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Deservingness of the rich, wealth taxation, and the paradox of inheritance
No full textWealth is increasingly unequally distributed in many countries. This study examines public perceptions of wealth deservingness and preferences for taxing the wealth of the rich, focusing on how opinions vary based on the amount, use, and origin of wealth. Drawing on an original vignette experiment conducted in Germany (n=6,018), our results show a consistent pattern: as wealth increases, its perceived deservingness declines, while support for taxation rises. Similarly, spending on luxury items is seen as less deserving than philanthropic or nonprofit investments, leading to greater support for taxing the wealth of luxury spending rich people. However, wealth obtained through inheritance presents a puzzling exception: although it is perceived as the least deserving compared to wealth gained through entrepreneurship or management, this does not translate into a stronger preference for taxing inheritors over managers. These findings, which hold across different income and wealth groups as well as political affiliations, highlight the complex and sometimes contradictory public attitudes toward the rich and the taxation of their wealth
The demographic divide: Inequalities in ageing across the European Union
No full textThe European Union is projected to enter a period of population decline after 2026, with implications for economic development and labour markets, though these will vary because of different trends in different EU countries. Between 2023 and 2050, Eastern and Southern EU countries will face the sharpest declines because of both natural population decrease and limited net inward migration. In contrast, Northern and Western countries could see population growth driven by higher migration. By 2050, working-age populations are projected to decline in 22 out of 27 EU countries, while the share of those aged 85+ in the EU as whole will more than double. This shift will strain healthcare, pension and long-term care systems across the continent. Eastern and Southern EU countries will face more severe ageing and workforce shrinkages, undermining their competitiveness and potentially contributing to increasing inequality. Western and Northern countries will also age, but slower natural population decline and larger migration inflows will give them more time to adjust. However, regional disparities within countries will likely widen as migrants concentrate in urban areas, leaving rural regions even more vulnerable to depopulation. Policies must be adapted to these different demographic trends. Eastern EU countries should focus on retaining talent, attracting migrants in sectors with labour shortages and increasing labour-force participation by women and older workers. Southern countries should strengthen family-friendly and youth-employment policies, while improving migrant integration and regional infrastructure. Western and Northern countries must prioritise migrant integration, rural development and gradual labour-market reforms for ageing populations. A coordinated EU plan for these different trends would support EU countries in addressing the challenges they will face. Integration of migrants into labour markets and societies will be especially important, though relying on sustained high migration may not be a viable long-term solution and will not be a substitute for maximising the participation of residents in labour markets
Handlungsdruck in der GKV - Wie ist die Ausgangslage für die "FinanzKommission Gesundheit"?
No full textIm Mittelpunkt der Ausarbeitung steht eine Vorausberechnung des GKV-Beitragssatzes bis 2050 in zwei Szenarienrechnungen. Der GKV-Beitragssatz wird danach bis auf 21,5 Prozent im Jahr 2035 steigen, wenn sich Ausgaben und Einnahmen wie in den letzten zehn Jahren entwickeln. Der GKV-Beitragssatz steigt im gesamten Prognosezeitraum. Wenn sich die Rahmenbedingungen nicht ändern, erreicht er 26,0 Prozent im Jahr 2050. Die Zahlen unterstreichen die finanzielle Schieflage der GKV und den daraus abgeleiteten politischen Handlungsdruck. Die Ergebnisse fügen sich sehr gut in vergleichbare WIP-Auswertungen der Vergangenheit sowie Berechnungen anderer Fachleute ein
Cooperation Across International Organizations: Effects of Regime Complexity on the Quadripartite of One Health
No full textIn recent IR literature, the term “regime complexity” has described the phenomenon that international regimes are increasingly overlapping, involving more institutions and actors. Pandemic prevention using a One Health approach represents one example of regime complexity as health threats for humans, animals, and ecosystems become more intertwined, causing a need for widely integrated governance systems. The self‐called “Quadripartite of One Health,” consisting of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH, former OIE) represents a unique collaboration in a situation of regime complexity and global health threats. These cooperative structures that evolved along the COVID‐19 pandemic were scrutinized by analyzing semi‐structured interviews with 10 employees of the organizations and 15 official documents of the four institutions using a tailor‐made analysis framework derived from three selected dimensions of regime complexity: competition, legal inconsistencies, and fragmented accountability. Regime complexity is likely causing negative as well as positive effects on the Quadripartite collaboration, confirming some of the selected arguments of regime complexity literature. It was found that despite their efforts to make use of the positive effects that regime complexity brings about, like data‐sharing, exchange of expertise, and increased innovation, several negative effects like discrepancies in terms of rules, procedures, human and financial resources, and understandings of mandates, as well as competition and protectionism, were observed
Examining digital government maturity models: Evaluating the inclusion of citizens
No full textDigital transformation affects nearly every sector of society and is seen as a strategic approach to addressing evolving demands, including those of citizens, demographic shifts, and skill shortages. To tackle these challenges, governments have begun shifting from a government-centric to a citizen-centric approach, tailoring e-services to citizens' life events and actively involving them in decision-making processes. Digital government maturity models (DGMMs) are essential tools for assessing digital readiness and guiding transformation, but their attention to citizen-centricity varies significantly. This study examines 18 DGMMs, revealing that 17% do not mention citizens, 33% reference them minimally, and only 50% integrate citizen considerations extensively. This research identifies seven themes where citizens were explicitly addressed in the DGMM, and these themes are maturity stages, areas of focus, enablers, constraints, metrics, insights, and recommendations. Despite the increased policy emphasis on citizen-centricity, gaps remain in translating this into actionable frameworks within DGMMs. This research contributes a thematic matrix and actionable insights to advance citizen-centric approaches, fostering public value creation, transparency, and trust. The findings offer guidance for researchers and practitioners to develop improved frameworks that align digital transformation efforts with citizens' needs, ensuring inclusive and effective public sector transformation
Social entrepreneurship in nineteenth century Britain: The Free Church of Scotland
No full textThis paper examines the establishment and early evolution of the Free Church of Scotland; the only British religious denomination to be founded on a national scale through voluntary financial support from its inception. Through an analysis of the church's origins and early institutional development the paper offers fresh insights into nineteenth-century Scotland's foremost voluntary institution. Central to this is the socially entrepreneurial leadership of Rev Dr Thomas Chalmers, as well as the structural deficiencies in institutional governance that impaired the church's capacity to address enduring financial challenges, notably cross-subsidy and debt. In doing so, the study contributes to the field of business history by analysing a previously overlooked organizational form that emerged from a long running conflict between ecclesiastical and state authorities over the limits of sovereign power
Atmospheric Pollution in 10 US Cities: Trends and Persistence
No full textThis paper analyses trends and persistence in atmospheric pollution in ten US cities over the period from January 2014 to January 2024 using fractional integration methods. The results support the hypothesis of long memory and mean reversion in atmospheric pollution in all cities examined. They also indicate that Boston is the only city in the sample where atmospheric pollution exhibits a significant positive linear trend, though it is also characterised by the lowest degree of integration, which implies that shocks have transitory effects and mean reversion occurs at a fast rate
Effectuation Spectra in Chinese High-Tech Entrepreneurship: Domain-Specific Logic Orientations and Cross-Border M&A
No full textAs the developing nations grow and experience rapid institutional transformation, research has begun to investigate the roles of culture, cognition and institutional context on entrepreneurship and innovation. This chapter aims to advance the entrepreneurial cognition literature by juxtaposing entrepreneurial effectuation, domain-specific expertise and ambiguity. By conducting a qualitative study of Chinese high-tech domestic and returnee entrepreneurs, the authors propose a spectrum between causation and effectuation and argue that the entrepreneur’s perceived level of ambiguity may better explain differing logic orientations among entrepreneurs, contributing to our understanding of entrepreneurial cognition. The authors theorize that 1) individual actors and the level of institutional development jointly comprise the entrepreneur’s logic orientation; 2) the level of perceived ambiguity mediates the strategy adopted by high-tech entrepreneurs; 3) the entrepreneur's logic orientation can be regarded as a continual spectrum from effectuation to causation. Finally, the logic orientation concept is applied to the context of cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) from a process perspective and the implications and fit of logic orientation with the stages of cross-border M&A are discussed
Contracts in crisis: The war in Ukraine and long-term contracts in energy markets
No full textWe examine the impact of the war in Ukraine on long-term contracts in energy markets. We find that traded contract volumes fall by 65 percent in the first months of the war. A collapse in bilateral trading contributes most to this decline. To protect themselves from price shocks, firms increasingly turned to long-term contracts already before the war. In sum, our results show that the market continued to serve firms' hedging needs during the crisis, but bilateral trading networks collapsed, and liquidity was largely provided by centralized markets
This (AI)n’t fair? Employee reactions to artificial intelligence (AI) in career development systems
No full textOrganizations increasingly implement AI for career development to enhance efficiency. However, there are concerns about employees’ acceptance of AI and the literature on employee acceptance of AI is still in its infancy. To address this research gap, integrating justice theory, we investigate the effects of the deciding entity (human, human and AI, and AI) and the impact of the data source (internal data, external data), on employees’ reactions. Using a scenario-based between-subject design, displaying a common situation in organizations ( N = 280) and an additional causal-chain-approach ( N = 157), we examined whether a decrease of human involvement in decision making diminishes employees’ perceived fairness and satisfaction with the career development process and increases their perceived privacy intrusion. Although we also considered other data sources to moderate the proposed relationships, we found no support for interaction effects. Finally, fairness and privacy intrusion mediated the influence of the deciding entity and data source on turnover intention and employer attractiveness, while satisfaction with the process did not. By addressing how the employees react to AI in career development–showing the negative reactions, our study holds considerable relevance for research and practice