Do Climate Engineering Experts Display Moral-Hazard Behaviour?

12th November 2019
KCG Secretary
Authors: Christine Merk, Gert Pönitzsch and Katrin Rehdanz (Climate Policy, 2019, Vol. 19(2), 231-243)

Discourse analyses and expert interviews about climate engineering (CE) report high levels of reflectivity about the technologies’ risks and challenges, implying that CE experts are unlikely to display moral hazard behaviour, i.e. a reduced focus on mitigation[…]

Tell the Truth or not? The Montero Mechanism for Emissions Control at Work

12th November 2019
KCG Secretary
Authors: Till Requate, Eva Camacho-Cuena, Kean Siang Ch’ng and Israel Waichman (Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2019, Vol. 95, 133-152)

We experimentally test the truth-telling mechanism proposed by Montero (2008) for eliciting firms’ abatement costs. We compare this mechanism with two well-known alternative allocation mechanisms, free and costly allocation of permits at the Pigouvian price[…]

Quantifying the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement

12th November 2019
KCG Secretary
Authors: Gabriel Felbermayr, Fukunari Kimura, Toshihiro Okubo and Marina Steininger (Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, 2019, Vol. 51, 110-128.)

This paper provides a quantitative analysis of the new EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the biggest bilateral deal that both the EU and Japan have concluded so far. It employs a generalized variant of the Eaton-Kortum[…]

Zur Rückkehr der Machtpolitik in Handelsfragen: Theoretische Überlegungen und politische Empfehlungen

12th November 2019
KCG Secretary
Authors: Gabriel Felbermayr (Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, 2019, Vol. 19(3), 232-244)

Opportunistische Regierungen haben vielfache Anreize, unilateral vom Freihandel abzuweichen, zum Beispiel um ihre Terms of trade zu verbessern. Doch was individuell rational sein mag, führt kollektiv in eine Situation, in der alle Länder schlechter gestellt sind[…]

Exploring Public Perception of Environmental Technology over Time

12th November 2019
KCG Secretary
Authors: Carola Braun, Christine Merk, Katrin Rehdanz and Ulrich Schmidt (Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 2018, Vol. 61(1), 143-160)

Public opinion has a substantial impact on political actions. However, public opinion might be driven by temporary emotions. If these emotions cool off over time, public opinion might change as well. This paper analyses how emotions drive public opinion over time for the case of an environmental climate engineering technology[…]

Public perception of climate engineering and carbon capture and storage in Germany: survey evidence

12th November 2019
KCG Secretary
Authors: Carola Braun, Christine Merk, Gert Pönitzsch, Katrin Rehdanz and Ulrich Schmidt (Climate Policy, 2018, Vol. 18(4), 471-484)

Climate engineering (CE) and carbon capture and storage are controversial options for addressing climate change. This study compares public perception in Germany of three specific measures: solar radiation management (SRM) via stratospheric sulphate injection[…]

What Do We Really Know About the Transatlantic Current Account?

12th November 2019
KCG Secretary
Authors: Martin Braml and Gabriel Felbermayr (CESifo Economic Studies, Vol. 65(3), 255-274)

Do the U.S. have a current account surplus or a deficit with the EU? Since 2009, official sources disagree: The U.S. Department of Commerce claims a consistent U.S. surplus while Eurostat reports the opposite. International transactions are notoriously difficult to measure accurately[…]

KCG Researchers Gave Presentations at the Annual Conference of the European Trade Study Group

11th November 2019
KCG Secretary
News
News
KCG’s thematic focus has been to work on an interdisciplinary research agenda that evaluates the proliferation of global value chains (GVCs) as an important aspect of globalization. As a matter of course, trade and related research issues belong to KCG’s priority research topics. To share the research insights obtained and exchange knowledge with other trade experts, KCG researchers actively attended international trade workshops and conferences, incl. the Annual Conference of the European Trade Study Group (ETSG) – one of the large-scale trade conferences worldwide. The ETSG Conference provides a forum for discussion and research on international trade and attracts economists and experts interested in trade related issues from universities and research institutes over the world[...]

KCG Research: Active Engagement of MNEs Matters for Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility in Africa

5th November 2019
KCG Secretary
Publications
Publications
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Economic research has provided evidence showing that developing countries’ integration into global value chains is highly advantageous for encouraging their economic and social development over time. Events in practice such as Rana Plaza Collapse in 2013 showed, however, that the benefits of globalization may be realized (partially) at the cost of labour welfare and environmental sustainability on site. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) from economically more advanced countries have been often criticized for focusing on maximizing their profits only and thus ignoring their social responsibility while investing in and/or doing business with firms in the developing countries[...]