News
Securing Peace in Europe: A Role for the Weimar Triangle?
In the latest issue of EconPol Forum (“A Fast Track to Defense Sovereignty in the EU – How Can It Work?”), Tim Lohse and Armin Bolouri, members of the BCEE, argue that France, Germany, and Poland can significantly enhance Europe’s defense and strategic autonomy by playing to their complementarities. Germany relies on debt-financed rearmament but struggles with sluggish procurement and recruitment. France faces tight fiscal limits but retains nuclear autonomy and a strong defense industry. Poland contributes through its East Shield and large armed forces, while benefiting from its allies’ deterrence and industrial strength. To sustain higher defense spending, the authors stress, tax increases or budget consolidation will be unavoidable—politically more viable in Germany and Poland than in France.
Farmers’ willingness to accept compensation to control agricultural nonpoint source pollution: the Limpopo River Basin of South Africa
A new paper by Alfred Tunyire Apio, Djiby Racine Thiam, Ariel Dinar and Jürgen Meyerhoff (BCEE) in Environment and Development Economics explores the varying compensation needs of farmers in South Africa's Limpopo River Basin to encourage their participation in agri-environmental schemes (AESs) and payment for ecosystem services (PESs) aimed at improving water quality. The researchers conducted a discrete choice experiment to analyze the willingness of farmers to accept compensation for reducing agricultural nonpoint source pollution. The study revealed diverse compensation requirements across different farmer groups, categorized into low-, moderate-, and high-resistance preferences, in addition to a group making random choices. These differences are influenced by factors such as gender, age, education, farming experience, and secure land tenure rights. Findings highlight the importance of considering these variances in the design and implementation of AESs and PESs, especially in the Global South, where such differences are often overlooked.
How strong is the link between the Global Financial Cycle and National Macro-Financial Dynamics? A Wavelet Analysis
A new paper by Christian R. Proaño (Uni Bamberg & CAMA), Leonardo Quero Virla (Uni Bamberg), and Till Strohsal (BCEE) in the Journal of International Money and Finance analyzes how the global financial cycle (GFCy) interacts with country-specific macro-financial dynamics. Using the VIX index and Rey’s (2013) global factor as proxies for the GFCy, they examine equity prices, house prices, and credit volumes in 12 countries. Applying continuous wavelet analysis and a structural VAR, they show that a strong, uniform link between the GFCy and national series is evident mainly during periods of global financial stress. Outside such episodes, the relationship varies considerably across countries and over time, while the choice of proxy matters little.
Soft Regulation for Financial Advisors
A new paper by Fabian Veittinger, Tim Lohse, and Salmai Qari (all members of the BCEE), published in the Review of Law & Economics, experimentally examines whether “soft regulatory devices” such as advisor identifiability and reciprocity can reduce misconduct among financial advisors. The authors show that low-ability advisors are more prone to misconduct across all treatments, and some even exploit identifiability mechanisms to “game the system.” Reciprocity, meanwhile, affects advisors differently—prompting some to reduce, but others to increase, misconduct—resulting in efficiency losses. The study highlights the heterogeneous nature of advisor behavior and argues for segmented policy approaches to address complex market environments.
Jürgen Meyerhoff publishes book on discrete choice experiments
BCEE member Dr. Jürgen Meyerhoff, together with a group of European colleagues, has published a new book "Environmental Valuation with Discrete Choice Experiments in R". The book focuses on the conduction of this type of survey-based environmental valuation approach and in particular on the analysis of the resulting survey data using R. The book, published open access in the long-running series The Economics of Non-Market Goods and Resources, is available here.
BCEE part of new research group in Decision Sciences
As of spring 2025, the BCEE is part of a Berlin-based research group in Decision Sciences. This group is established by a group of researchers in the fields of economics, business, mathematics, computer science and psychology across several higher-education institutions in Berlin. Among other things, this group is to establish a Doctoral School in Decision Sciences. The following BCEE professors are part of the Doctoral School: Tobias Börger, Tim Lohse, Natalie Packham, Salmai Qari, Till Strohsal Current PhD students in the area of Decision Sciences and working at the BCEE: Oliver Becker. Supervisors: Tobias Börger (BCEE), Petr Mariel (University of the Basque Country) Armin Bolouri. Supervisors: Peter Haan (DIW / Freie Universität Berlin), Tim Lohse, BCEE Leonard Bovenberg. Supervisors: Tobias Börger (BCEE), Petr Mariel (University of the Basque Country) Fabian Veittinger. Supervisors: Georg Weizsäcker (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Salmai Qari (BCEE)
New BCEE Member: Prof. Wojciech Stiller
In May, Prof. Wojciech Stiller joined the BCEE. Wojciech works in the area of business taxation. Welcome!
Increasing Germany's defence readiness: Options for financing and efficiency
BCEE members Tim Lohse, Tobias Börger, Jürgen Meyerhoff and Salmai Qari comment on the financing of an increase of the defence readiness of the German Federal Armed Forces, published in the Wirtschaftsdienst (in German).
Interdependent Preferences for Financing and Providing Public Goods—The Case of National Defense
Governments often choose deficit financing over budget cuts or tax increases to fund public goods, driven by the political unpopularity of the latter options. This study published in Kyklos investigates the potential trade-off between maintaining prudent public finances and securing voter support by analyzing the relationship between preferences for the provision and financing of public goods. We use a survey-based discrete choice experiment with 1,808 respondents representative of the German population. Focusing on national defense as a case study, our findings reveal a strong interdependence between spending and financing preferences: individuals who highly value defense readiness and are aware of its costs tend to support deficit-neutral budgeting, favoring tax increases to finance budget expansions. Conversely, those less supportive of defense expenditure prefer debt issuance and budget consolidation, avoiding immediate cost-bearing.
Cooperative agreement between countries of the North Atlantic Ocean reduces marine plastic pollution but with unequal economic benefits
Plastic pollution in the world's oceans poses significant threats to ecosystems and biodiversity, prompting the need for coordinated international actions. This paper in Communications Earth & Environment introduces a modeling framework combining a plastic transfer matrix and game theory to evaluate the economic benefits of cooperative plastic pollution management for 16 countries bordering the North Atlantic Ocean. The findings suggest that full cooperation could lead to annual net benefits of around $36 billion and a 64% reduction in emissions, despite varying outcomes under different scenarios and uncertainties.
In Memory of Arnd Kölling
The BCEE mourns the loss of its founding member Professor Arndt Kölling. Professor Kölling was a proven expert in empirical labour market research and a great colleague. We miss him. Read more.
Jürgen Meyerhoff to teach at GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences
Dr Jürgen Meyerhoff will teach a course on multifactorial survey experiments at GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences in Cologne in March and April 2025. The course will be taught together with Professor Ulf Liebe from the University of Warwick. See more information here.
Natalie Packham to speak at the Indo-German Frontiers of Engineering Symposium in Mumbai
Professor Natalie Packham has been invited to speak at the Indo-German Frontiers of Engineering Symposium in December. This event which will take place in the Indian capital Mumbai brings together 60 young scientists in engineering and related natural sciences. It is funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
The value of national security and defence readiness
This study published in the European Journal of Political Economy is the first every assessment of the direct welfare effects of national defence policy. Recognising that national security and defence readiness are an example of a public good, the study employs non-market valuation techniques to assess the value of different defence policy options in Germany. Results show that the German public exhibits substantial willingness to pay to increase national security, notionally by increasing troop number, setting up a European army and installing air defence systems.
Cross-border CO2-transport decreases public acceptance of carbon capture and storage
An essential strategy to reach net-zero objectives is carbon capture and storage combined with cross-border CO2 transport. This study published in the journal Nature Climate Change assesses the level pf public acceptance of such transport in five countries (Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK). Results show that acceptance levels for cross-border trading of CO2 is very low and that such concerns cannot be offset by compensation, presenting a challenge for policy-makers.
Assessing the value of recreational forest visits in North Rhine-Westphalia
This new project will examine options for sustainable forestry in the face of climate change in Germany. Recognising that forests provide multiple ecosystem services beyond mere timber production, the project seeks to develop a framework for payment for the provusion of ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration and recreation. Project partners are the Dresden University of Technology and a range of forestry stakeholders in North Rhine-Westphalia.
BCEE researchers receive major grant from DFG
Members of the BCEE are part of a successful research proposal to receive funding in the German Research Foundation’s (DFG) new Research Impulses scheme. The consortium at the Berlin School of Economics and Law is among ten universities of applied sciences in Germany to receive funding within this new funding scheme. Over a 5-year period, the group of researchers will be examining challenges and resilience of global supply and value chains. BCEE members Tobias Börger and Jürgen Meyerhoff will join this research initiative and be looking specifically at substitution decisions of companies within intertwined supply chain networks as well as consumer preferences for increased supply chain resilience.
Who cares when value (mis)reporting may be found out?
This study in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics investigates theoretically and experimentally how information leaks affect lying and market outcomes in an ultimatum bargaining setting with asymmetric information. A higher leak probability does not reduce the frequency of misreporting, but it weakens overreporting and strengthens underreporting. Even if ethical concerns do not seem to matter much, probabilistic leaks are welfare enhancing.
Wine makers’ preferences for climate change adaptation
This study in the Journal of Choice Modelling assesses the preferences of wine makers in the Spanish Rioja region for different climate change adaptation measures. The results show that the most widely accepted strategy is the installation of irrigation and shading structures. The study also quantifies the amount of financial assistance wine makers would need to adapt production to changing climatic conditions.
Equity preferences matter for international agreements on marine plastic pollution
How costs to reduce marine neplastic pollution are shared between countries is an important aspect of international negotiations for a global marine plastic treaty. This study in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics shows that citizens generally prefer an equal sharing of the costs, even though this may mean higher reduction costs for their own country.