Vienna University of Economics and Business
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A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part II: synthesizing the insights
Get PDFStrategies toward ambitious climate targets usually rely on the concept of "decoupling"; that is, they aim at promoting economic growth while reducing the use of natural resources and GHG emissions. GDP growth coinciding with absolute reductions in emissions or resource use is denoted as "absolute decoupling", as opposed to "relative decoupling", where resource use or emissions increase less so than does GDP. Based on the bibliometric mapping in part I (Wiedenhofer et al., this issue), we synthesize the evidence emerging from the selected 835 peer-reviewed articles. We evaluate empirical studies of decoupling related to final/useful energy, exergy, use of material resources, as well as CO2 and total GHG emissions. We find that relative decoupling is frequent for material use as well as GHG and CO2 emissions but not for useful exergy, a quality-based measure of energy use. Primary energy can be decoupled from GDP largely to the extent to which the conversion of primary energy to useful exergy is improved. Examples of absolute long-term decoupling are rare, but recently some industrialized countries have decoupled GDP from both production- and, weaklier, consumption-based CO2 emissions. We analyze policies or strategies in the decoupling literature by classifying them into three groups: (1) Green growth, if sufficient reductions of resource use or emissions were deemed possible without altering the growth trajectory. (2) Degrowth, if reductions of resource use or emissions were given priority over GDP growth. (3) Others, e.g. if the role of energy for GDP growth was analyzed without reference to climate change mitigation. We conclude that large rapid absolute reductions of resource use and GHG emissions cannot be achieved through observed decoupling rates, hence decoupling needs to be complemented by sufficiency-oriented strategies and strict enforcement of absolute reduction targets. More research is needed on interdependencies between wellbeing, resources and emissions
Patent Concentration, Asymmetric Information, and Tax-Motivated Income Shifting
Get PDFWe study the relation between patent concentration and tax-motivated income shifting. Using affiliate-level data for European multinational corporations (MNCs) and employing the relative share of patents held by an MNC as a measure for patent concentration, we predict and find that tax-motivated income shifting is increasing in the degree of patent concentration. This effect is economically meaningful: A one standard deviation higher patent concentration increases the extent to which affiliate-level profits are sensitive to income-shifting incentives by 25.6 percent. Additional tests exploiting variation in the information set of the local tax authority suggest that patent concentration facilitates tax-motivated income shifting by reducing comparable information available to the local tax authority. Overall, our results suggest that patent concentration shapes an MNC’s incentives to shift income via patents. Our findings also indicate that the effectiveness of tax-policy measures in curtailing this form of income shifting critically depends on their ability to improve the information set of the local tax authority.Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Serie
Do Country Risk Factors Attenuate the Effect of Taxes on Corporate Risk-Taking?
Get PDFThis study investigates whether country risk factors, including political and fiscal budget risk,
attenuate the effectiveness of tax policy tools that aim to encourage corporate risk-taking.
Exploiting a cross-country panel, we predict and find that the effectiveness of loss offset rules and
tax rate changes is fully attenuated for firms located in high-risk countries. We document the
attenuating effect of country risk is more pronounced in high-tax countries or when countries
increase their corporate tax rate. Additional tests around the U.S. federal budget crises from 2011
to 2013 indicate that temporarily heightened fiscal budget risk attenuates the effectiveness of loss
offset rules even in countries with low political risk. We identify conditions (low political and low
fiscal budget risk) under which targeted tax policy tools effectively stimulate risk-taking. This
suggests that ensuring taxpayers receive tax refunds is important in times of economic crises with
budgetary or political challenges.Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Serie
Geschäftsmodelle in der Plattformökonomie: Eine Untersuchung im deutschen Bekleidungshandel
Get PDFDigitale Plattformen entwickeln sich zu dem dominanten Geschäftsmodell im E-Commerce. Durch ihre speziellen Logiken und Funktionsweisen – die so genannte Plattformökonomie – verändern sie ganze Branchen und Märkte. Die wissenschaftliche Auseinandersetzung mit diesem Forschungsfeld findet vor allem auf mikroökonomischer, transaktionskostenorientierter Ebene statt. Dabei steht häufig die institutionelle Rolle der Plattform im Vordergrund. Die konkreten Geschäftsmodelle in der Plattformökonomie sind hingegen bisher nur unzureichend erforscht. Die vorliegende Arbeit verschreibt sich daher dem Ziel, den Einfluss der Plattformökonomie auf Geschäftsmodelle im E-Commerce darzustellen. Dies soll am Beispiel des deutschen Bekleidungshandels geschehen. Insbesondere die praktische Relevanz dieses Themas wird in der Untersuchung theoretisch möglicher und praktisch bedeutsamer Geschäftsmodelle aufgezeigt. Darüber hinaus tragen zahlreiche Interviews mit Entscheidungsträgern wichtiger Branchenakteure dazu bei, die Wirkung der Plattformökonomie auf die wirtschaftliche Realität des deutschen Bekleidungshandels darzustellen. So soll ein Beitrag für das wissenschaftliche Verständnis von Geschäftsmodellen in der Plattformökonomie geleistet werden. Zudem werden konkrete Empfehlungen für die Gestaltung des Geschäftsmodells erarbeitet
A decision support system to facilitate collaborative supply of food cooperatives
Get PDFFood cooperatives are gaining popularity due to consumers’ desire to eat healthy and source locally. Mainly run by private citizens, such groups present an interesting additional income source to regional organic farmers. However, small order quantities and substantial logistics efforts challenge operations. To facilitate efficient and sustainable food transports from farms to food cooperatives, this work investigates impacts of collaborative logistics activities through the development of a simulation and optimization-based decision support system. Results of computational experiments considering fresh food transports in Austria highlight potentials of such joint activities. Particularly, if orders are infrequent and quantities small, collaboration results in a substantial reduction of travel distances and reduces the number of required vehicles. Nevertheless, delivered food quality may deteriorate as consolidating shipments results in longer travel durations as well as additional loading and unloading activities
A global-scale data set of mining areas
Get PDFThe area used for mineral extraction is a key indicator for understanding and mitigating the environmental impacts caused by the extractive sector. To date, worldwide data products on mineral extraction do not report the area used by mining activities. In this paper, we contribute to filling this gap by presenting a new data set of mining extents derived by visual interpretation of satellite images. We delineated mining areas within a 10 km buffer from the approximate geographical coordinates of more than six thousand active mining sites across the globe. The result is a global-scale data set consisting of 21,060 polygons that add up to 57,277 km². The polygons cover all mining above-ground features that could be identified from the satellite images, including open cuts, tailings dams, waste rock dumps, water ponds, and processing infrastructure. The data set is available for download from https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.910894 and visualization at www.fineprint.global/viewer
The effect of COVID-19 on loneliness in the elderly. An empirical comparison of pre-and peri-pandemic loneliness in community-dwelling elderly
Get PDFOld-age loneliness is a global problem with many members of the scientific community
suspecting increased loneliness in the elderly population during COVID-19 and the
associated safety measures. Although hypothesized, a direct comparison of loneliness
before and during the pandemic is hard to achieve without a survey of loneliness prior
to the pandemic. This study provides a direct comparison of reported loneliness before
and during the pandemic using 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) on a pre- and a
peri-pandemic sample of elderly (60C years) individuals from Lower Austria, a county
of Austria (Europe). Differences on a loneliness index computed from the short De Jong
Gierveld scale were found to be significant, evidencing that loneliness in the elderly
population had in fact risen slightly during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated
safety measures. Although the reported loneliness remained rather low, this result
illustrated the effect of the “new normal” under COVID-19. As loneliness is a risk factor
for physical and mental illness, this result is important in planning the future handling
of the pandemic, as safety measures seem to have a negative impact on loneliness.
This work confirms the anticipated increase in loneliness in the elderly population during
COVID-19
Demand for Cancer Screening Services: Results From Randomized Controlled Discrete Choice Experiments
Get PDFObjectives: Low uptake of cancer screening services is a global concern. Our aim was to understand factors that influence the screening decision, including screening and treatment subsidies and a gain-frame message designed to present screening as awin–win.
Methods: We analyzed preferences for mammography and Pap smear among women in Singapore by means of discretechoice experiments while randomly exposing half of respondents to a gain-framed public health message promoting thebenefits of screening.
Results: Results showed that the message did not influence stated uptake, and given the levels shown, respondents were influenced more by treatment attributes, including effectiveness and out-of-pocket cost should they test positive, than by screening attributes, including the offer of a monetary incentive for screening. Respondents also underestimated the survival chances of screen-detected breast and cervical cancers.
Conclusions: Combined, these findings suggest that correcting misconceptions about screen-detected cancer prognosis orproviding greater financial protection for those who test positive could be more effective and more cost-effective thans ubsidizing screening directly in increasing screening uptakes
The role of self-transcending knowledge in Senge’s understanding of learning organizations Towards an interdisciplinary taxonomy of self-transcending knowledge
Get PDFPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of self-transcending knowledge as one of P. Senge’s
common themes underpinning his five disciplines approach. It will be shown that the notions of vision, purpose and
transcendence, especially self-transcendence are closely related to each other. However, the aspect of self-transcendence has not been covered well yet in the existing literature. That is why this paper is guided by the following research question: What does a consolidated, integrative and interdisciplinary concept of selftranscending knowledge look like, and what are its defining and unifying features and characteristics with respect to learning organizations?
Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper draws on (both theoretical and empirical) interdisciplinary evidence from a wide variety of fields, such as organization studies, psychology, philosophy, learning organizations, cognitive science and innovation studies. Key authors from the field of selftranscending knowledge and their approaches will be discussed to develop a unified interdisciplinary concept
of self-transcending knowledge and its possible applications, which will be demonstrated in a case study.
Findings – Self-transcending knowledge turns out to be central in the fields of learning (organizations) and
innovation, as it deals with future-oriented knowledge that is “not yet”, that transcends the boundaries of
existing knowledge. It is based on self-detachment, the notion of potentials and the insight that novel
knowledge is not only the result of a creative agent (or organization) but also can be found and cocreated
through an attentive search in an unfolding reality.
Originality/value – Existing literature in the field of P. Senge’s five disciplines (and beyond) does not offer a
comprehensive concept of self-transcending knowledge. This paper addresses this issue by bringing together
approaches from a wide range of fields related to this concept; it develops an interdisciplinary and coherent notion and taxonomy of self-transcending knowledge and shows its impact for learning organizations and innovation