Welcome
The Unit Empirical Economic Research, represented by Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler, offers lectures and courses on statistical as well as micro- and panel-econometric methods. All econometric lectures and courses comprise computer exercises with Stata, where the considered methods and approaches are applied on the basis of real datasets. For more information about the offered lectures and courses please click here.
In addition, the unit conducts empirical and especially econometric studies in the field of environmental, energy, climate, and sustainable economics. These studies are mainly based on data from representative national or international household surveys, but also on firm-level data. For more information about current and already completed research projects please click here.
Fourth international "Workshop on Empirical Sustainable Finance (WESFi)" at the University of Kassel
On October 20 and 21, 2022, the Units Empirical Economic Research and Sustainable Finance hosted the fourth "Workshop on Empirical Sustainable Finance (WESFi)". The participants presented and discussed recent empirical studies and ideas on "Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)" and "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)". The workshop was organized in hybrid form. As in the previous year, this enabled renowned researchers from various countries (Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland) to participate.
Articles in the Welt am Sonntag, the Haufe Group portal, and the Stuttgarter Zeitung on CO2 offsetting
Conferences 2022
In 2022 the unit has been extremely successful in submitting research papers for presentation at internationally peer-reviewed conferences. All unit members had the opportunity to discuss their research with international colleagues. On the basis of competitive review processes, the unit was, for example, represented at the following conferences:
Daniel Engler, Gunnar Gutsche, Anja Köbrich León, Sophia Möller, Amantia Simixhiu and Andreas Ziegler had the opportunity to present their current work at the 27th Annual Conference of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE) in Rimini from June 28 to July 1, 2022.
Gunnar Gutsche and Andreas Ziegler had the opportunity to present their current work at the 37th Conference of the European Economic Association (EEA) in Milano from August 22 to August 26, 2022.
Gunnar Gutsche and Sophia Möller had the opportunity to present their current work at the 5th Conference of the Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment (GRASFI) in Zürich from September 05 to September 07, 2022.
Daniel Engler had the opportunity to present his current work at the Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik in Basel from September 11 to September 14, 2022.
Roundtable "Sustainability in the Private Portfolio: Is transparency the key to more sustainable investment decisions?"
On February 23, 2022, the Units Empirical Economic Research and Sustainable Finance hosted the roundtable "Sustainability in the Private Portfolio: Is transparency the key to more sustainable investment decisions?". The roundtable is part of the "Dialogue on the Economics of Climate Change", the accompanying process to the BMBF funding priority Economics of Climate Change II, where representatives from practice and science discussed in particular the challenges arising in the private portfolio due to new regulatory frameworks (e.g. the introduction of the EU taxonomy for sustainable economic activities). Due to the Corona crisis, the roundtable was organized in digital form.
Dr. Gunnar Gutsche summarized the results of the roundtable at the Forum Climate Economics 11. You can find the corresponding video here.
Brief study on vaccination status and preferences in autumn 2021
A brief study by the Universities of Kassel and Gothenburg and the SRH University of Applied Sciences Heidelberg on vaccination status and preferences has shown that the proportion of those willing to vaccinate varies greatly from region to region in Germany in autumn 2021. With regard to attitudes toward childhood vaccination, the study finds that the willingness to vaccinate own children depends strongly on parents' vaccination status (vaccinated or unvaccinated). The brief study can be found here.
On December 13, 2021, the HNA-Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine has published an article on this study. For the full article please click here.
On March 10, 2022, at an event organized by the Institute for Work and Technology (IAT) entitled "Between fear, skepticism, and denial: What do we know about people with vaccination reservations in the Covid-19 pandemic?", scientists and those responsible for health policy and the health care industry exchanged views on the arguments people with reservations about COVID-19 vaccinations use and how such reservations can be overcome. Elke D. Groh brought the results of the brief study, in conjunction with results of a more in-depth econometric analysis, as scientific input to the discussion. The IAT press release on the event can be found here.
For further questions, please contact Prof. Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler, Elke D. Groh (University of Kassel) and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Habla (SRH University of Applied Sciences Heidelberg).
Study on the electricity consumption of households
In a study, Elke Groh and Andreas Ziegler have examined the influence of individual attitudes and values on household electricity consumption. This study was published in February 2022 in the journal Ecological Economics.
On November 22, 2021, the HNA-Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine has published an article on this study. For the full article please click here.
On December 02, 2021, the Hessische Rundfunk has broadcast an interview with Andreas Ziegler and Elke Groh about this study on hrINFO, hr4, and hr1. The full interview can be found below:
Article in Stuttgarter Zeitung: "Was bringen Klimarechner?"
On October 29, 2021, the Stuttgarter Zeitung has published an article on climate calculators and CO2 offsetting including some statements of Andreas Ziegler. For the full article please click here.
Berliner Energietage 2021
On April 21, 2021, Andreas Ziegler took part in the panel discussion of the session "Corona im Klimaschutz: Bremse oder Katalysator?" during the Berliner Energietage 2021, i.e. the major annual conference of the energy transition in Germany. The video from this virtual session will be released soon here. For watching a short video statement on successful climate policy before the session please click here.
Article in Stuttgarter Zeitung: "Geld anlegen mit gutem Gewissen"
On October 27, 2020, the Stuttgarter Zeitung has published an article on sustainable investment products including some statements of Andreas Ziegler. For the full article please click here.
Comment on climate protection during the corona crisis in the IHK-Magazin Hessische Wirtschaft
In the issue of August and September 2020 of the IHK-Magazin Hessische Wirtschaft, a statement of Andreas Ziegler on climate protection and climate policy during the Corona Crisis was published. For the full comment please click here.
Japanese-German research cooperation
In August 2019, Prof. Toshihide Arimura, Ass. Prof. Miwa Nakai, Tatsuya Abe, and Riga Wu from the Waseda Institute of Political Economy in Tokyo, visited the Unit Empirical Economic Research and the Unit of Energy Economics.
In October 2019, the two units, represented by Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler, Prof. Dr. Heike Wetzel, Dr. Gunnar Gutsche, Elke Groh, and Victor von Loessl, visited their research partners in Japan. They had a productive exchange of latest research findings and developed joint project ideas during the "Energy and Climate Policy Workshop" at Kyoto Sangyo University, a workshop with Prof. Takanori Ida at Kyoto University, and project meetings for the BMBF-funded projects NostaClimate and BeSmart at the Waseda University in Tokyo.
The Japanese-German research cooperation is funded by the DAAD as part of the project-related exchange program of scientific staff.
Projects on climate economics
Within the second phase of the BMBF funding program "Economics of Climate Change", a total of 29 projects are sponsored, seven of them with the participation of the University of Kassel. In this respect, the unit was very successful in acquiring projects. It participates in overall four new projects with a duration of three years, respectively, and a total budget of more than 1.3 Million euros for the unit. For more information about the four cooperative projects NostaClimate, IF, BeSmart, and DeGeb please click here. Within this funding program, the kick-off conference for the "Dialogue on the Economics of Climate Change" took place in Berlin from June 12 to June 14, 2019. Andreas Ziegler, Gunnar Gutsche, Elke Groh, and Amantia Simixhiu participated as representatives of these four projects. The aim of the "Dialogue on the Economics of Climate Change" is to communicate the results of the individual projects beyond the research community and thus to intensify the exchange between research and practice. For more information please click here.
Recent publications
Gutsche, Gunnar, Heike Wetzel, and Andreas Ziegler (2023), Determinants of individual sustainable investment behavior - A framed field experiment, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, forthcoming
Dannenberg, Astrid, Gunnar Gutsche, Marlene Batzke, Sven Christens, Daniel Engler, Fabian Mankat, Sophia Möller, Eva Weingärtner, Andreas Ernst, Marcel Lumkowsky, Georg von Wangenheim, Gerrit Hornung, and Andreas Ziegler (2023), The effects of norms on environmental behavior, Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, forthcoming
Engler, Daniel, Gunnar Gutsche, Amantia Simixhiu, and Andreas Ziegler (2023), On the relationship between corporate CO2 offsetting and pro-environmental activities in small- and medium-sized firms in Germany, Energy Economics 118, 106487
Fait, Larissa, Elke D. Groh, and Heike Wetzel (2022), "I take the green one": The choice of regional green electricity contracts in the light of regional and environmental identity, Energy Policy 163, 112831
Groh, Elke D. and Andreas Ziegler (2022), On the relevance of values, norms, and economic preferences for electricity consumption, Ecological Economics 192, 107264
Haefner, Gonzalo, Anja Köbrich León and Janosch Schobin (2022), Frying Nemo? Experimental evidence on anthropomorphism, animal ethics, and food choice, Appetite 173 (1), 105989
Köbrich León, Anja and Janosch Schobin (2022), Romance and the ozone layer: panel evidence on green behavior in couples, Empirical Economics 63, 2101-2123
Schobin, Janosch (2022), Loneliness and emancipation: A multilevel analysis of the connection between gender inequality, loneliness, and social isolation in the ISSP 2017, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19 (2), 7428
Engler, Daniel, Elke D. Groh, Gunnar Gutsche, and Andreas Ziegler (2021), Acceptance of climate-oriented policy measures under the COVID-19 crisis: An empirical analysis for Germany, Climate Policy 21 (10), 1281-1297
Ziegler, Andreas (2021), New Ecological Paradigm meets behavioral economics: On the relationship between environmental values and economic preferences, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 109, 102516
El Ouadghiri, Imane, Khaled Guesmi, Jonathan Peillex, and Andreas Ziegler (2021), Public attention to environmental issues and stock market returns, Ecological Economics 180, 106836
Fischer, Beate, Gunnar Gutsche, and Heike Wetzel (2021), Who wants to get involved? Determining citizen willingness to participate in German renewable energy cooperatives, Energy Research & Social Science 76, 102013
Gutsche, Gunnar, Miwa Nakai, and Toshi H. Arimura (2021), Revisiting the determinants of individual sustainable investment - The case of Japan, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance 30, 100497
Kesternich, Martin, Andreas Löschel, and Andreas Ziegler (2021), Negotiating weights for burden sharing rules in international climate negotiations: An empirical analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy Studies 23 (2), 309-331
Groh, Elke D. and Charlotte von Möllendorff (2020), What shapes the support of renewable energy expansion? Public attitudes between policy goals and risk, time, and social preferences, Energy Policy 137, 111171
Gutsche, Gunnar and Bernhard Zwergel (2020), Investment barriers and labeling schemes for socially responsible investments, Schmalenbach Business Review 72, 111-157
Ziegler, Andreas (2020), Heterogeneous preferences and the individual change to alternative electricity tariffs, Energy Economics 91, 104889
Recent press releases (in German)
"Wer das Impfen ablehnt" (HNA-Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine) (13.12.2021)
"Was motiviert zum Stromsparen?" (HNA-Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine) (22.11.2021)
"Was uns zum Stromsparen motiviert – und was nicht" (09.11.2021)
"CO2-Kompensationen kleiner und mittlerer Unternehmen noch gering" (03.11.2021)
"Was bringen Klimarechner?" (Stuttgarter Zeitung) (29.10.2021)
"Geld anlegen mit gutem Gewissen" (Stuttgarter Zeitung) (27.10.2020)
"Klimaschutz in der Corona-Krise" (IHK-Magazin Hessische Wirtschaft) (August/September 2020)
"Klimaschutz in Zeiten von Corona" (02.07.2020)
You can find more information hier.
IVWL Research Seminar Economic Behavior and Governance
In the winter semester 2022/23, the IVWL continues the IVWL Research Seminar Economic Behavior and Governance. The objective of this seminar is to intensify the scientific exchange with external colleagues, who are provided a forum to present their current research at our faculty.
In the following you will find the current program:
Wednesday, 19.10.2022, 16:30 (in presence, Nora-Platiel-Straße 9, room 0403)
Kevin Daniels (University East Anglia): “Wellbeing inequalities at work – what they are and why they matter”
Wednesday, 09.11.2022, 16:30 (in presence, Nora-Platiel-Straße 9, room 0403)
Rüdiger Hamm (Hochschule Niederrhein): “Sport, regionales Image und regionale Wirtschaftsentwicklung”
Wednesday, 21.12.2022, 16:30 (in presence, Nora-Platiel-Straße 9, room 0403)
Christine Austermann und Korbinian von Blanckenburg (Technische Hochschule OWL): “Selfish or Selfless? Evidence from a repeated Dictator Game”