The onward sweep of social capital: causes and consequences for understanding cities,communities and urban movements

This article examines the way ‘social capital’ has been deployed by researchers and practitioners in the field of urban movements and community development. It reveals the powerful and in many ways effective role the concept is playing in framing the contemporary reconfigurations of local state‐society relations which impact especially on the trajectory of third or voluntary sector development. The article identifies the gaps and weaknesses the ‘social capital’ perspective responds to, thereby explaining why it looms so large within the urban development discourse. Its own blind spots and ambiguities, however, limit our understanding of contemporary urban change. By prioritizing specific forms of civic engagement (and neglecting others), the concept filters the contemporary reconfigurations in the relationship of civil society, state and market in a peculiar way, which is conducive to supporting the spread of market forces to areas so far beyond the reach of capital. By directing attention to the self‐activation potential of different communities, whether in the form of civic engagement of well‐to‐do volunteers or in the form of activation/reinsertion (into the low‐wage labour market) of the marginalized, this new discourse plays a crucial role not only in current efforts to unburden the local (welfare) state, but also in the expansion of market forces into new areas. L'article examine comment les chercheurs et spécialistes ont fait usage du ‘capital social’ dans le domaine des mouvements urbains et de l'évolution des communautés. Il dévoile le rô le dynamique et, par bien des aspects, efficace que ce concept joue en structurant les reconfigurations contemporaines des relations société‐gouvernement local, lesquelles influent notamment sur les tendances du secteur associatif ou du bénévolat. L'article identifie les lacunes et faiblesses que comble la perspective du ‘capital social’, expliquant ainsi les raisons de son omniprésence dans la rhétorique de l'urbanisme. Ses propres faiblesses et ambiguïtés limitent toutefois notre compréhension du changement urbain contemporain. En mettant en avant des formes spécifiques d'engagement civique (et en en négligeant d'autres), le concept dégage les reconfigurations modernes qui interviennent sur la relation entre société civile, É tat et marché, et ce d'une manière particulière qui contribue à la propagation des forces du marché dans des zones jusqu'alors inaccessibles au capital. En s'intéressant au potentiel d'auto‐activation de diverses communautés, que ce soit sous la forme d'un engagement civique de nantis volontaires ou de l'activation ou la réinsertion (sur le marché du travail des bas salaires) des marginaux, ce nouveau discours est essentiel, non seulement dans le cadre des efforts actuels visant à soulager l'É tat (providence) local, mais aussi dans l'expansion des forces du marché vers des zones nouvelles.     

The environmental value and impact of the Maker movement—Insights from a cross‐case analysis of European maker initiatives

The aim of this paper is to explore the environmental value of the Maker movement, which is driving digital fabrication into the mainstream. Makers are inspiring each other to create smart solutions for all types of individual needs and address societal and environmental challenges at the same time. They share their creative ideas and solutions in collaborative work spaces and Maker Faires or on social media platforms. Is this grassroots innovation the beginning of the next industrial revolution? This paper will explore the environmental value and impact of makers' innovative business model and discuss on how to increase the circularity. At the same time, we will describe the role of maker communities and how to help to play a better role. In the framework of a case study analysis based on 10 different Maker initiatives across Europe, 39 interviews were conducted with makers and Maker initiatives managers evaluating core questions such as potential environmental value and impact, value chains, and energy efficient behaviours. This study is expected to contribute to building an explorative but yet empirically rooted analysis of the environmental value and impact of the Maker movement. Furthermore, the challenges in the future and the suggestions for policy makers are provided.     

(Gender-differentiated) Effects of Changes in Personal Income Taxation

Intereconomics - One of the most important areas of taxation is the personal income tax, which may have a gender-differentiated effect on work incentives and infl uence the distribution of paid and...     

Can conscious consumption be learned? The role of Hungarian consumer protection education in becoming conscious consumers

The purpose of this research is to examine how consumer consciousness can be defined, along what dimensions it might be measured and, according to these dimensions, how conscious Hungarian university students are. In addition, it is also discussed how their consumer protection education might contribute to their consumer consciousness. Two hypotheses have been proposed concerning factors potentially affecting conscious consumer behaviour (gender; participation in consumer protection education). To test these hypotheses, a questionnaire survey has been conducted with a total of 280 respondents, whom are undergraduate students of a Hungarian university. It is found that different aspects of consciousness dominate the consumer decisions of females and males. Female respondents appear to be characterized more by hedonistic consumption but they are more price sensitive than males. Veblen effect is stronger for males, and they have greater trust in well‐known brands. Although the survey revealed that both research variables might affect consumer behaviour (not only gender but the participation in consumer protection education as well), the role of education cannot be unambiguously identified in the process of establishing consumer consciousness. On the one hand, the results show that the behaviour of ‘trained’ consumers is mainly characterized by price sensitiveness, while the other (‘non‐educated’) group is more reliant on marketing and brands. However, on the other hand, it might also be concluded that young adults participating in the survey already have their own consumer habits and preferences; therefore, their consumer behaviour is more difficult to be formed by means of education during their university years. These findings are nevertheless limited to Hungarian university students and cannot be generalized to the entire society or other countries.     

Auswirkungen der Digitalisierung auf den öffentlichen Sektor — ein erster Überblick

Digitalisation is associated with manifold challenges for the public sector. There have been relatively few scientific studies to address these challenges, particularly regarding potential effects on public expenditures. It is obvious, however, that digital change implies opportunities as well as threats for public revenues and expenditures. Fiscal and regulatory policies are confronted with significant challenges, which require supranationally coordinated policy initiatives in addition to national measures. In-depth theoretical and empirical analyses is required to examine digital technology’s sizeable potential impact on public finances.     

Künftige Finanzplanung der EU — neue Prioritäten,höhere Effizienz?

On May 2, 2018, the European Commission proposed a limited and realistic increase for the EU’s next multi-annual financial framework 2021–2027. The draft implies a roughly constant common budget for the EU with a focus on European stabilisation policy and the provision of centralised public goods provision rather than agriculture and cohesion. This shift mirrors the priorities spelled out by Emanuel Macron. However, the Commission combined this pragmatism with its interest in improving budgetary flexibility and autonomy. There is no doubt that the EU27 faces difficult negotiations. EU Member States’ initial reactions to the European Commision’s recent proposals were dominated by juste retour considerations reminiscent of past negotiations. Strengthening EU expenditure through European added value and fundamentally reforming their own resource system, including the introduction of tax-based own resources, will end the deadlock surrounding net position thinking. A more fundamental view on the fiscal policy of the European Union is given in the last paper, which states that the EU requires a complete overhaul of the economic governance structure. It offers a tentative approach that avoids moral hazard problems as well as fallacies about conditional backstops during times of crisis.     

The Austrian income tax tariff, 1955–2006

Using official statistics and tax laws, we outline and discuss the evolution of the personal income tax in Austria since the beginning of the Second Republic in 1955. Focusing on the tax tariff and its progressivity properties, we identify a period of high (and increasing) progressivity before 1989, followed by a period of diminished progressivity since 1989. While still being a powerful revenue instrument, the Austrian income tax seems to have lost both redistributive impact and political allure.

Wie sollte das Steuersystem in Deutschland reformiert werden?

Some authors focus on the fact that Germany shows one of the highest tax burdens among the OECD countries. Based on their analysis, they suggest approaches to reduce the tax burden in particular for lower and medium incomes. These tax reliefs are possible, and would not compromise new public investment. But decreases in personal income tax rates mainly relieve higher income earners and are accompanied by high tax losses if the top tax rates are not increased. Alternatives are relief for social contributions or VAT. Other researchers do not look at the tax burden this way: as the income tax burden in Germany is not high from a historical perspective or by international standards, there is no case for massive tax cuts, as this would jeopardise the government’s ability to act and fail to correct past shifts of the tax burden at the expense of households with low incomes. Any tax cuts should be targeted at the bottom half of the income distribution without creating any revenue shortfalls. Instead, the government would be well advised to increase its efforts to overcome the public investment backlog and ensure a well functioning civil service. Furthermore, sustainability oriented tax reforms should focus on a shift of the tax burden from taxes on labour towards environmental and wealth based taxes.     

Fusionen und Übernahmen im Licht der Hybris – Überblick über den Forschungsstand

Although corporate acquisitions are ubiquitous a large number of M&A fails. One explanation for such failure is the hubris hypothesis for corporate takeovers. A decision maker affected with hubris (or overconfidence) will overestimate his abilities in raising potential synergies and is likely to make investment decisions destroying shareholder wealth. The growing literature on CEO hubris proposes various ways to measure hubris. We present these indicators and discuss possible advantages and drawbacks. (71 words)     

Tax-based Own Resources to Finance the EU Budget

Intereconomics - In the current negotiations about the European Union’s next medium-term Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the period 2021 to 2027, the system of own resources...