we show that the law’s intention to reduce the incentive to establish illegal cartels will be reached but innovating cooperations might be prevented. To avoid this unintended side effect, fines but not the monitoring activities should be increased.
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Liberalization and Rules on Regulation in the Field of Financial Services in Bilateral Trade and Regional Integration Agreements
Diemo Dietrich, J. Finke, C. Tietje
Beiträge zum Transnationalen Wirtschaftsrecht Nr. 97, Halle (Saale),
2010
Abstract
Die jüngste internationale Finanzkrise hat eine scharfe Debatte um die Ursachen ausgelöst. Liberalisierung und Deregulierung werden hierbei benannt, und Deliberalisierung und Reregulierung scheinen eine natürliche Reaktion zu sein. Aus ökonomischer Perspektive ist diese Schlussfolgerung jedoch nicht berechtigt. Obwohl eine Liberalisierung von Finanzdienstleistungen die Stabilität eines Entwicklungslandes kurzfristig bedrohen kann, so fördert sie doch langfristiges Wirtschaftswachstum wenn gute rechtliche und ökonomische Institutionen die negativen Nebenwirkungen mildern. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen brauchen Staaten den Politikspielraum zur Implementierung solcher Maßnahmen. Entgegen weitläufiger Meinung ist der Politikspielraum von Staaten keinesfalls übermäßig durch bilateral oder multilateral Abkommen beschränkt. Deren weitreichenden Ausnahmen hinsichtlich der Regulierung erlauben es den Staaten ihren eigenen Weg bei der Regulierung zu verfolgen. Die Herausforderung hierbei besteht vielmehr darin, die entsprechenden Regulierungskapazitäten aufzubauen.
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Urban Development by Protecting Historic Buildings? An Analysis of Incentives and Regulations in Heritage Conservation
Peter Franz
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 6,
2010
Abstract
Für die Stadtentwicklung in Ostdeutschland spielen die Regularien des Denkmalschutzes eine hervorgehobene Rolle. Zahlreiche Städte verfügen noch über ein stadtbildprägendes bauliches kulturelles Erbe. Als Reaktion auf den in der DDR-Zeit vorangeschrittenen Verfall dieser historischen Bausubstanz sind in den Neuen Ländern vergleichsweise rigide Denkmalschutzgesetze erlassen worden. Zusätzlich wurde im Jahr 1991 das Bund-Länder-Programm „Städtebaulicher Denkmalschutz“ speziell für die ostdeutschen Städte ins Leben gerufen. In vielen Städten haben Denkmalschutzaktivitäten zu attraktiven Stadtzentren geführt. Auf der anderen Seite mehren sich die Anzeichen, dass eine „überzogene“ Denkmalschutzpolitik einen Hemmfaktor für die Stadtentwicklung bilden kann. Zum Auftakt dieses neu in den Fokus genommenen Forschungsthemas wird in dem Beitrag das Konzept eines ökonomischen Zugangs zum Thema des Denkmalschutzes dargelegt. Darüber hinaus erfolgt eine systematisierende Analyse dieses Politikfeldes im Hinblick auf die verschiedenen involvierten politischen Ebenen, Akteure und Regulierungen. Die Finanzierung des Denkmalschutzes, seine verschiedenen Instrumente und erkennbare nicht intendierte Effekte bilden weitere Schwerpunkte der Analyse. Die Befunde zeigen, dass in den Neuen Ländern ein höherer Anteil an Gebäuden unter Denkmalschutz steht und dass pro Kopf mehr öffentliche Mittel in den Denkmalschutz fließen als in Westdeutschland. Allerdings erweist es sich als sehr schwierig, festzustellen, wann ein optimaler oder zumindest ausreichender Stand des Denkmalschutzes in einer Stadt erreicht worden ist. Die Suche nach entsprechenden Indikatoren impliziert weiteren Forschungsbedarf.
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