The taming of the Shrew(ish snake)?

An article in the last issue of INTERECONOMICS discussed problems of the monetary integration in Europe as they may arise under the new European Monetary System¹. It dealt more particularly with the exchange rate problems whereas the following contribution is concerned with the intervention and credit mechanism.     

Winfried Schulz 65 Jahre

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Vorwort der Herausgeber

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Neoliberal ordnungstheorie and constitutional economics

Various new theoretical approaches, such as the economics of property rights, economic analysis of law or constitutional economics, have led to a renaissance of institutional theory. To a large extent, this renaissance emerged independently of the old institutionalism. In Germany, institutional analysis has a long and autonomous tradition, which has not been given proper international recognition. This applies especially to the neoliberal Ordnungstheorie, of which Walter Eucken is generally acknowledged to be the leading representative. This article examines the methodological and theoretical similarities and differences between Eucken's Ordnungstheorie and Buchanan's Constitutional Economics. I am indebted to Jack Wiseman for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article.     

Eine Verallgemeinerung des skandinavischen Modells der Inflation

Summary The Scandinavian Model divides the economy of a small country into two sectors. The exposed sector produces commodities traded on the world market, the sheltered sector produces commodities not traded externally. The E-sector is a price taker, while the price level in the S-sector is set by firms of this sectors. This model developed byO. Aukrust andG. Edgren, K.O. Faxén, C.O. Odhner is generalized by introducing a Phillips relation into the E-sector. The rate of inflation of a small economy thus is influenced by three components: imported inflation, a structural component (due to the Aukrust-EFO-model) and an excess demand component (measured by the rate of unemployment). The model is estimated with OLS and 3SLS (ordinary respectively three stage least squares). The results show that the rate of inflation in Austria during the period 1960–1974 can be fairly well explained by Phillips curve augmented Aukrust-EFO-model.In a final chapter the results of applying the same model to Austria and Sweden are discussed by comparing the respective estimates.     

Variability of mesohabitat characteristics in riffle‐pool reaches: Testing an integrative evaluation concept (FGC) for MEM‐application

This paper investigates the variability of mesohabitat characteristics in various riffle‐pool reaches. The tested river sections (n = 13) feature clear variation in slope (0.0004–0.0132) and low flow discharge (0.05–915 m³s^?1) in different river types (straight to meandering). Mesohabitat characteristics (water depth, flow velocity, bottom shear stress) were calibrated according to the MEM‐concept (MEM—Mesohabitat Evaluation Model). Statistical analysis clearly revealed significant differences (p < 0.001) for the same mesohabitats (e.g. riffles) in different rivers concerning the tested abiotic habitat parameters. A comparative analysis of hydromorphological parameters (width‐depth variance, Froude number) showed no correlation to mesohabitat variability based on 2D/3D numerical modelling related to a range of flows (n = 10) (low flow to annual flood). Only an increasing hydraulic radius (R_hy) was correlated to an increase in fast run and a decrease in run habitats. In a case study, a Fish Guild Concept (FGC) is presented which links mesohabitats to the rheophilic fish guild (12 fish species grouped) at the Sulm River. Mesohabitat suitability (preferred, useable and avoided) for the FGC was determined for spawning, juveniles (0+, 1+), sub‐adult and adult stages based on meso‐unit and point abundance electro‐fishing. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This article was published online on March 3, 2010. An error was subsequently identified in Figure 1 . This notice is included in the online and print versions to indicate that both have been corrected [March 10, 2010].     

MORPHOLOGICALLY RELATED INTEGRATIVE MANAGEMENT CONCEPT FOR RECONNECTING ABANDONED CHANNELS BASED ON AIRBORNE LiDAR DATA AND HABITAT MODELLING

Most of the large rivers are heavily degraded and lack near‐natural conditions due to high human pressure (agricultural use and settlements) especially on former inundation areas. Hence, it is rarely possible to ‘restore’ predisturbance conditions of rivers and their floodplains. Further, river or floodplain restoration programs are often based on type‐specific reference conditions. Those reference conditions are mainly determined on the basis of historical maps not giving any information of, for example, sediment supply, flood frequency and vegetation cover (density). Especially for improving the ecological status of rivers with abandoned channel features, key habitats for target fish species have to be restored by reconnecting floodplains and their secondary channel system. In addition, because of the necessity of improving the ecological status, there is growing interest in interdisciplinary river restoration techniques. Within the presented article, an integrative concept is derived based on Light Detection and Ranging measurements and numerical modelling with respect to river dynamics (hydrologic and morphological). Further habitat modelling, based on unsteady depth‐averaged two‐dimensional hydrodynamics, is applied with a focus on the mesounit scale. For testing the conceptual model, various river reaches at the Morava River were selected, featuring different morphological characteristics. It was found that the applied management concept allows considering the important issues of river dynamics (morphological/hydrologic) using a flow‐ and flood‐pulse approach for identifying bottlenecks of target species at the Morava River. The reconnection of abandoned channels will result in an increase of hydromorphological heterogeneity and/or woody debris within the study reach. This might be of high relevance for habitat features (e.g. backwater habitats) especially for flow pulses between low flow and mean flow and/or in reaches without abandoned channels between low‐flow and the bankfull stage. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.