TTIP – Probleme und Chancen

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is the most important trade policy decision that European leaders have faced in many years. The new generation of free trade agreements, including TTIP, aim at deep economic integration. Thus, they are essentially focused upon the removal or alignment of standards, regulations and administrative procedures that impede international trade and investment. Therefore, TTIP goes beyond the dimensions of traditional preferential trade agreements in the sense that it not only concerns tariffs and non tariff barriers to trade in goods, but it also concerns trade in services and the foreign investment environment. Regulatory cooperation under TTIP might thus well extend into core domains of public policy, including health and food safety or environmental regulation. Regulation, however, confers both benefits and costs to society. A proper assessment of TTIP must therefore also consider the benefits of regulation to society and must embed regulatory cooperation between the EU and US into a firm democratic framework. The potential of such an agreement is substantial, due to improved market access, regulatory cooperation and greater global reach, while the downside risk is limited. While some of the arguments critical of TTIP are justified, others seem rather excessive and seem intent on stirring up unnecessary anxiety among the population. An objective and constructive discussion is crucial to ensure that the needs of the population are heard during the negotiation process and that an agreement capable of achieving majority support can be concluded. The debate over TTIP has to consider not only the economic effects of increased trade but also the legal and political dimensions of the trade agreement.     

Bedarfsgerechte Steuerung der Gesundheitsversorgung — Chancen und Hindernisse

On 2 July 2018, the German Council of Health Experts handed over its current report entitled, “Demand-oriented health care management” to the Federal Ministry of Health. The pronounced separation of outpatient and inpatient care, and distinction between private and public health insurance, is typical of the German system. Experts’ recommendations include improved coordination of outpatient and inpatient services, monistic hospital financing and family doctor-centred patient care. The main criticism of the report is that it lacks a regulatory concept with competitive management structures.     

Das transatlantische Freihandelsabkommen — Relativierung von Chancen und Risiken

Since June 2013, negotiations have been underway between the U.S. and the EU on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Proponents of the envisaged agreement predict significantly positive effects on growth and employment. Critics, however, fear a reduction of existing standards, such as consumer or environmental protections, or abuse of the scheduled Investor- State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). The often very contrary positions recall the hopes and fears associated with the establishment of the European Single Market in the early 1990s. Against the background of the realised growth and employment effects of the much wider EU single market project and the significantly lower economic ties between the EU and the U.S., both the expected growth momentum as well as the potential risks of the TTIP need to be qualified.     

Neue Ideenquellen erschließen — Die Chancen von Open Innovation

Zusammenfassung  Open Innovation ist eine neue Strategie im Innovationsmanagement. Sie zielt darauf ab, externe Wissensquellen st?rker zu nutzen. Open Innovation bietet Unternehmen ein gro?es Potenzial, Produkte und Dienstleistungen effizienter, effektiver und in kürzerer Zeit zu entwickeln und deren finanziellen Erfolg zu steigern. Wie erfolgreich eine Open-Innovation-Strategie wird, h?ngt dabei von der richtigen Balance zwischen internen und externen Entwicklungen ab. Professorin für Innovationsmanagement an der Zeppelin Universit?t Friedrichshafen und Leiterin des Dr. Manfred Bischoff Institutes für Innovationsmanagement der EADSE Professor für Technologie- und Innovationsmanagement an der Universit?t St. Gallen und Vorsitzender der Direktion des Instituts für Technologiemanagement, Gründungspartner des Intellectual Property und Innovations-Unternehmens BGW AG mit Sitz in St. Gallen und Wien und Mitglied in mehreren wirtschaftlichen und akademischen Boards     

Chancen der selbstbestimmten Datennutzung?!

Consumers’ personal data are assets whose value can be determined pecuniarily. Different discount programs like Payback already offer their consumers compensation for their data. However, the appropriateness of this compensation has thus far not been scrutinised. Furthermore, consumers face problems regarding the interoperability of and the data portability between digital services. The author recommends establishing technical minimum standards for digital services and introducing a collecting agency that ensures consumers appropriate compensation for their data.     

Soziale Lage — Was sind die drängendsten Probleme?

Democracy seems to be at risk. People elect populists and autocrats, who offer simple solutions to social problems. Often, these problems are not even real ones but are only perceived as such. Economists have measures to determine which problems are fact-based, but they cannot draw a clear distinction between academic analysis and normative demand. If politics pursues a correction of a market outcome, any normative criteria other than efficiency have to be outlined explicitly. Nevertheless, some authors consider inequality one of the central contemporary social and economic challenges. Marcel Fratzscher emphasises that the solution is not found in more redistribution via taxes and transfers, but rather through greater equality of opportunity and social and educational mobility. Bert Rürup thinks that to stabilise the acceptance of the compulsory pension scheme, the dominance of the equivalence principle should be reduced. Further, the existence of different federal subsidy schemes should be replaced by a fixed federal contribution rate in alignment with the pension expenditures. In an international comparison, the fiscal burden for households with small and mid-level earned incomes is exceptionally high in Germany. In order to reduce this burden, Rürup suggests a contribution-free allowance for the social insurance contributions.     

Sharing Economy: Mehr Chancen als Risiken?

This article analyses the pros and cons of the new profit-oriented sharing economy. It summarises existing studies on the economic effects of Uber and Airbnb with a special focus on the repercussions for the labor market. It turns out that both business models could lead to additional revenues and employment rather than just crowding-out existing business models. However, unfair competition, exploitation of the self-employed and the destruction of cheap housing seem to be issues. Therefore, the authors conclude that neither laissez-faire nor a ban is the right answer. In order to allow for more growth and employment, appropriate regulation is needed.     

Klimapolitik — Instrumentenmix und Machbarkeit

Pro & Contra

Trennbankensystem: Pro Transparente Systemik     

Kommunikationscontrolling — Forschungsstand und Entwicklungen

Zusammenfassungen  Die Investitionen der Wirtschaft in die Unternehmenskommunikation nehmen zu. W?hrend der klassische Werbemarkt stagniert, steigen die Budgets für Public Relations 2008 europaweit um 14 Prozent. Das wirft in der Praxis neue Fragen auf und stellt auch das Kommunikationscontrolling vor neue Aufgabenschwerpunkte. Lesen Sie in diesem Beitrag, welche strategischen Herausforderungen dadurch entstehen und welche Prozesse eingeleitet werden müssen. Prof. Dr. Ansgar Zerfa? Universit?tsprofessor für Kommunikationsmanagement in Politik und Wirtschaft an der Universit?t Leipzig und Autor zahlreicher Publikationen zum strategischen Kommunikationsmanagement Dr. Mark-Steffen Buchele Managing Partner von aexea — communication. content. consulting sowie freier Projektleiter Strategie und Wertsch?pfung am Lehrstuhl für Kommunikationsmanagement der Universit?t Leipzig