KCG Journal Articles

The Social Cost of Contacts: Theory and Evidence for the first wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Martin F. Quaas, Jasper N. Meya, Hanna Schenk, Björn Bos, Moritz A. Drupp, Till Requate (PLoS ONE, 2021, 16(3): e0248288)

Building on the epidemiological SIR model, we present an economic model with heterogeneous individuals deriving utility from social contacts creating infection risks. Focusing on social distancing of individuals susceptible to an infection we theoretically characterize the gap between private and social cost of contacts[...]

Short-windedness Would Weaken Effective Climate Policy

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Wilfried Rickels, Sonja Peterson (Environmental and Resource Economics, 2020, 76: 447–517)

Committing to rigid shutdown measures to contain the spreading of the corona virus has been undertaken on the tacit assumption that these measures will be temporary and can be loosened when the COVID-19 infection rates decrease and discontinued altogether once vaccines are available. Mitigating climate change and achieving ambitious temperature targets as set out in the Paris Agreement require a long-term structural change taking us away from our current carbon-intensive economy to a zero-carbon and then net-negative carbon economy[...]

(Mis)conceptions about Modelling Negative Emission Technologies

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Wilfried Rickels, Christine Merk, Fabian Reith, David P. Keller, Andreas Oschlies (Environmental Research Letters, 2019, 14(10), Article: 104004)

Intentionally removing carbon from the atmosphere with negative emission technologies (NETs) will be important to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century and to limit global warming to 2 °C or even 1.5 °C (IPCC 2018). Model scenarios that consider NETs as part of mitigation pathways are still largely restricted to afforestation and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), while the '[f]easibility and sustainability of [NETs] use could be enhanced by a portfolio of options deployed at substantial, but lesser scales, rather than a single option at very large scale' (IPCC 2018, p 19)[...]

Indirect Rebound Effects on the Consumer Level: A State-of-the-art Literature Review

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Hanna Reimers, Anke Jacksohn, Dennis Appenfeller, Wassili Lasarov, Alexandra Hüttel, Katrin Rehdanz, Ingo Balderjahn, Stefan Hoffmann (Cleaner and Responsible Consumption, 2021, Vol. 3, Article: 100032)

Indirect rebound effects on the consumer level occur when potential greenhouse gas emission savings from the usage of more efficient technologies or more sufficient consumption in one consumption area are partially or fully offset through the consumers’ adverse behavioral responses in other areas[...]

Helfen EU-Klimazölle, um China und die USA stärker in die Verantwortung zu nehmen?

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Sonja Peterson (Wirtschaftsdienst, 2021, 101(5): 346–350)

Um die Ziele des Klimaabkommens von Paris zu erreichen und den Anstieg der globalen Durchschnittstemperatur auf maximal 2°C gegenüber dem vorindustriellen Niveau zu begrenzen, muss die Welt bis Mitte des 21. Jahrhunderts CO2-neutral und in den darauffolgenden 15 bis 20 Jahren komplett treibhausgasneutral werden[...]

Too Cold to Be Skeptical: How Ambient Temperature Moderates the Effects of CSR Communication

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Wassili Lasarov, Robert Mai, Jan S. Krause, Ulrich Schmidt, Stefan Hoffmann (Ecological Economics , 2021, 183, Article: 106943)

Consumer reactions to firms' corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication range from favorable approval to outright skepticism toward the company. This paper contributes to the CSR literature by introducing a so-far overseen but relevant variable that helps to explain why consumer sometimes react positively and sometimes negatively to CSR communication: the ambient temperature[...]

Division of Labor under Perfect Competition

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Puqing Lai, Till Requate (Singapore Economic Review, 2020: 1–9)

This paper develops a simple model of division of labor under perfect competition. The model shows under that the division of labor is compatible with perfectly competitive markets if coordination costs are increasing with the number of teams. We also show under what conditions interior solutions for the division of labor exist under imperfect competition.

The Belt and Road Initiative, World Order and International Standards: Continuity, Adaptation, or Discontinuity?

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Guli-Sanam Karimova, Stephen A. LeMay (Journal of Global Ethics, 2021, 17(1): 71–90)

Many questions arise in any Western discussion of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Does China’s BRI represent a new world order that aligns with European values and interests? Alternatively, is it an attempt by China to dominate Eurasia and most of the world economically and socially?[...]

Virtue Ethics between East and West in Consumer Research: Review, Synthesis and Directions for Future Research

19th November 2021
KCG Secretary
Authors: Guli-Sanam Karimova, Nils Christian Hoffmann, Ludger Heidbrink, Stefan Hoffmann (Journal of Business Ethics, 2020, 165: 255–275)

This literature review systematically synthesizes studies that link consumer research to differences and similarities in virtue ethics between the East and the West, with a focus on early Chinese and ancient Greek virtue ethics. These two major traditions provide principles that guide consumer behavior and thus serve as a background to comparatively explain and evaluate the ethical nature of consumer behavior in the East and the West[...]