Wettbewerb und Planung in den internationalen Wirtschaftsbeziehungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Where Schumpeter was nearly right – the Swedish model and Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy<--RID="*"-->

In Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy Joseph A. Schumpeter concluded that socialism would eventually displace capitalism in Western democracies. This would come about as a result of the superior performance of capitalism. We extract six “stylized” propositions that are essential elements of Schumpeter's prediction about the fate of capitalism. These propositions are confronted with the development of the Swedish economy. The three main results of the analysis are: (1) The evolution of the Swedish economy closely followed Schumpeter's predictions until about 1980: Large firms became increasingly predominant in production and innovative activity, ownership of firms became more and more concentrated, individual entrepreneurship waned in importance, the general public grew increasingly hostile towards capitalism, and by the late 1970s explicit proposals for a gradual transfer of ownership of firms from private hands were launched. (2) Design of tax and industrial policies fueled a development of the economy along the lines predicted by Schumpeter. In general, the policies discouraged private wealth accumulation. In particular, the policies favored concentration of firms and concentration of private ownership. (3) The turning point away from the path to socialism coincides with real world developments that disclosed two major flaws in Schumpeter's analysis. First, the ever more obvious failure of socialism in Eastern Europe went against Schumpeter's assertion that socialism can work. Second, Schumpeter, who thought that modern technology would make the giant corporation increasingly predominant, did not foresee the revival of entrepreneurship that took place in the Western countries around 1980.     

Handel mit Emissionsrechten und Herkunftsnachweisen in Europa — Das „Klima- und Energiepaket“

We analyze two major components of the so-called EU climate and energy package which has been proposed by the European Commission in order to implement the ambitious climate policy goals until 2020. The focus is on the development of the European emissions trading scheme and on the proposed directive introducing a trading scheme for guarantees of origin in order to promote the use of renewable energy. We conclude that the emissions trading scheme is substantially improved, not only because of the introduction of auctioning as the main principle for allocation, but also with regard to the distribution of the emission budget to the energy intensive sectors participating in the trading scheme on the one hand and the sectors not regulated by the scheme on the other. With respect to the regulation aimed at promoting the use of renewables we argue that it is necessary to be explicit about the final goals of the regulation and that co-existing funding and support schemes for renewables on the EU and the member-state-level have to be designed with great caution in order to avoid excess costs.     

中美组织沟通开放性的比较研究

开放沟通对企业的绩效和整体成功都有决定性作用,组织中的沟通开放性一直被认为与其所在的文化氛围有着密切的关系。本文调查了中国和美国不同的文化环境下,工作中面对面沟通与即时信息沟通开放性,运用AMOS和ANOVA分析显示,中国和美国企业面对面沟通的开放性无显著差异。美国企业平级间的面对面沟通高于中国企业,而中国企业即时消息沟通的开放性明显高于美国企业。本文并对研究结果及原因详细论述。     

Payments for agrobiodiversity conservation services for sustained on-farm utilization of plant and animal genetic resources

This paper discusses the potential application of Payment for Ecosystem Services-like schemes to tackle market failures associated with the public good characteristics of agrobiodiversity conservation services. So called payments for agrobiodiversity conservation services (PACS) would increase the private benefits from utilizing local plant and animal genetic resources on-farm through voluntary reward mechanisms, so as to sustain their on-farm conservation. Theoretical and applied insights about PACS are discussed and attention drawn to some of the challenges to be overcome in implementing PACS. In particular, these relate to the identification of potential buyers, the complex institutional setting in which PACS might operate and the articulation of a meaningful conservation goal based on a safe minimum standard approach. The latter is urgently needed, so as to ensure that additional agrobiodiversity services are generated. Relative to a fixed pricing approach, PACS schemes that seek to overcome information asymmetries through the use of conservation auctions may be associated with significant efficiency gains. However, potential trade-offs between ecological effectiveness, economic efficiency, and social equity considerations need to be carefully evaluated.     

Drivers of Change: A Multiple-Case Study on the Process of Institutionalization of Corporate Responsibility Among Three Multinational Companies

In this multiple-case study, I analyze the perceived importance of seven categories of institutional entrepreneurs (DiMaggio, Institutional patterns and organizations, Ballinger, Cambridge, MA, 1988) for the corporate social responsibility discourse of three multinational companies. With this study, I aim to significantly advance the empirical analysis of the CSR discourse for a better understanding of facts and fiction in the process of institutionalization of CSR in MNCs. I conducted 42 semi-structured face-to-face and phone interviews in two rounds with 30 corporate managers from three multinational companies. The data has been analyzed using qualitative (multiple coding) and quantitative (ANOVA, χ² analysis) techniques. The findings indicate that one company is driven by civil society’s influence on consumer’s perception, the second company by direct attacks by civil society, agenda setting organizations and legislators, and the third by the pressure of large customers and legislators. The results suggest that the coping behaviors of MNCs at both extremes of the spectrum of perceived responsible behavior aim at (1) improving the business case for CSR and (2) increasing legitimacy in society, resulting in converging CSR perceptions, and fostering an institutionalization of CSR.     

Market orientation of retail brands in the grocery chain: the role of supplier relationships

The role of retail brands has grown gradually and today they are regarded as one of the key strategic factors in the positioning of retail firms. However, developing retail brands that are competitive in terms of price and quality as well as in offering unique and specific values to consumers requires long-term, mutually beneficial retailer–supplier relationships that involve information exchange and a combination of the parties' core competencies and resources. This study investigates inter-firm activities in developing market-oriented retail brands in the grocery chain in four European countries. The aim is to identify critical factors that influence the role of these activities. Factors related to the internal organization, the nature of the supplier relationships and the market structure are discussed.     

RELATIVE EARNINGS REDUX: YOUTH MOBILITY IN THE 1980s

A complete view of inequality should encompass not only measures of distance between hierarchical ranks, but also measures of the extent of individual movement across ranks (mobility). Evidence from the NLSY indicates that relative earnings mobility was pervasive among young workers in the 1980s; possibly even higher than in the 1960s. Gender and race differences are apparent, however.     

Efficiency losses from overlapping regulation of EU carbon emissions

In order to achieve their climate policy targets EU member states apply various regulatory instruments. We investigate the potential efficiency losses arising from the imposition of emission taxes on sectors that are covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). Our analysis indicates the possibility of substantial excess cost through overlapping regulation. We show that unilateral emission taxes on sectors subject to the EU ETS are environmentally ineffective and increase overall compliance cost of the EU ETS.