Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät
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talking back: junge Muslim*innen in Deutschland im Kontext eines (konstruierten) Bedrohungsszenarios
(2023)
Als Muslim*innen markierte und rassifizierte Menschen werden auf-grund der ihnen (teilweise vermeintlich) zugeschriebenen kulturellen, religiösen oder ethnischen Zugehörigkeit oft als gefährliche Subjekte dargestellt. Gleichzeitig bleiben ihre eigenen Rassismuserfahrungen weitgehend unbeachtet und sie sehen sich mit Schwierigkeiten konfron-tiert, diese Erfahrungen zu thematisieren. Anhand von Interviews mit vier muslimischen jungen Erwachsenen wurden unterschiedliche Ant-wort- und Sprechmöglichkeiten junger Muslim*innen im Kontext eines (konstruierten) Bedrohungsszenarios untersucht. Den theoretischen Rahmen bilden die Überlegungen von Stuart Hall und Judith Butler zum Konzept der Anrufung. Basierend auf analytischen Kategorien nach bell hooks konzeptualisierte ich verschiedene Formen des talking back. Die-ser Zugang ermöglicht es, die Subjektpositionen der Interviewpart-ner*innen und ihre agency wahrzunehmen und gleichzeitig ihre Situiert- und Bedingtheit innerhalb des Sicherheitsdispositivs zu berücksichtigen.
Learning and Teaching EU-Latin America and the Caribbean Relations. An open educational resource
(2023)
This is not a simple text book. This is a complete teaching tool meant to provide lecturers in particular - but also students - with an interactive, bilingual, multimodality and cost free instrument to facilitate the teaching and learning of an understudied topic in international affairs such as EU-LAC relations. This teaching tool can be used as a full course or as complementary material for courses in a wide range of disciplines and subjects, from International Relations to EU and Latin American Studies, from Diplomacy and Foreign Policy Analysis to International History, Regionalism, Governance or more specific topics discussed in the teaching tool. Furthermore, this tool is designed for lecturers with students of all level from BA upwards. This means that the lecturer has the possibility to go more or less deep into the topics and make content more or less sophisticated. The material is equally suitable to teach university students at BA, MA and PhD level and professionals, to train diplomats, ministerial staff or journalists and local administrations officials. The contributors thought of this teaching tool as an all-round functional instrument for lecturers of different kind, level, and background addressing diverse audiences.
Die Arbeitswelt, auf die die Berufsschule vorzubereiten hat, befindet sich im Wandel. Mit den sog. 3D – dem demographischen Wandel, der Digitalisierung, der Dekarbonisierung – ist der komplexe Veränderungsprozess grob umschrieben. Dieser Veränderungsprozess muss Fol-gen für den Unterricht haben. Ein Hebel ist die Sachanalyse. Sie dient der gedanklichen Durch-dringung der Inhalte als Vorbereitung für die Festlegung von Lernzielen bzw. Kompetenzer-wartungen. Dabei werden auch die Arbeits- und Geschäftsprozesse in die Reflexion einbezo-gen. Hier findet jedoch eine umfangreiche Digitalisierung statt – mit der didaktischen Folge, dass „technische Akteure“ in den digitalisierten Prozess wirken bzw. Prozesse "verschwinden".
In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird ein klassischer didaktischer Topos – die Sachanalyse – neu gedacht. Die Sachanalyse wird als Instrument der vertieften curricularen Analyse begriffen. In der Arbeit werden Unternehmensprozesse der zentrale Bezugspunkt einer vertieften curricu-laren Sachanalyse. Die Arbeit zeigt – in Form von Gestaltungsprinzipien – auf, wie eine pro-zessorientierte Sachanalyse zu gestalten ist.
Hintergrund dieser Entwicklung ist ein Design für die prozessorientiere Sachanalyse, die im Zuge designbasierter Forschung (DBR) in drei Zyklen – auch unter den Bedingungen der Corona-Pandemie – entwickelt, erforscht und evaluiert wurde.
Industry 4.0 implies the transformation of industrial value creation based on the digitalization, virtualization, and comprehensive interconnection. It promises numerous advantages for both individual companies and entire supply chains. The present dissertation analyzes how Industry 4.0 affects industrial value creation from a supply chain perspective. It comprises seven scientific articles that shed light on selected topics at the nexus of Industry 4.0 and Supply Chain Management, providing an in-depth analysis of this field. In particular, the dissertation reveals changes that Industry 4.0 brings for industrial buyer-supplier relationships and holistic supply chain structures, such as platforms and ecosystems. By presenting new findings, interpretations, and discussions, the dissertation adds to the state of research and contributes to further stimulate scientific discourse. The findings and discussions also provide implications for business practice that help encourage advancements within this field.
Advanced Patent Analytics: Patent Indicators in Strategic and Intellectual Property Management
(2023)
Patents constitute one of the most comprehensively available and frequently used information sources to im-prove strategic and intellectual property management decisions, amongst other in innovation management, research and development management, technology management, competitive and technology intelligence, and patent/technology valuation. Unlike other innovation/technology and related performance indicators such as research and development expenditures, which are only available for a limited number of firms that have to publish their efforts due to publication and reporting requirements, patents yield information on research and development outputs and are publicly available for all firms that choose to patent-protect their proprietary knowledge – irrespective of their sizes, locations, or publication and reporting requirements. This provides in-sights into the technology base, strategy, and development of various firms, from startups to small- and medi-um-sized firms and international conglomerates. However, issues inhibiting the usefulness particularly of pub-licly available patent data and patent analytics exist. Some of these issues pertain to correct patent ownership assignment, the incorporation of legal status information, and incorporation of quality differences in patents and the technologies which they protect. Consequently, various patent indicators have been developed in prior research.
This dissertation focuses on advanced patent analytics by providing an overview of the status quo and devel-oping novel insights to support the strategic and intellectual property management. To answer the overarching research question, i.e., what is the status quo in patent analytics and how can advancements support the stra-tegic and intellectual property management, this dissertation comprises five distinct yet related research pro-jects. Herein, the development of patent indicators used in patent analytics and typical empirical results are traced, and patent indicators are linked to the concept of sustainability, yielding ample future research opportu-nities and insights for practitioners in the first research project. Further, it is identified that additional insights can be derived when complementing conventional patent indicators with smart patent indicators and longitudi-nal data in technology landscaping analyses in the second research project. Furthermore, potential relations between open innovation collaborations and intellectual property are detected by drawing on multiple stages beyond the modus operandi and multiple levels of analysis in the third research project. Moreover, the innova-tion performance of open innovation collaborations is evaluated based on patent measures by incorporating ownership information in the fourth research project. For this purpose, on prior research from other application areas is drawn upon to assess the presence of open innovation collaborations more precisely. In addition, prior research on integrated intellectual property strategies based on patents and trademarks is revisited in the fifth research project.
For this dissertation and the individual research projects, extant literature particularly from the strategic man-agement and intellectual property management realm is drawn upon. The covered prior research topics com-prise – but are not limited to – competitive and technology intelligence, technology landscaping, firms’ financial and innovation performances, intellectual property like patents and trademarks and intellectual property integra-tion, patent analytics and patent valuation, patent indicators and metrics, in particular (smart) patent indicators, sustainability, and open innovation, open innovation modes, and (patent-based) open innovation measures.
For the individual research projects, a variety of methods, levels of analysis, and unique data sets are relied upon. The first research project constitutes a literature review of 123 publications on patent indicators and is focused on the patent/patent portfolio level. The second research project constitutes a technology landscaping case study on 24,264 patent families from the smart houses technology and is focused on the technology field (patent families) level. The third research project constitutes a mixed-methods approach by combining (1) a conceptual paper on the relationship between intellectual property and open innovation and (2) a case study on the development of Lyrica and Pregabalin based on publications, interviews, and patents. This case study is focused on the invention (patents) level. The fourth research project constitutes a quantitative-empirical anal-yses (ordinary least squares regressions) of 21,898 patent families stemming from open and closed innovation collaborations by 44 German small- and medium-sized firms with 9,902 entities in their corporate trees. This quantitative-empirical analysis is focused on the invention (patent families) level. The fifth research project con-stitutes a multi-methods approach based on quantitative-empirical analyses (ordinary least squares regres-sions) of (1) 17,045 European firms and (2) a subsample of 182 European firms. This research project is fo-cused on the firm (patent and trademark portfolios) level.
In answering the overarching research question, the joint findings and implications of this dissertation suggest that patents yield valuable insights for strategic and intellectual property management, particularly when ac-counting for common issues such as the harmonization or correct assignment of ownership, incorporation of legal status information and associated enforceability, as well as aspects affecting patent indicators like patent citations. Patent-based information, when properly and effectively used, provides valuable insights for a variety of firms and a plethora of use cases. However, the results also echo the famous colloquial saying of “garbage in, garbage out”: if patent analytics are based on incomplete data and deficient patent indicators, biased results are inevitable, leading to suboptimal strategic decisions, and ultimately an inefficient use of firm resources. Moreover, decision-makers should make use of options to combine patent-based data with other internal and external data sources, including performance data. It is also beneficial to turn to experts in preparing, conduct-ing, and interpreting patent analytics’ results and to pertain to the limitations of these analyses. In addition, harmonized patent data that accounts for patents’ legal status and ownership structures as well as smart and other novel patent indicators may also be applied in economic, legal, and other managerial perspectives on patents, including litigation, standard setting, or the development of dominant designs.
Global supply ecosystems are increasingly effected by the paradigm shift towards a more sustainable future. This is not only driven by upcoming legislations, resource scarcity, and social responsibility towards the environment, but also by the possibility to achieve a competitive advantage enabled by sustainable management. The natural resources-based view with the three interconnected strategies pollution prevention, product stewardship, and sustainable development thereby is a widely used conceptual framework to examine the relationship between business and environmental sustainability and competitive advantages.
This dissertation comprises four essays contributing to the achievement of competitive advantage in the light of the natural resource-based view, on a company, and on a supply chain level. Therefore, a variety of qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches is applied. Thereby, different perspectives based on the strategic capabilities of the natural-resource based view are adopted to both expand the theoretical bases of different research fields, and to provide guidance for practitioners for the further development of organizations and supply chains.
The first article, “Development of a search and rescue framework for maritime freight shipping in the Arctic”, related to the strategic capability pollution prevention, empirically investigates necessary capabilities for search and rescue in the Arctic region. The Arctic sea routes, also driven by climate change and melting polar ice, offer not only a solution for capacity bottlenecks, but could also lower costs due to potentially less fuel consumption and pollution. These developments have a positive effect on the volume of traffic in the Arctic, making a comprehensive search and rescue capabilities even more necessary to ensure safety. To contribute to this trend, based on a literature review, six dimensions of search and rescue in the Arctic are identified. These dimensions form the starting point for semi-structured interviews conducted with 24 experts from business, science, and politics/NGOs. The results show a total of 23 top-codes and 50 subcodes, forming, integrated with the previously identified dimensions port infrastructure, search and rescue equipment, communication technology, navigation technology, standards and agreements, and cooperation, a search and rescue framework as a result of the research. Thereby, from a theoretical perspective, the paper offers a framework for the systematic development of search and rescue in the Arctic. From a practical perspective, the results are able to serve as a starting point for further development of search and rescue activities in the Artic, as well as for contextualization of current activities.
The second essay, “Capabilities for digital servitization: Evidence from the socio-technical systems theory”, related to the strategic capability product stewardship, identifies required capabilities for companies to develop and provide smart product-service systems. Sustainability and disruptions such as COVID-19 have an impact on companies, which are also affected by the two intertwined trends Industry 4.0 and servitization. Research about digital servitization, the transition between product offering and providing smart product-service systems, is still limited, which poses challenges for companies. To close this research gap, an exploratory multiple case study comprising 24 interviews is proposed. Thereby, four manufacturing companies with a total of 18 interviewees have been considered. The cases are supplemented with six additional interviews with experts in supporting roles, such as strategy consulting and business model innovation, and other secondary data sources for triangulation. Socio-technical systems theory comprising an internal, and an external dimension is adopted to cover the relevant capabilities to offer smart product-service systems. A total of 46 capabilities are identified, and classified into the dimensions of the underlying theory. The results contribute to the further development of the practical and theoretical understanding of digital servitization.
The third article, “Critical success factors for circular business model innovation from the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals”, related to the strategic capability sustainable development, represents an empirical contribution for the understanding of critical success factors for company´s transformation from linear to circular, as well as their connection to the Sustainable Development Goals. Due to pressure for companies to enhance resource productivity and efficiency, and also driving sustainable development, circular business model innovation supports the journey to circularity, which is accompanied by a variety of barriers and challenges. To support companies in the innovation process, an expert interview-based approach for the identification of critical success factors for circular business model innovation is conducted. In sum, 30 semi-structured interviews with experts from politics/NGOs, science, and business are presented, whereas different industries have been taking into account. The interviews have been analyzed afterwards using a qualitative content analysis to identify common words and phrases. As a result of the research, a framework comprising nine top-codes, and 37 sub-codes is developed. Afterwards, the critical success factors are connected with the Sustainable Development Goals. Thereby, the study extends the theoretical basis of circular business model innovation research, and offers implications for practitioners to support innovation processes.
Within the fourth paper, “Exploring the circular economy paradigm: A natural resource-based view on supplier selection criteria”, criteria for circular supplier selection with a focus on electric vehicle supply chains are examined using the fuzzy decision making trial and laboratory method. In this paper, as the natural resource-based view is used as the underlying theory, all strategic capabilities are addressed. The transfer of circular principles to supply chain management is further driven by limited resources, legislation, as well as social responsibility. Especially within electric vehicle supply chains, critical materials from critical countries of origin are in use, which highlights the importance of circularity for this sector. The low level of vertical integration thereby emphasizes the role of the suppliers, and related to this supplier selection for the creation of self-sufficient production systems. To contribute to this field of research, a fuzzy decision making trial and laboratory approach is applied in an electric vehicle case study. Within the first step, based on a literature review, criteria for circular supplier selection are identified, and classified into the strategic capabilities of the natural resource-based view afterwards. The set of criteria is judged and refined by an expert panel afterwards. In the second step, interviews with the experts for value collection are conducted. Based on the results, the mutual influence of the criteria is determined. The results of the paper show that environmental standards, environmental-related certifications, resource consumption, and waste generation are the most important supplier selection criteria in the considered case. The criteria are classified into the categories causes and effects, followed by a discussion of the prominence of the criteria, as well as the development of a strategic map. Furthermore, the results are discussed in the light of the natural resource-based view. From a theoretical perspective, the results contribute to the research on supplier selection criteria within circular supply chains, especially for electric vehicles. From a practical point of view, the study supports procurement managers in supplier selection processes.
Das Gesundheitswesen in Deutschland befindet sich in einem stetigen Wandel. Neben der demografischen und sozialen Entwicklung spielen moderne Informations- und Kommu-nikationstechnologien, die Pharmaindustrie sowie die Medizintechnik eine große Rolle.Die Schnittstellenproblematiken entlang der Geschäftsprozesse im Rahmen der Digitali-sierung des deutschen Gesundheitswesens zeigen immer mehr, dass eine nahtlose Integra-tion der Versorgungsprozesse sowie ein digitalisierter Datenaustausch zu einer Verbes-serung der Qualität und Wirtschaftlichkeit der Versorgung führt.Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit werden die verschiedenen erwarteten Entwicklungen anhand der Szenariotechnik beschrieben. Die vorgestellten Szenarien dienen als Fundament, um die Anforderungen an die veränderten Geschäftsprozesse und deren Schnittstellen zu ermitteln. Anschließend wird eine kontextsensitive IT-Architektur entwickelt, die Prob-leme der intelligenten Geschäftsprozesssteuerung und -integration in die heutigen Digi-talisierungsbestrebungen adressiert und neue Akteure im Gesundheitswesen sowie deren Services einbindet. Diese Architektur ermöglicht, dass die Leistungen der Akteure über Sektorengrenzen hinweg miteinander verbunden und orchestriert werden. Designkrite-rien wie Schnittstellenorientierung, Interoperabilität, Kontextsensitivität, Modularität und selbstlernende Steuerung spielen dabei eine maßgebliche Rolle.
This thesis consists of three papers that contribute to the literature on empirical capital markets research including the application of factor returns, corporate social responsibility in stock markets and ethical portfolio investing. The first paper shows why currency conversion of downloadable factors may matter depending on the inves-tor’s perspective. It shows how to convert the currency of long and long-short factors and illustrates the practical and statistical relevance of currency conversion by empiri-cally analyzing the performance of European equity funds from a non-USD investor’s perspective. The second paper examines the effect of ESG rating events on stock returns and risks. Event-study methodology enables the analysis of abnormal returns around ESG rating changes to examine their relevance for stock value. A difference-in-differences framework allows to assess the effect of rating changes on different stock risks. The third paper investigates whether the integration of gender diversity as ethical portfolio criterion pays for investors. Evaluating performance and risk exposures of portfolios in 19 international markets provides evidence on whether gender diversity represents a business case beyond a moral case for investors. Further analysis assesses the role of country gender parity as contextual factor in the relation between gender diversity and the performance and risk of portfolios.
<title xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Abstract</title><p xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xml:lang="en">CEOs' perceptions of the environment and the information processing shortcuts (or heuristics) they use to develop these perceptions are important to organizations. We study whether organizational structure, an important channel and filter for the flow of information in organizations, affects CEOs' perception gaps pertaining to the competitive environment. Perception gaps are defined as systematic deviations of subjective perceptions of the competitive environment from conceptions based on objective data. Studying 281 CEOs based in 216 firms, we find that functional structures are associated with wider environmental perception gaps, whereas divisional structures are associated with narrower gaps. To address endogeneity concerns, we control for firms' exposure to varied environments and only sample newly appointed CEOs, who, by definition, inherit predefined organizational structures exogenous to their own choices. Our study advances understanding of senior managers' information processing shortcuts by clarifying how organizational‐level influences (i.e., organizational structure) affect CEOs' (mis)perceptions of the competitive environment.</p>
Strategy practitioners and executives in supply chains are facing increasingly dynamic environments in which their firms operate. Besides disruptive events such as the covid-19 pandemics, technological progress is shaping the environment of supply chains and is changing the requirements of supply chain interactors. In pursuit of a competitive company performance in such environments, companies need to react to technological changes to drive customer service, operational excellence and to leverage data to improve supply chain operations. Since technology has been identified as a driver in leveraging these effects, blockchain technology – besides others such as Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence or Big Data Analytics – has garnered increasing attention from both academics and practitioners. From practitioners, Gartner mentioned the technology three times in a row from 2017-2019 as a major trend of supply chain tech. From an academic angle, initial scholars started to investigate potential blockchain use cases in supply chains in 2016, working towards the effects for more transparent, reliable, and efficient supply chain management.
Even though blockchain technology itself relates to promising concepts and ideas, to this day, the technology remains more on a theoretical level with only few test applications in real world supply chains. Against this background, this dissertation sets the foundation to answer open questions and to provide guidance on challenges that executives and strategy practitioners face to understand and to adapt blockchain technology in supply chains. The individual articles comprising this work provide an overview and then delve deeper into individual core elements of blockchain technology in supply chains. Therefore, the overall approach streamlines the existing academic research in different formats, comprising the existing research status and extending it by highlighting the dark spots of the existing, theoretical foundation. In addition to the overall approach, one article examines how executives and strategy practitioners perceive the future of supply chain management under the development of technology in the environment of freight forwarding.
The first research paper “Blockchain technology in logistics and supply chain management – a bibliometric literature review from 2016 to January 2020” explores and maps the existing literature of Blockchain technology in supply chain management. The study summarizes 613 articles from academic supply chain research. The paper represents the first bibliometric analysis in this space, laying the foundation for newcomers to the topic by streamlining the research agenda. The study supports interested parties by creating an understanding of the most relevant developments, identifying the most influential works and by understanding trends in Blockchain research within the domain of supply chain management. The study adopts a citation network analysis and a co-citation analysis. Based on a co-citation analysis, the paper classifies the existing literature into five different research clusters: 1) theoretical sensemaking, 2) conceptualising and testing blockchain applications, 3) framing blockchain into supply chains, 4) the technical design of blockchain applications for real world supply chain applications and 5) the role of blockchain technology within digital supply chains. The study applies a practitioners relevance classification, providing a taxonomy for practitioners to aim into the most relevant studies in their respective fields. Further, the study highlights the most influential works of the space, providing newcomers with an easy entry into the topic.
The second essay focusses on the freight forwarding industry, which plays a key role in running global supply chains, with an expected sales revenue of 170$ billion in 2021. With the challenges of Covid-19 and massive supply chain disruptions, particularly in global trade, the thriving topic of digitization in supply chains has gained additional attention in both the academic and the practitioner world. Visibility- and knowledge gaps on the status of products have become a challenge for both freight forwarders and their customers, asking for a change in the organization of freight forwarders and how they interact with technology. Since technological foresight studies for the freight forwarding space are scarce, the specific expected impacts of digitization in freight forwarding remain unrevealed. The aim of this essay is to examine upcoming changes in the freight forwarding industry expected by freight forwarding professionals and academics until 2051 against the background of current technological developments such as blockchain technology. Overall, 84 international experts shared their estimates through a Delphi survey. The results are clustered into four clusters that provide an outlook into the future of freight forwarding. The results show that freight forwarding organizations should adapt to developing customer expectations and a change in the freight forwarder profile due to new requirements. Further, human resource activities should be focused on the upcoming change in the industry, where the “war for talent” is expected to evolve into a “war for digital talent”. Still, experts see a high relevancy for freight forwarding services in the future despite all technological developments and do not see technology as a threat to the freight forwarding industry, but as an opportunity. With regards to blockchain technology, the experts state a limited understanding of the technology compared to other tech concepts such as artificial intelligence and big data analytics. The study supports practitioners as well as academics in understanding future scenarios, creates an outlook for the industry and identifies trends within the domain of freight forwarding.
The third essay focusses on the most relevant consumer vertical where trust plays a key role for end-customers. Since practitioners are experiencing an increasing complexity and lack of transparency of literature, it becomes difficult for managers to find easy access into the subject. Thus, the paper adopts a structured literature review approach, streamlining the existing landscape of 31 peer-reviewed articles of blockchain in the food sector. It creates an entry point into the issue of Blockchain in the food supply chain domain and provides guidance for supply chain managers on “where to start” in the academic literature. The findings streamline the existing literature into four different research streams as follows: 1) implementation review and adoption 2) technology application and use cases, 3) theoretical frameworks, 4) data integrity and -security. The study will support interested parties in creating an understanding of the most relevant developments and to understand trends in blockchain research within the domain of food supply chain management.
Background: Patients’ knowledge was found to be a key contributor to the success of therapy. Many efforts have been made to educate patients in their disease. However, research found that many patients still lack knowledge regarding their disease. Integrating patient education into social media platforms can bring materials closer to recipients.
Objective: The aim of this study is to test the effectiveness of patient education via Instagram.
Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted to test the effectiveness of patient education via Instagram among patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Participants were recruited online from the open Instagram page of a patient organization. The intervention group was educated via Instagram for 5 weeks by the research team; the control group did not receive any educational intervention. The knowledge about their disease was measured pre- and postintervention using the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Knowledge questionnaire. Data were analyzed by comparing mean knowledge scores and by regression analysis. The trial was purely web based.
Results: In total, 49 participants filled out both questionnaires. The intervention group included 25 participants, and the control group included 24 participants. The preintervention knowledge level of the intervention group was reflected as a score of 18.67 out of 24 points; this improved by 3 points to 21.67 postintervention. The postintervention difference between the control and intervention groups was 3.59 points and was statistically significant (t32.88=–4.56, 95% CI 1.98-5.19; P<.001). Results of the regression analysis, accounting for preintervention knowledge and group heterogeneity, indicated an increase of 3.33 points that was explained by the intervention (P<.001).
Conclusions: Patient education via Instagram is an effective way to increase disease-related knowledge. Future studies are needed to assess the effects in other conditions and to compare different means of patient education.
Matthew effects in science and the serial diffusion of ideas: Testing old ideas with new methods
(2021)
The Matthew effect has become a standard concept in science studies and beyond to describe processes of cumulative advantage. Despite its wide success, a rigorous quantitative analysis for Merton’s original case for Matthew effects—the Nobel Prize—is still missing. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring the causal effect of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (hereafter the Nobel Prize in Economics). Furthermore, we test another of Merton’s ideas: successful papers can draw attention to cited references, leading to a serial diffusion of ideas. Based on the complete Web of Science 1900–2011, we estimate the causal effects of Nobel Prizes compared to a synthetic control group which we constructed by combining different matching techniques. We find clear evidence for a Matthew effect upon citation impacts, especially for papers published within 5 years before the award. Further, scholars from the focal field of the award are particularly receptive to the award signal. In contrast to that, we find no evidence that the Nobel Prize causes a serial diffusion of ideas. Papers cited by future Nobel laureates do not gain in citation impact after the award.
Die Bilder des abrupten Abzugs der internationalen Truppen aus Afghanistan im Sommer 2021 gingen um die Welt. Mit der Einnahme Kabuls am 15. August 2021 fiel das Land zurück unter die Herrschaft der Taliban. Von den Ortskräften, die für die Bundeswehr oder andere deutsche Organisationen tätig waren, wurde nur ein Bruchteil evakuiert. Noch immer sitzen Tausende Ortskräfte in Afghanistan fest und werden von den Taliban als „Kollaborateur*innen“ bedroht und verfolgt.
Die vorliegende Studie ist das Ergebnis der FAU Human Rights Clinic 2021/22, in der sich Studierende der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Zusammenarbeit mit PRO ASYL den grund- und menschenrechtlichen Fragen der Ortskräfteaufnahme gewidmet haben. Im Rahmen der Recherchen wurden unter anderem Interviews mit Rechtsanwält*innen, Mitarbeitenden aus Menschenrechtsorganisationen sowie betroffenen Ortskräften geführt.
Die Studie dokumentiert die Ereignisse im Sommer 2021, arbeitet die Probleme des sogenannten Ortskräfteverfahrens auf und macht Vorschläge für eine menschenrechtskonforme Auslegung des § 22 S. 2 AufenthG und die Einführung neuer Schutzinstrumente.
Since the mid-1990s, the German labor market has undergone profound changes in the direction
of dualization. In addition to the dominant standard employment relationship, characterized
by full-time, permanent employment, atypical employment relationships have increasingly
emerged. Since the landmark “Hartz reforms”, this change is also reflected in new labor market
risks. Whereas recessions and crises used to be manifested in rising unemployment, certain
groups of workers are now increasingly threatened by low wages, temporary employment,
involuntary part-time work and in-work poverty. The change in labor market risks requires
adjustments to the German welfare state, which was originally designed with the standard
employment relationship in mind. However, the current system of means-tested benefits has
proved inadequate to address these new risks, and in some cases even exacerbates them by
providing the wrong incentives.
In three essays, this dissertation deals with the means-tested benefit system in Germany,
its weaknesses and disincentives, possible reform options and the resulting labor supply effects,
especially for benefit recipients, as well as the link between rising employment and income
inequality. All papers use the static tax and transfer microsimulation model of the Institute for
Employment Research (IAB-MSM), taking into account labor supply adjustments. The three
essays are preceded by a chapter explaining the microsimulation methodology, the specific
design of the IAB-MSM and the labor supply model it contains for estimating behavioral
changes, and the model extensions used in the papers.
The first essay, co-authored with Kerstin Bruckmeier and Jürgen Wiemers, describes in
detail the existing system of means-tested social transfers, which consists of three benefits:
social assistance for jobseekers, housing allowance, and supplementary child allowance. We
emphasize the complexity of the existing system due to the interaction of the three benefits
and the lack of incentives to increase working hours due to substantial marginal burdens
caused by high transfer withdrawal rates for employed benefit recipients. We simulate the extent to which a reduction of the transfer withdrawal rate to 70 percent for each additional
euro earned above 100e in the social assistance, a during the time of writing the paper
frequently discussed reform option, can provide incentives to increase labor supply among
benefit recipients. It turns out that, also due to the interaction with the housing allowance and
the supplementary child allowance, the income range qualifying for transfers is significantly
expanded, with the consequence of a strong increase in the number of households receiving
benefits. The simulation results show that the expected small increase in labor supply does
not justify the fiscal cost of the reform.
The first essay shows that a reform to improve the income situation and work incentives
of transfer receiving households should take into account all means-tested benefits or the
tax and transfer system as a whole. The second paper, also written jointly with Kerstin
Bruckmeier and Jürgen Wiemers, therefore outlines and simulates an own proposal for a
comprehensive reform of the means-tested benefit system in Germany. This proposal also
reduces the transfer withdrawal rate of the social assistance for jobseekers, but at the same
time eliminates the housing allowance and the supplementary child allowance for households
who are capable of working. Instead, it introduces an in-work benefit, which represents a
non-activation status within social assistance above a certain household income. It intends
to provide targeted support to working households that, despite having a substantial earned
income, are in need of financial assistance to cover their basic needs. The in-work benefit is
proposed to be administered by the local job centers, which are currently also responsible
for social assistance for jobseekers. This will simplify the transition between social benefits
and reduce transaction costs. Together with the expected reduction of the stigma associated
with the receipt of the in-work benefit by explicitly targeting those in need of assistance who
are working, this should increase the take-up of benefits and thus the disposable income of
low-income households. We compare our reform proposal with a set of measures agreed upon
by the then Grand Coalition in its coalition agreement. It turns out that the introduction
of the in-work benefit can have better effects on labor supply and poverty aversion than the
government’s measures, at a lower fiscal cost. A sensitivity analysis shows that the inclusion
of take-up costs leads to substantial changes in the simulated reform effects.
Since the Hartz reforms were completed in 2005, employment has grown significantly. By
2015 alone, the number of employees subject to social security contributions had increased by
more than four million. However, inequality in household disposable income remained stable over the same time period. The third paper examines the impact of the ‘German job miracle’
on income inequality and why it has not declined despite falling unemployment. To this end,
I decompose the development of inequality and examine the effect of different factors on the
basis of counterfactual income distributions using the IAB-MSM. The employment effect is
further decomposed into changes in labor supply preferences, involuntary unemployment risks,
and indirect employment effects due to policy and wage changes. The decomposition shows
that rising participation rates are not necessarily associated with a decline in inequality,
but that the redistributive effect of increasing employment varies considerably depending
on the underlying cause. Overall, the employment boom significantly reduced inequality in
household disposable income between 2004 and 2015, mainly due to the decline in involuntary
unemployment. Changes in the tax and transfer system also had an inequality-reducing effect.
However, this is offset by a sharp increase in inequality due to changes in the population
structure.
The three essays in this dissertation discuss the weaknesses of the existing system of meanstested
social benefits in Germany against the background of an increasingly polarized labor
market, in particular with regard to work incentives, support for working people in need of
assistance, and poverty prevention. Different reform options are outlined and compared on the
basis of simulation results. Furthermore, the dissertation contributes to the discussion on the
causes and redistributive effects of the so-called ‘German job miracle’ on income inequality.
Different approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR) have evolved after Howard R. Bowen first emphasised the social responsibilities of the businessman in 1953. Increasing economic, social and ecological challenges and a growing public distrust towards the business sector in the second half of the 20th century led to growing expectations in regards to responsibilities of corporations. While the term CSR dominated the academic agenda on corporate responsibilities, the World Commission on Environment and Development introduced the term sustainable development to the political and economic agenda in 1987. Today’s predominance of the term sustainable development is reflected in the definition of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and their widespread incorporation into management strategies and operations. However, CSR as the more differentiated term in the academic literature is considered the central construct of this dissertation.
While the evolution of CSR has a long and varied history across different disciplines, the term has only been introduced to the field of sports management in the 2000s. With growing commercialisation of professional sports in the 1990s and 2000s sports organisations were increasingly scrutinised by the media and the public regarding their economic, ecological and social impact. Professional football as the most commercialised sports discipline in the European sporting sector with deep roots into society, economy and politics soon became the centre of attention. While CSR in sports management in general and professional football in particular has subsequently also gained considerable attention in the academic community, this dissertation aims at answering the call for further research to be undertaken in four particular fields.
The first research gap is identified as a result of deficient literature on the organisational integration of CSR in sports, specifically asking how CSR can be strategically integrated into professional European football. The analysis is methodologically based on an integrative literature review and focuses on the development of a sector-specific framework for strategic CSR integration, that takes the particularities of sports and football management into account and includes a normative, strategic, operational and superordinate level.
The dominance of institutional theory in the non-sports CSR literature and insufficient considerations in the context of sports management lead to the development of the second research question, asking how the political, legal, economic, social, and cultural frameworks across different countries impact the CSR approaches of professional football clubs and to what degree they allow for a transfer of CSR instruments and activities. Evaluation includes an analysis of the impact of the institutional frameworks on CSR approaches in English and German football, based on institutional theory and 24 expert interviews. Literature and qualitative primary data are analysed using Grounded Theory methodology. Differences and commonalities across both countries’ clubs in their CSR perception, CSR activities, organisational integration of CSR, use of resources for CSR purposes, and CSR evaluation and reporting are identified.
The third research question is substantiated in the intersections between CSR and stakeholder theory in the general management literature, while corresponding considerations in the sports management literature are insufficient. Specifically, a lack of differentiation of stakeholders emerges from the review of the literature. This also holds true for fans as key stakeholders of football clubs and the question, according to which criteria and typologies they can be differentiated. Based on grounded theory methodology, stakeholder theory and 14 expert interviews ten classification criteria are developed and five fan typologies are derived.
The fourth research question is grounded in lacking considerations of the relationship between CSR and organisational performance in professional sports organisations. More specifically, the review of existing literature in the sports and non-sports literature leads to the question, to what extent perceived CSR in professional sports organisations is related to perceived organisational performance and how this relationship is mediated by employee satisfaction and organisational identification. Empirical research is based on a literature review and a resulting parallel mediation model evaluating primary data from a study across 338 employees of German professional football, basketball, handball, ice hockey and volleyball clubs. Results confirm a positive relationship between perceived CSR and perceived organisational performance in professional sports organisations and provide evidence for mediating effects of organisational identification and employee satisfaction.
Results enlarge prior knowledge on CSR and corporate sustainability in the sports and non-sports literature regarding the strategic integration of CSR into organisations, the impact of institutional frameworks on CSR approaches, the role of stakeholders, and the relationship between CSR and organisational outcomes. Future academic debates should focus on empirical evidence of the actual internal and external impacts of CSR, a stronger integration of general management and sports management research, and a deeper understanding of environmental sustainability in sports.
This thesis consists of four essays on open research questions with respect to cyber risks. The first and second research essays address cyber risk management and spillover effects from cyberattacks in the US financial services industry, while the third has a regional focus on Europe. The last essay discusses the cyber insurance products for private clients provided in six different countries.
First, we empirically analyze the consciousness, determinants, and value-relevance of cyber risk management in the US banking and insurance industry, as well as the spillover effects, which to the best of our knowledge have not been examined so far. By means of a text mining approach applied to annual reports and regression analyses, we find an increasing cyber risk consciousness and point out, inter alia, that cyber risk management contributes to value creation. We also observe significant competitive effects to large- and mid-cap firms and contagion effects to the entire sample when using event study methodology.
Second, as the implications of cyberattacks on announcing firms could spill over to a third party, we empirically examine spillover effects to the stocks of US (cyber) insurers in the US financial services industry which have not been investigated in closer detail. By applying an event study, we find evidence for significant contagion effects to the US (cyber) insurance industry, reflecting the deterioration of the reputation of non-announcing firms. For “mega cyberattacks”, we observe competitive effects to US cyber insurers. Studying possible influencing factors confirms that spillover effects are information-based.
Third, we also empirically study the cyber risk consciousness, firm characteristics, and value of cyber risk management for European banks and insurers, as well as possible spillover effects from cyberattacks and IT risk events, which has not been done so far, as the current literature neglects the focus on Europe. When applying similar research methodologies which are in line with the two previous US studies, we correspondingly observe an increasing cyber risk consciousness and relevant determinants, as well as a positive relationship between cyber risk management and firm value, in addition to significant spillover effects.
Fourth, a comparison of the cyber insurance products for private clients offered in Austria, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the US is provided. Thereby, coverage components regarding first and third party risk, legal advice and the additional services of stand-alone cyber insurance and add-ons are identified and compared by conducting a qualitative analysis to reveal new insights regarding product features. We find that first party risk and additional services play a crucial role in stand-alone cyber insurance and add-ons, while the overall comparison of coverage components (across different regions) is challenging.
Predictive process monitoring (PPM) is the discipline of exploiting event logs of business processes to construct predictive models for anticipating different properties of running business processes. The event logs used contain control flow information of past process executions and, often, additional information about the context in which a process ran. As the process context can add valuable information to a predictive model, recent PPM techniques often incorporate it to improve process predictions. While most techniques incorporate context information as well-structured numerical and categorical context features, only a few utilize unstructured text from process-related comment fields, emails, or documents. The few existing text-aware PPM approaches are limited in capturing semantic information, as different meanings of the same word occurring in different contexts, i.e., sentences, are ignored.
This paper addresses this limitation by proposing a text-aware PPM technique using contextualized word embeddings to predict the next activity and the next timestamp of running process instances.
An experimental evaluation with a text-enriched real-life event log shows that our technique can outperform text-aware PPM approaches relying on non-contextualized word embeddings in terms of predictive performance.
Proactively analyzing patient pathways can help healthcare providers to anticipate treatment-related risks, detect undesired outcomes, and allocate resources quickly. For this purpose, modern methods from the field of predictive business process monitoring can be applied to create data-driven models that capture patterns from past behavior to provide predictions about running process instances. Recent methods increasingly focus on deep neural networks (DNN) due to their superior prediction performances and their independence from process knowledge.
However, DNNs generally have the disadvantage of showing black-box characteristics, which hampers dissemination in critical environments such as healthcare.
To this end, we propose the design of HIXPred, a novel artifact combining predictive power with explainable results for patient pathway predictions. We instantiate HIXPred and apply it to a real-life healthcare use case for evaluation and demonstration purposes and conduct interviews with medical experts. Our results confirm high predictive performance while ensuring sufficient interpretability and explainability to provide comprehensible decision support.
Abstract
This paper exploits several reforms of wage subsidies in the framework of the German Minijob program to investigate substitution and complementarity relationships between subsidized and non-subsidized labor demand. We apply an instrumental variables approach and use administrative data on German establishments for the period 1999–2014. Particularly in small establishments (0–9 employees), subsidized Minijob employment comprises large shares of the work force, on average over 40%. For these establishments, robust evidence shows that increasing the subsidization of Minijob employment crowds out non-subsidized employment. Our results imply that Minijob employment in 2014 may have eliminated more than 0.5 million unsubsidized employment relationships just in small establishments. This represents an unintended and harmful consequence of the Minijob subsidy.