Open Access

Agricultural production of smallholder farmers in Myanmar is facing soil fertility degradation and in consequence, crop yields decline due to the imbalances of nutrient supply. In most cases, all above ground biomass is removed from the fields after harvesting the crops and during land preparation for the next crop. Higher temperatures also stimulate the higher mineralisation rates and released mineral nutrients are lost from fallow lands before sowing the next crops. Regarding the addition of mineral fertilizers, except for cash crops, farmers are reluctant to apply fertilizers for the crops that are sown for household’s self-sufficiency. In the Dry Zone, irrigated agriculture is available in recent years and farmers could overcome water scarcity through irrigation. With the availability of irrigation water, farmers could prolong the cropping period, nevertheless crop yields are decreasing year by year. In recent decades, research findings are indicating the benefits of biochar application for soil fertility improvement and food security. Smallholder farmers can produce biochar from agricultural by-products such as pigeon pea stems, cotton stems and rice husks by using biochar stoves. Large-scale production is possible by producing both biochar and thermal energy simultaneously, such as getting rice husk biochar and producing thermal energy by burning rice husks. By those means, environmental pollution due to the smokes from stubble burnings and the health hazards from smokes arise from kitchens can also be reduced. Present research was conducted to test the effects of the application of biochars produced from different crop residues together with NPK fertilizers on crop yields and soil properties in the rice-chickpea-cotton cropping system of the Central Dry Zone area of Myanmar during 2012 and 2013 cropping seasons at Shwe Daung Farm, Mandalay Division, Myanmar. Effects of biochar applications in combination with NPK fertilizers were compared with NPK fertilizer (without biochar) application and the control (without biochar and NPK fertilizers). Biochars used in the experiments were produced from three kinds of locally available raw materials (rice husk, rice straw and, pigeon pea stem) at temperature above 550°C by using a kiln made from a 200-Liter diesel barrel. Field experiments were conducted on sandy loam soil in the Central Dry Zone of Myanmar. After harvesting rice in 2012, chickpea was sown without application of both organic and inorganic fertilizers. After harvesting chickpea in 2013, cotton was sown on the same experimental plots. Treatments were rice husk biochar (Rh) 20 Mg ha-1 + NPK fertilizers; rice straw biochar (Rs) 20 Mg ha-1 + NPK fertilizers; pigeon pea stem biochar (Ps) 20 Mg ha-1 + NPK fertilizers; rice husk biochar and farmyard manure mixture (Rh biochar + FYM) 10 Mg ha-1 + NPK fertilizers; NPK fertilizers (without biochar); and the control (without fertilizer and biochar). Biochar weights represented fresh biochar weights. Equal rate of NPK fertilizers were applied in all treatments. However, fertilizer rates were different with respect to the crops. In rice experiment, 100:50:50 kg ha-1 rate of Urea (N): Triple Super Phosphate (P): Muriate of potash (K) was applied. In cotton experiment, 100:30:117 kg ha-1 rate of Urea (N): Triple Super Phosphate (P): Muriate of potash (K) was applied. Crop growth data, yield component data and yield data of each treatment were recorded. Soil samples from topsoil (0-0.2 m) were taken before starting the experiments, after harvesting rice and cotton, respectively, and analysed. A biogeochemical model, denitrification decomposition (DNDC) model, was used to estimate soil organic carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions during crop growing seasons and to quantify the long-term impact of biochar applications on rice, chickpea and cotton yields.The results from soil analyses indicated that although initial soil pH was at 8.0 and pH values of biochars ranged between 8.0 and 10.0 soil pH after two years of biochar application did not increase. pH values were below 8.0. That value was lower than initial soil pH. That could be due to the effect of the change of cropping system from upland to lowland rice cultivation and the effects of biochar additions to the alkaline sandy loamy soil of the experimental site. Although total exchangeable cation value was not significantly different among the treatments, compositions of major cations were significantly different among the treatments. Exchangeable potassium increased in Rs biochar + NPK applied soils. Exchangeable sodium increased in control, and conventional NPK fertilizer applied soils. Reduction of soil bulk density from 1.8 g cm-3 to 1.6-1.7 g cm-3 occurred in biochar treatments compared to control and conventional NPK fertilizer application treatments. Positive changes of total carbon and total nitrogen of soils were found in biochar treatments compared to control and conventional NPK fertilizer application. Application of pigeon pea stem biochar + NPK fertilizers showed the highest crop growth and the highest yield in rice. The highest chickpea yield was obtained from the plot that applied rice husk biochar + NPK fertilizers. Cotton crop growth and yield was the highest in rice husk biochar and farmyard manure mixture + NPK fertilizer application. The lowest crop growth and yield was obtained from the control in cotton. The results of this study suggested that biochars from different biomass materials had different effects on soil properties and crop yields under different growing conditions and cultivated crops. Although the applied biochars had a high pH, soil pH did not increase after biochar applications. The growth and yield of tested crops were higher than that of the control and conventional NPK fertilizer application. Rice husk biochar and farmyard manure mixture + NPK fertilizer application can be assumed as a suitable soil amendment application under upland crop cultivation. Pigeon pea stems biochar + NPK fertilizers should be applied in rice cultivation. Rice husk biochar + NPK fertilizers and rice husk biochar-farmyard manure mixture + NPK fertilizers showed as the appropriate biochar soil amendments for the study area compared to rice straw biochar + NPK fertilizers and pigeon pea stem biochar + NPK fertilizers. Application of these biochars increased total exchangeable cations, reduced bulk density, increased organic carbon, regulated soil pH and, can easily be accessed by smallholder farmers by promising crop yields for sustainable agricultural production. Rice straw biochar + NPK fertilizers and pigeon pea stem biochar + NPK fertilizers also showed positive influences on soil fertility and crop growth. However, extensive application of those biochars might require large-scale productions and distributions. To obtain the detail information regarding the impact of biochar application on the agro-ecosystem and surrounding atmosphere, further research activities may need to carry out under different agricultural production conditions. When model fitness was tested, it was found that DNDC model was fit for the simulation of crop yields and soil organic carbon under the conditions of the experimental site. Simulation of soil organic carbon dynamics and crop yields for 30 years and 50 years after the addition of biochars in combination with NPK fertilizers showed that such applications could maintain the crop yields at the same level up to 50 years. That could maintain soil organic carbon at a level higher than conventional NPK fertilizer application. Regarding the simulation of GHGs emissions, the model simulated nitrous oxide emission close to actual emissions of agricultural soils of Myanmar. Simulated CH4 emissions from control and conventional NPK fertilizer application variant were consistent with the well-known emissions of Myanmar rice fields. To confirm the accuracy of simulated CH4 emissions from biochar applied soils, it may need field investigations and validations of model results. Simulated effects of rice husk-, rice straw- and pigeon pea stem fresh biomass applications and that of rice husk-, rice straw- and pigeon pea stem biochar applications on rice, chickpea, cotton yields and soil organic carbon (SOC) were compared. Objective of this simulation was to compare the effects of fresh biomass-applications and the application of biochars produced from the same biomass on crop yields and SOC by using DNDC model. The results showed that simulated rice yields of rice husk biochar and rice straw biochar applications were 33% and 31%, respectively, higher than that of pigeon pea green manure applications. However, simulated rice yield from pigeon pea stem biochar application was 4% higher than that of iv pigeon pea stem green manure application. Simulated chickpea yield from pigeon pea green manure treatment was the highest among all of biochar and biomass applications. Simulated cotton yields obtained from fresh biomass applications were lower than that of biochar applications. In estimating the future yields, all crop yields from rice husk and rice straw biomass applications were lower than that of rice husk and rice straw biochar applications in the initial year of simulation. However, in the following years, the yields remained at the same level up to the end of simulated years. In pigeon pea stem green manure application, crop yields were higher than the other treatments since the initial year up to the end of simulated years. Simulated SOC was lower in fresh biomass applications compared to biochar applications.

This cumulative thesis extends the econometric literature on testing for cointegration in nonstationary panel data with cross-sectional dependence. Its self-contained chapters consist of two publications and two publication manuscripts which present three new panel tests for the cointegrating rank and an empirical study of the exchange rate pass-through to import prices in Europe. The first chapter introduces a new cointegrating rank test for panel data where the dependence is assumed to be driven by unobserved common factors. The common factors are first estimated and subtracted from the observations. Then an existing likelihood-ratio panel cointegration test is applied to the defactored data. The distribution of the test statistic, computed from defactored data, is shown to be asymptotically equivalent to that of a test statistic computed from cross-sectionally independent data. The second chapter proposes a new panel cointegrating rank test based on a multiple testing procedure, which is robust to positive dependence between the individual units’ test statistics. The assumption of a certain type of positive dependence is shown by simulations not to be violated in panels with dependence structures commonly assumed in practice. The new test is applied to find empirical support of the monetary exchange rate model in a panel of eight OECD countries. The third chapter puts forward a new panel cointegration test allowing for both cross-sectional dependence and structural breaks. It employs known individual likelihood-ratio test statistics accounting for breaks in the deterministic trend and combines their p-values by a novel modification of the Inverse Normal method. The average correlation between the probits is inferred from the average cross-sectional correlation between the residuals of the individual VAR models in first differences. The fourth chapter studies the exchange rate pass-through to import prices in a panel of nineteen European countries through the prism of panel cointegration. Empirical evidence supporting a theoretical long-run equilibrium relationship between the model’s variables is found by the newly proposed panel cointegration tests. Two different panel regression models, which take both cointegration and cross-sectional dependence into account, provide most recent estimates of the exchange rate pass-through elasticities.

Western organizations increasingly organize work in team-based structures. Members of these teams often differ in various diversity attributes (e. g., gender, age, cultural background). In response, research aims to provide evidence-based recommendations on how to effectively manage diversity in teams. Within diversity research, the diversity faultlines approach has been particularly fruitful. It considers the impact of the alignment of multiple diversity attributes in teams. Strong diversity faultlines are associated with the emergence of relatively homogeneous subgroups in teams and have an overall negative impact on team processes and outcomes. This dissertation investigates factors that mitigate the detrimental consequences of strong diversity faultlines in teams, namely pro-diversity beliefs. It extends faultline literature beyond the conventional focus on processes and outcomes related to team members by emphasizing the leaders´ perspective. The three empirical papers included in this dissertation systematically examine how strong pro-diversity beliefs can help unleashing the positive effects of team diversity despite strong faultlines. The first paper highlights the role of leaders´ pro-diversity beliefs in mitigating the negative impact of diversity faultlines on two team processes: perceived cohesion and social loafing. Moreover, it compares the impact of socio-demographic faultlines (based on gender and age) and experience-based faultlines (based on team tenure and education level). Data was collected in a multisource field sample with 217 team members nested in 44 teams and the corresponding leaders. We found that socio-demographic, but not experience-based faultlines were negatively related to perceived cohesion and positively to perceived loafing. Path analysis further revealed that these relationships were mitigated when leaders held strong pro-diversity beliefs. The second paper extends these findings by additionally taking the impact of members´ pro-diversity beliefs into account. It examines whether the impact of sociodemographic faultlines on performance is contingent on leaders´ and members´ pro-diversity beliefs. Moreover, we assumed that aggregate LMX would mediate this relationship. In a multisource data set obtained from 41 teams with 219 members and the corresponding leaders working for the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we found partial support for our hypotheses. As expected, the impact of strong socio-demographic faultlines on diplomats´ performance was least negative when both leaders and members held strong pro-diversity beliefs. However, neither the two-way interactions of faultlines and leaders´ or members´ prodiversity beliefs nor aggregate LMX had a significant impact in our research model. The third paper zooms into processes and outcomes related to team leaders. It investigates how leaders´ pro-diversity beliefs and their perceptions of members´ prodiversity beliefs in teams with strong socio-demographic faultlines impact leaders´ task role assignment, performance expectation, and motivation. To test our hypotheses, we conducted two experimental studies with students, one in Germany (N = 55) and one in the US (N = 134). Findings showed that strong pro-diversity beliefs held and perceived by leaders made them assign task roles that cross-cut rather than aligned with the subgroup structure created by faultlines. Moreover, leaders´ perceptions of members´ pro-diversity beliefs, but not their own beliefs, had a positive impact on their motivation, mediated by their performance expectation. In sum, findings of these three papers extend the literature on diversity faultlines and leadership by systematically demonstrating the mitigating impact of pro-diversity beliefs on faultlines´ detrimental consequences on processes and outcomes related to team leaders and members. Based on various samples, we showed that it is worthwhile to distinguish between pro-diversity beliefs held by leaders, pro-diversity beliefs held by members, and leaders´ perceptions of members´ pro-diversity beliefs. Fostering strong pro-diversity beliefs among leaders and members should thus be a crucial element of effective diversity faultline management in organizations.

The transition of our energy system towards a generation by renewables, and the corresponding developments of wind power technology enlarge the requirements that must be met by a wind turbine control scheme. Within this thesis, the role of modern, model-based control approaches in providing an answer to present and future challenges faced by wind energy conversion systems is discussed. While many different control loops shape the power system in general, and the energy conversion process from the wind to the electrical grid specifically, this work addresses the problem of power output regulation of an individual turbine. To this end, the considered control task focuses on the operation of the turbine on the nonlinear power conversion curve, which is dictated by the aerodynamic interaction of the wind turbine structure and the current inflow. To enable a power tracking functionality, and thereby account for requirements of the electrical grid instead of operating the turbine at maximum efficiency constantly, an extended operational range is explicitly considered in the implemented control scheme. This allows for an adjustment of the produced power depending on the current state of the electrical grid and is one component in constructing a reliable and stable power system based on renewable generation. To account for the nonlinear dynamics involved, a linear matrix inequalities approach to control based on Takagi-Sugeno modeling is investigated. This structure is capable of integrating several degrees of freedom into an automated control design, where, additionally to stability, performance constraints are integrated into the design to account for the sensitive dynamical behavior of turbines in operation and the loading experienced by the turbine components. For this purpose, a disturbance observer is designed that provides an estimate of the current effective wind speed from the evolution of the measurements. This information is used to adjust the control scheme to the varying operating points and dynamics. Using this controller, a detailed simulation study is performed that illustrates the experienced loading of the turbine structure due to a dynamic variation of the power output. It is found that a dedicated controller allows wind turbines to provide such functionality. Additionally to the conducted simulations, the control scheme is validated experimentally. For this purpose, a fully controllable wind turbine is operated in a wind tunnel setup that is capable of generating reproducible wind conditions, including turbulence, in a wide operational range. This allows for an assessment of the power tracking performance enforced by the controller and analysis of the wind speed estimation error with the uncertainties present in the physical application. The controller showed to operate the turbine smoothly in all considered operating scenarios, while the implementation in the real-time environment revealed no limitations in the application of the approach within the experiments. Hence, the high flexibility in adjusting the turbine operating trajectories and structural design characteristics within the model-based design allows for efficient controller synthesis for wind turbines with increasing functionality and complexity.

The process perspective provides a unifying framework that has substantially contributed to our understanding of entrepreneurship. However, much of the research up to now has neglected this process oriented conception of entrepreneurship. There is therefore a need for studies that take the inherent dynamic processes into account and analyze the underlying mechanisms when researching entrepreneurship. This dissertation aims to improve our understanding of the entrepreneurial process. Specifically, this dissertation focuses on new venture creation and the processes of sustainable opportunity identification and opportunity deviation. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction that highlights the theoretical contributions of this dissertation and gives an overview over the conducted studies. Chapter 2 argues for a process model of entrepreneurship that places entrepreneurs and their actions center stage. The model combines different perspectives and levels of analysis and provides an integrative framework for researching new venture creation. In chapter 3 we establish and test a theoretical model of sustainable opportunity identification. The chapter explains how younger generations identify sustainable opportunities. The findings indicate that sustainable opportunity identification is a process with two transitions from problem to solution identification and from solution identification to sustainable opportunity identification. These transitions are contingent on awareness of consequences and entrepreneurial attitude. Chapter 4 offers insights into how deviation from the original opportunity increases the performance of entrepreneurial teams. The findings indicate that entrepreneurial teams with a high level of error orientation set themselves higher goals when deviating from their original opportunity. Higher goals then lead to higher team performance. Chapter 5 summarizes the overall findings and outlines the general theoretical and practical implications. Each chapter thus contributes to the process perspective by focusing on how different phases of the entrepreneurial process unfold and develop over time. Thereby, this dissertation advances our understanding of entrepreneurship as a process.

The dissertation consists of three scientific papers and a synopsis. The synopsis addresses the relevance of the dissertation and lists the key factors for the sustainability transition in the electricity system as a common denominator of the three papers. The relevance of the dissertation results, on the one hand, from the urgency of the sustainability transition in the electricity system and an insufficient transition willingness of the eastern European Member States. On the other hand, the Multi-Level-Perspective as one of the most important scientific frameworks to grasp transitions does not provide a sufficient explanation of its mechanisms. Moreover, Demand Response aggregators as new enterprises on the European electricity market and potential reform initiators are still under researched. The following key factors for the sustainability transition of the electricity system have been identified: supply security concerns, Europeanisation, policy making and the dominance of short-term oriented economic evaluation. Paper 1 The underlying factors in the uptake of electricity demand response: The case of Poland Author: Katarzyna Ewa Rollert Published: Utilities Policy, Volume 54, October 2018, 11-21, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2018.07.002 Demand response (DR) is considered crucial for a more reliable, sustainable, and efficient electricity system. Nevertheless, DR’s potential still remains largely untapped in Europe. This study sheds light on the roots of this problem in the context of Poland. It suggests that unfavorable regulation is symptomatic of the real, underlying barriers. In Poland, these barriers are coal dependence and political influence on energy enterprises. As main drivers, supply security concerns, EU regulatory pressure, and a positive cost-benefit profile of DR in comparison to alternatives, are revealed. A conceptual model of DR uptake in electricity systems is proposed. Paper 2 Gaining legitimacy for sustainability transition: A social mechanisms approach Authors: Ursula Weisenfeld and Katarzyna Ewa Rollert Review and re-submit: Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions / August 2021 Applying a social mechanisms approach to the Multi-Level Perspective, we conceptualize mechanisms of socio-technical transitions and of gaining legitimacy for transitions as co-evolutionary drivers and outcomes. Situational, action-formational, and transformational mechanisms that operate as drivers of change in a socio-technical transition require corresponding framing and framing contests to achieve legitimacy for that transition. We illustrate our conceptual insight with the case of the coal dependent Polish electricity system. Paper 3 Demand response aggregators as institutional entrepreneurs in the European electricity market Author: Katarzyna Ewa Rollert Under review: Journal of Cleaner Production / August 2021 Demand Response (DR) aggregators act as intermediaries between electricity customers and network operators to tap the potential of the demand-based flexibility. This qualitative study reveals DR aggregators as institutional entrepreneurs that struggle to reform the still largely supply-oriented European electricity market. Unfavourable regulation, low value of flexibility, resource constraints, complexity, and customer acquisition are the key challenges DR aggregators face. To overcome them they apply a combination of strategies: lobbying, market education, technological proficiency, and upscaling the business. The study highlights DR aggregation as an architectural innovation that alters the interplay between key actors of the electricity system and provides policy recommendations including the necessity to assess the real value of DR in comparison to other flexibility sources by taking all externalities into account, a technology-neutral approach to market design and the need for simplification of DR programmes, and common standards to reduce complexity and uncertainty for DR providers.

This PhD thesis examines the connections between sustainability knowledge management (SKM) and sustainability management tools in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). While previous literature has established that knowledge is essential for the application of sustainability management tools, the effects of such tools on knowledge management are under-researched in the sustainability context. Drawing on multiple academic papers and utilizing various research methods, including a systematic literature review, several quantitative surveys and a multiple case study approach, the thesis systematically examines how such tools can facilitate the identification, acquisition, conversion, application and retention of sustainability knowledge, and potentially lead to the improvement of SKM effectiveness in SMEs. Furthermore, it examines how support functions for sustainability management tools and SKM correspond with each other. The findings reveal that sustainability management tools facilitate the SKM processes (identification, acquisition, conversion, application and retention), and align with the support factors (e.g. top management support, shared vision, employee qualifications) to advance SKM in SMEs. Particularly, such tools permit the institutionalization of sustainability knowledge into the daily routines and practices in SMEs. Additionally, tools create a support structure for SKM, embedding and preserving sustainability knowledge in documents, policies, procedures and norms for an enterprise´s collective knowledge for sustainability management. The thesis concludes with complementing areas of future research and offers practical implications for SME management.

The challenges of sustainable development have spurred the complexity of management reality, unveiling considerable risks and opportunities for companies. The past twenty years of development in management science and practice have refined the understanding of the linkages between corporate success and sustainability aspects of business. Nevertheless, numerous management tools and concepts have been criticised for failing to contribute to improved sustainability performance. Management accounting is an indispensable system for generating, preparing and providing information for recognising decision situations and informing decisions. Building on the relevance of information, sustainability accounting has received considerable attention in the past decade. Related research has emphasised the contribution of sustainability accounting to tackling sustainability challenges in specific settings. A systematic investigation of the role of sustainability accounting is virtually non-existent to date. To overcome this limitation and provide an insight into the practice of sustainability accounting and its role in sustainability management and ultimately in corporate success, this doctoral thesis approaches the question How does sustainability accounting contribute to improved information management and management control? The direct contribution is two-fold. First, a number of decision situations are explicated. Examples for such decision situations include utilising certain types of information for specific decisions, engaging various functions in different ways, etc. Making a decision within these decision situations was observed to contribute to achieving corporate goals. Second, the overarching view on the results reveals an interesting pattern. It is the existence of this pattern that supports the view that sustainability accounting can help companies in the pursuit of improved sustainability performance and (thereby) corporate success. The findings enable both practitioners and researchers gain an insight into how sustainability accounting can be deployed so that the company’s limited resources are focused on the crucial decisions in information management and management control. Subsequent recommendations are supported by up-to-date examples. The nature and the scope of the research constituting this doctoral thesis also highlight the path for future research to expand and refine the propositions made herein.

Space-related science and technologies affect our daily life dramatically. Many countries have already formulated national space regulations to regulate their space activities. China, as one space-faring country, has obtained impressive achievements in space science and technologies. In recent years, Chinese private space companies have sprung up quickly, which requires a stable and foreseeable legal framework to ensure development. However, compared to the other space powers, China is the only one that has not enacted any formal national space laws. Against the background of strengthening the rule of law in China, research on China´s domestic space legislation is valuable and significant. The purpose of this thesis is two-fold. First, to find the legal basis and necessity of national space legislation and to extract the basic content of the existing national space legislation, simultaneously, to identify the new developments in the content of other States´ legislative practices. Second, based on the study of national space legislation, to propose the essential content of China´s space legislation.

Fire plays an important role in the earth system by influencing ecosystems and climate, but climate in turn also influences fire. The system became more complex when humans started using fire as a tool. Understanding the interaction between humans, fire and climate is the major aim of paleofire research. Understanding changes in these three aspects in the past will help predicting future climate, fire and human interactions. The use of lake sediment cores as natural archives for reconstructing past fire activity by counting charcoal particles is well established. This present dissertation is dedicated to the evaluation and application of specific organic molecular markers for biomass burning: levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan were used as proxies for reconstructing past fire activity in lake sediments thorough the entire Holocene. First, a new analytical method was developed using high-performance anion exchange chromatography combined with mass spectrometry to separate and detect these three monosaccharide anhydrides in lake sediments. The suitability of this analytical method was proven by comparing the levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan results in selected lake sediment samples from Lake Kirkpatrick, New Zealand and by correlating the results with macroscopic charcoal. Furthermore, the method was successfully applied to a lake sediment core from Lake Petén Itzá, Guatemala to reconstruct regional Holocene fire history. The analyses of levoglucosan were combined with fecal sterols to reconstruct late Holocene human fire interactions at Lake Trasimeno, Italy, demonstrating low fire activity during the Roman period. This combination of studies proves that these molecular markers are valid fire proxies in sediments from multiple locations around the globe. Comparison of levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan concentrations with macroscopic charcoal trends in Lake Kirkpatrick and Lake Petén Itzá, suggests that the molecular markers represent more regional fire history and low temperature fires in contrast to macroscopic charcoal, which is a local fire proxy. In addition, vegetation changes (Lake Kirkpatrick and Lake Petén Itzá) and charcoal morphotypes (Lake Petén Itzá) were compared to the levoglucosan/mannosan and levoglucosan/(mannosan+galactosan) ratios suggesting that these ratios may be a suitable tool to track burned fuel. Biodegradation tests demonstrate the potential degradation of levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan if dissolved in water, but findings in ancient sediment samples suggest that particle-bound levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan can be buried in sediments over millennial time scales. Although uncertainties still exist, the results of this research suggests that organic molecular markers are a suitable regional fire proxy and isomer ratios may help understand changes in burned vegetation.

Not only time has influence on the formation of societies, but also space. People do not only write history, they also produce spaces. And just like history retroacts on social development processes, space forms society. A socially segregated society is controlled through space. The place of residence of a person already determines a big part of its fixed opportunities and conditions. Also, the living location is already suggested by the social class of a person within a capitalist structured society. Those socio-spatial structures lead to an unjust distribution of all kinds of goods, such as the access to basic living conditions, public services, infrastructure, education and work, and psychologically or socially defined restricted spaces. Injustices therefore can only be cured by changing their spatial manifestations. As Brazil is one of the economically uprising and promising BRIC countries, its development involves chances and risks. If unjust conditions remain, its long-term advancement is rather unlikely. The changes within the country are especially visible and present in its principal metropolis: São Paulo.

The increasing perils of connectivity technologies in the context of large satellite constellations come alongside with legal aspects concerning the protection of the space environment. The interplay of connectivity and sustainability must be regulated. To analyse the legal measures and tools regulating the risks, both sides of the problem are taken into consideration. The technological side of large satellite constellations is summarized under the term cybersecurity. Cyber is a code-based system, i.e. at first sight it requires a specialized field of law. This holds true on space sustainability as well. Large satellite constellations raise the discussion on space debris and junk. The consensus on the LTS guidelines by COPUOS at UNISPACE+50 in 2018 constitutes a milestone in Space Law. Space sustainability requires a particular adoption of legal norms: the idea is very similar to the subject of cybersecurity. Since both areas of issue are internationally driven and have multilateral impact, self-regulation proves ineffective. The genesis of reliable and uniform legal rules requires a different approach considering the multilevel systems of obligations with different binding authority. This thesis evaluates the balance between the future of connectivity and space sustainability in the context of large satellite constellations by considering the impact of legal rules with different binding authority.

When presidents try to expand their tenure in office, are protesting social movements, or even youth movements, able to stop them from candidating unconstitutionally and thus to prevent a democratic backslide? So far, the literature on term bids by presidents tends to focus on the institutional arrangements to hinder such term bids in the first place, on presidential strategies to circumvent the constitutional law, or on counteractions of political elites. Mobilizations against such attempts by presidents to run for office again, after reaching the end of their last allowed term, are often solely included as “pressures from below”. To address these shortcomings, this dissertation explores the issue of term amendment struggles through the lenses of contentious politics systematically combined with insights of revolution theories and democratization studies. Its conceptual perspective therefore lies on the interactions of actors and their constellations to each other as well as to institutions. The author deduces three diverse pathways to promote institutional change and prevent democratic backslidings – through political elites, (political) allies, and security forces. By selecting two cases that are most similar in terms of institutions and youth movements at the forefront, Senegal (2011-12) and Burkina Faso (2013-14), this analysis offers insight in the divergence of the struggles and their outcome. Because in both cases, the announcement of the presidents to run for another term in office led to broad mobilization led by youth movements against such tenure amendments, the political system in general and socioeconomic inequalities - but with diverging results. In Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaoré eventually resigned while Abdoulaye Wade in Senegal candidated again, legitimized by the Constitutional Court. Based on extensive fieldwork, including interviews with movement leaders and their allies, as well as a comprehensive media analysis and the SCAD databank for the analysis of protest events, the author differentiates and reconstructs the various phases of the conflict. The results of the dissertation point at two dimensions most relevant to comprehend the dissimilar pathways the struggles took – the reach of mobilization and, closely interlinked to the first, the refusal of soldiers to obey orders. It shows further that these differences go back to the respective history of each country, its former protest waves, and political culture. Although both presidents faced mass mobilization against their unconstitutional candidature, only in Burkina Faso it eventually led to an ungovernable situation. The dissertation concludes by reflecting on lessons learned for future democratic backslidings by presidents to come and avenues for future research – and thus offers fruitful insights not only for academics but for those who aim to save democratic norms and institutions.

Undertaking local actions, such as implementing public (sustainability) policy, plays a crucial role in achieving sustainable development (SD) at the municipal level. In this regard, indicator-based assessment supports effective implementation by measuring the SD process, based upon evidence-based outcomes that indicators produce. Over the last decade, using subjective indicators, which rely on an individual’s self-perception to measure subjects, has gained its significance in sustainability assessment, in line with the increasing importance of signifying individual’s and community’s well-being (WB) in the context of SD. This study aims to discuss and clarify the scope and functions of subjective sustainable development indicators (SDIs) conceptually and theoretically while examining the usability of such indicators employed in the practice of assessing sustainability policy and action process in a Japanese municipality. Furthermore, the potential usability of using subjective SDIs in monitoring a municipal initiative of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is also explanatorily examined. The present paper consists of a framework paper and three individual studies. In the framework paper, Section 1 introduces the global transition of SD discourse and the role that local authorities and implementing public policy play in achieving SD while outlining how WB positions in the SD context. Section 2 provides a brief overview of the major scope of overall SDIs at the conceptual and theoretical levels. Section 3 defines WB in the study’s own right while exploring the scope of indicators measuring WB. In addition, this study strives to further clarify the peculiar scope of SDIs, measuring WB by synthesising the findings. Section 4 overviews how SD at the municipal level in Japan is practiced while acknowledging the extent to which residents perceive WB and SDGs in policymaking. Section 5 provides a brief yet extensive summary of the three individual studies. Section 6 discusses the findings while presenting implications for further study and practices of subjective SDIs. Furthermore, the three individual studies provide a thorough and in-depth discussion of the study subject. Study 1 illustrates the SD trend at the municipal level in Japan and the growing recognition of using subjective SDIs in public (sustainability) policy assessment in exploring comparative SDI systems to municipality groups. The findings, in turn, raise the need for a further study on subjective SDIs. Study 2 extensively discusses the concept of WB as the overarching subject to be measured while examining varying approaches and scopes of SDIs. It identifies three differentiated WB (i.e., material and social objective WB as well as subjective WB) and distinctive approaches of subjective SDIs (i.e., expert-led and citizen-based approaches) alongside objective SDIs. The findings suggest that these SDIs identified are, conceptually, most capable of measuring associated WB; for instance, citizen-based subjective SDIs can most optimally measure subjective WB. Finally, Study 3 examines the usability of (citizen-based) subjective SDIs in a practice of assessing public policy, aiming at municipal SD, and the potential usability of using such indicators in monitoring a municipal SDG initiative. The findings highlight the determinants and obstacles of using subjective SDIs as well as signifying WB in measuring progress of a municipal SD practice.

Algae-bacteria-based biotechnology has received more and more attention in recent years, especially in the subtropical and tropical regions, as an alternative method of conventional multistep wastewater treatment processes. Moreover, the algal biomass generated during wastewater treatment is regarded as a sustainable bioresource which could be used for producing biofuel, agricultural fertilizers or animal feeds. Although this technology is attractive, a number of obstacles need to be solved before large-scale applications. The main purposes of this work are to find more effective biomass harvesting strategies and develop high-effective algal-bacterial systems to improve wastewater treatment performance, biomass generation rate and biomass settleability. A wastewater-borne algal-bacterial culture, cultivated and trained through alternate mixing and non-mixing strategy, was used to treat pretreated municipal wastewater. After one month cultivation and training, the acclimatized algal-bacterial system showed high carbon and nutrient removal capacity and good settleability within 20 minutes of sedimentation. Algal biomass uptake was the main removal mechanism of nitrogen and phosphorus. The biomass productivity, nitrogen and phosphorus accumulation in biomass during the wastewater treatment process were investigated. The characterization of the microbial consortium composition in the enriched algal-bacterial system provided new insights in this research field. Aerobic activated sludge which already showed good settleability was used as bacterial inoculum to enhance the wastewater treatment performance and biomass settleability of algal-bacterial culture. The influence of different algae and sludge inoculum ratios on the treatment efficiency and biomass settleability was investigated. There was no significant effect of the inoculation ratios on the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal. But algae/sludge inoculum ratio of 5 showed the best nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies (91.0 ± 7.0% and 93.5 ± 2.5%, respectively) within 10 days. Furthermore, 16S rDNA gene analysis showed that the bacterial communities were varying with different algae and sludge inoculation ratios and some specific bacteria species were enriched during the operation. Four commonly used and high-potential microalgae species including one cyanobacteria (Phormidium sp.) and three green microalgae species (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus rubescens) were cultivated and trained through alternate mixing and non-mixing strategy for tertiary municipal wastewater treatment. After one month of cultivation, the four microalgae species were compared in terms of biomass settleability, nutrient removal rates and biomass productivity. The three green microalgae showed good settleability within 1 h sedimentation and had higher biomass generation rates (above 6 g/m2/d). The nutrient removal efficiencies were 99% for the four selected microalgae species but within different retention time, resulting in 3.66 ± 0.17, 6.39 ± 0.20, 4.39 ± 0.06 and 4.31 ± 0.18 mg N/l/d (N removal rate) and 0.56 ± 0.07, 0.89 ± 0.05, 0.76 ± 0.09 and 0.60 ± 0.05 mg P/l/d (P removal rate) for Phormidium sp., Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus rubescens, respectively. A mixed algal culture composed of three selected high-effective green microalgae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus rubescens) was used for tertiary municipal wastewater treatment. The key biotic factor (algal inoculum concentration) and abiotic factors such as illumination cycle, mixing velocity and nutrient strength were studied. Based on the nitrogen and phosphorus balance, it was found that assimilation into algal biomass was the main removal mechanism.

Among all attenuation processes, biodegradation plays one of the most important role and is one of the most desirable processes in the environment especially since products released during this bio-reactions, can be once again reintroduced into the natural element cycles. To assess biodegradation, a variety of biodegradation test procedures have been developed by several international organizations. OECD guidelines for ready biodegradability testing represent one of the most prominent group of internationally used screening biodegradation tests (series 301A-F). These tests are usually very simple in their designs and allow for the fast and cheap screening of biodegradability. However, because of their stringency, the test conditions are not close to simulating environmental conditions and may lead to unrealistic results. To overcome these limitations, OECD introduced simulation tests which are designed to investigate the behavior of chemicals in specified environmentally relevant compartments. Despite the fact that simulation tests give more insight into the fate of chemicals in the environment, they are not applied frequently as they are often tedious, time consuming and expensive. Consequently, there is a need to provide a new biodegradation testing method that would combine complex testing environment as in simulation tests, easiness in handling and good data repeatability as in screening biodegradation tests. Another challenge is an adaption of the existing biodegradation testing methods to new types of samples, i.e. mixtures of transformation products (TPs). The research on the presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment gained momentum in the 1990s; since then, it has been growing. Their presence in the environment is a wellestablished fact. A wide range of pharmaceuticals is continuously detected in many environmental compartments such as surface waters, soils, sediments, or ground waters. After pharmaceuticals reach the natural aquatic environment they may undergo a number of processes such as: photolysis (under direct sunlight), hydrolysis, oxidation and reduction reactions, sorption, biodegradation (by bacteria of fungi), and bioaccumulation. These processes, may cause their elimination from aquatic environment, if reaction is complete, or creation of new compounds i.e., transformation products (TPs). What is more, processes, like chlorination and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), such as H2O2/UV, O3/UV, TiO2/UV, Fenton, and photo-Fenton, or UV treatment which might be applied in water or wastewater treatment, may also lead to the TPs introduction into aquatic environment. The research on the TPs brings many new challenges. From one side, there is a constant need for the the development of a sensitive and reliable analytical separation, detection, and structure elucidation methods. Additionally, there is a need for the preparation of appropriate assays for the investigation of properties of new compounds, especially those answering the question if TPs pose a higher risk to the aquatic ecosystems than their parent compounds. Among numerous groups of pharmaceuticals, two are of great importance: antibiotics since they might promote emergence and maintenance of antimicrobial resistance in the aquatic environment; and cytostatic drugs. Cytostatic drugs can exert carcinogenic, mutagenic and/or teratogenic effects in animals and humans. The challenges of biodegradation testing presented in this thesis, encompasses these different areas of interest and was divided into three objectives: 1) Identification of the knowledge gaps and data distribution of the two groups of pharmaceuticals antibiotics and cytostatic drugs (article I); 2) Increasing the knowledge on biodegradation of cytostatic drugs and their TPs (articles II, III, and IV) and 3) Establishment of a biodegradation test with closer to simulation tests conditions, that could be affordable and to support better understanding on processes in water sediment interface construction - screening water-sediment test. Further validation of the test with an insight into sorption and desorption processes (articles V and VI).

Global climate change and environmental degradation are largely caused by human activity, thus progress towards a sustainable future will require large-scale changes to human behavior. Human-nature connectedness—a measure of cognitive, emotional, spiritual and biophysical linkages to natural places—has been identified as a positive predictor of sustainability attitudes and behaviors. While calls to ‘reconnect to nature’ in order to foster sustainability outcomes have become common across science, policy and practice, there remains a great deal of uncertainty, speculation, and conceptual vagueness around how this ought to be implemented. The overarching aim of this thesis is to advance conceptual and empirical understandings of human-nature connectedness as a leverage point for proenvironmental outcomes and sustainability transformation. In particular, the thesis attempts to assess the nuances of the HNC-PEB relationship by investigating the scalar relationships between where someone feels connected to nature and where someone acts proenvironmentally. This research was conducted through conceptual exploration (Chapters II, III, IV, and VI), systematic literature reviews (Chapter I and V) using hierarchical cluster analysis, and empirical case studies (Chapters VII and VIII) relying on structural equation modeling and two-step cluster analysis. In this thesis, the relationship between humannature connectedness and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors was investigated in a small microregion of Transylvania, Romania, where traditional relationships with the land and changing socio-economic characteristics provided an interesting case study in which to explore these connections. The key findings can be organized into three sections: Section A, which addresses human-nature connectedness and its potential for sustainability transformation; Section B, which addresses human-nature connectedness as a determinant of pro-environmental behavioral outcomes, and Section C, which explores the relationships between human-nature connectedness and energy conservation norms, attitudes, and behaviors. Results cumulatively suggest that human-nature connectedness is a multidimensional construct that requires greater integration across heterogeneous disciplinary and methodological boundaries in order to reach its potential for meaningful sustainability transformation. Results also highlight the critical need to adopt systemic approaches to understanding how interactions between human-nature connections, norms, attitudes, and behaviors are hindering or promoting sustainability outcomes. This thesis makes two main contributions to the literature: first, it considers the human-nature connectedness and pro-environmental behavior literature within a systems-thinking and VI sustainability transformation lens; and second, it extends the human-nature connectedness and pro-environmental behavior literature by investigating the multidimensional aspects of these constructs. Overall, these insights point to the deep leverage potential of humannature connectedness when conceptualized and operationalized as a multidimensional construct.

Gamification marks a major change to everyday life. It describes the permeation of economic, political, and social contexts by game-elements such as awards, rule structures, and interfaces that are inspired by video games. Sometimes the term is reduced to the implementation of points, badges, and leaderboards as incentives and motivations to be productive. Sometimes it is envisioned as a universal remedy to deeply transform society toward more humane and playful ends. Despite its use by corporations to manage brand communities and personnel, however, gamification is more than just a marketing buzzword. States are beginning to use it as a new tool for governing populations more effectively. It promises to fix what is wrong with reality by making every single one of us fitter, happier, and healthier. Indeed, it seems like all of society is up for being transformed into one massive game. The contributions in this book offer a candid assessment of the gamification hype. They trace back the historical roots of the phenomenon and explore novel design practices and methods. They critically discuss its social implications and even present artistic tactics for resistance. It is time to rethink gamification!

This introductory article to the special issue of Psychology Science devoted to the subject of Considering Response Distortion in Personality Measurement for Industrial, Work and Organizational Psychology Research and Practice” presents an overview of the issues of response distortion in personality measurement. It also provides a summary of the other articles published as part of this special issue addressing social desirability, impression management, self-presentation, response distortion, and faking in personality measurement in industrial, work, and organizational settings.

The German energy system is under transformation. The so-called Energiewende (in English, Energy turn) relies, among other things, on renewable energies for building a more sustainable energy system. Regions (Landkreise) are one relevant level where different administrative bodies make decisions and plans both for the implementation and for the use of renewable energies. However, in order to realize the goals of the Energiewende, developments in the wider society are necessary. This is why, scientific research can and should foster such developments with more research on the social aspects of energy-related topics. The present work contributes to the understanding of transition processes towards a sustainable use of regional renewable energy by focusing on the role of contextual conditions, practical experiences, and temporal dynamics in the implementation and use of renewable energy in German regions. In this way, this work wants to contribute fostering the development of regional energy transition strategies for the realization of the Energiewende. The conceptual background for this piece of transformation research lies in three bodies of literature dealing respectively with transitions of socio-technical systems, transformations of socioecological systems, and time ecology. From a critical engagement with this literature, three main results have emerged. First, an evidence-based, spatially distinct analysis of contextual conditions for the use of renewable energy in all German regions has resulted in the identification of nine types of regions, so-called energy context types. Second, empirical research on practices in regional settings learned from the knowhow of actors from regional administration has shown that political and economic conditions are crucial as well as that process management, exchange, and learning are helpful for renewable energy implementation. Third, conceptual work about a deeper understanding of the temporal dimensions of transformation processes has made it possible to point out a three-step approach to include temporal dynamics into sustainability transformations management - the time-in-transformations-approach. The literature suggests that regions need to be treated individually; but developing an energy transition strategy for each region individually would be extremely resource intensive. Overall, my work outlines a compromise for a more efficient approach towards regional energy transition strategies which still considers the individuality of regions. As a result, I suggest to develop generic regional energy transition strategies that are adapted to each of the nine energy context types of German regions, that include the experiences of practitioners, and that consider temporal dynamics of transformation processes. Transdisciplinary research is a promising approach to meet many of the challenges for the realization of the Energiewende. A transdisciplinary steering board on the national level could create generic regional energy transition strategies that guide the energy transition and give clear goals and orientation for the realization of policies on the lower levels. On the regional level, these strategies would need to be adapted with regard to each region´s situation. Relying on the results of my research, I conclude that this could also be informed through transdisciplinary processes.

This paper analyzes the growth impact of fiscal and institutional governmental policies in a regional context. The government provides a productive input that is complementary to private capital. Institutional policies include the decision about the type of public input as well as on the size of the region as determined by the number of firms. Fiscal policies decide on the extent of the public input. Private capital accumulation incurs adjustment costs that depend upon the ratio between private and public investment. After deriving the decentralized equilibrium, fiscal and institutional policies as well as their interdependencies and welfare implications are discussed. Due to the feedback effects both policies may not be determined independently. It is also shown that depending on the region’s size different types of the public input maximize growth.

This study summarizes more than 15 years of scientific support for the United Nations-Economic Commission Europe (UN-ECE) Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) and other European environmental protection conventions such as the Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) and the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM) by means of development and application of numerical simulation models for the atmospheric long-range transport of heavy metals. The work is mainly based on results and conclusions described in the nine papers of the appendix but some more recent investigations which have not yet been published in the scientific literature are also presented. An introductory overview and synthesis of current knowledge and understanding pertaining to all major aspects of heavy metals in the atmosphere is presented from a viewpoint that numerical modelling of their atmospheric processes is necessary and feasible to support the conventions mentioned above. The models discussed in this study have capabilities to quantify transboundary fluxes of lead, cadmium and mercury as the priority metals of concern and have a potential to identify sources as well as to predict the impact of emission reductions on the load of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in Europe. Advantages and limitations of relatively simple Lagrangian models are outlined within the context of issues currently facing the environmental scientific and policy making communities. However, a focus of this study is a comprehensive model system for atmospheric mercury species using a fully three-dimensional Eulerian reference frame and incorporating a state-of-science mercury chemistry scheme, which has been adopted by various scientific institutions for their modelling purposes.

Tropical forests worldwide support high biodiversity and contribute to the sustenance of local people’s livelihoods. However, the conservation and sustainability of these forests are threatened by land-use changes and a rapidly increasing human population. In this dissertation, I focused on the effects of land-use change on forest biodiversity in the rural landscapes of southwestern Ethiopia, against a backdrop of human population growth. These landscapes are being progressively degraded, encroached and fragmented as a result of different pressures, including the intensification of coffee production, farmland expansion, urbanization and a growing rural population. Understanding the drivers of biodiversity loss and the responses of biodiversity to such pressures is fundamental to direct conservation efforts in these tropical forests. This dissertation aimed to characterize biodiversity patterns in the moist Afromontane forests of southwestern Ethiopia and to examine how biodiversity patterns are affected by land-use and land-use changes (mediated by coffee management intensity, landscape attributes and housing development) in a context of a rapidly growing rural population. To achieve this goal, I take an interdisciplinary approach where, first, I examined the effects of coffee management intensity on diversity patterns of woody plants and birds, spanning a gradient of site-level disturbance from nearly undisturbed forest interior to highly managed shade coffee forests. Results showed that specialized species of woody plants (forest specialists) and birds (forest specialists, insectivores and frugivores) were affected by coffee management intensity. The richness of forest specialist trees and the richness and/or abundance of insectivores, frugivores and forest specialist birds decrease with increasing levels of disturbance. Second, I investigated the effects of landscape context on woody plants, birds and mammals. Community composition and specialist species of woody plants and birds were sensitive to landscape context, where woody plants responded positively to gradients of edge-interior and birds to gradients of edge-interior and forest cover. Further results showed that a diverse mammal community, with 26 species, occurs at the forest edge of shade coffee forests and that the leopard, an apex predator in the region depended on large areas of natural forest. A closer examination of leopard activity patterns revealed a shift in the diel activity as a response to human disturbance inside the forest, further highlighting the importance of natural undisturbed forests for leopards in the region. Together, these findings demonstrate the value of low managed shade coffee forests for biodiversity, and importantly, emphasize the irreplaceable value of undisturbed natural forests for biodiversity. Third, I investigated the effects of prospective rural population growth (mediated by housing development) on the forest mammal community. Here, population growth was projected to negatively influence several mammal species, including the leopard. Housing development that encroached the forest entailed worse outcomes for biodiversity than a combination of prioritized development in already developed areas and coffee forest protection. Fourth, to understand the motivations behind high human fertility rates in the region, I examined the determinants of women fertility preferences, including their perceptions on social and biophysical stressors affecting local livelihoods such as food insecurity and environmental degradation. Fertility preferences were influenced by underlying social norms and mindsets, a perceived utilitarian value of children and male dominance within the household, and were only marginally affected by perceptions of social and biophysical stressors. Results further indicated a mismatch between the global discourse on the population-environment-food nexus and local perceptions of this issue by women. My findings suggest the need for new deliberative and culturally sensitive approaches that engage with pervasive social norms to slow down population growth. Overall, this dissertation demonstrates the key value of moist Afromontane forests in southwestern Ethiopia for biodiversity conservation. It indicates the need to promote coffee management practices that reduce forest degradation and highlights that high priority should be given to the conservation of undisturbed natural forests. It also suggests the need to integrate conservation goals with housing development in landscape planning. A promising approach to achieve the above conservation priorities would be the creation of a Biosphere Reserve and to promote the ecological connectivity between the larger forest remnants in the region. Finally, this dissertation demonstrates the importance of placed-based holistic approaches in conservation that consider both proximate and distal drivers of forest biodiversity decline.    

Using unique recently released nationally representative high-quality data at the plant level, this paper presents the first comprehensive evidence on the relationship between productivity and size of the export market for Germany, a leading actor on the world market for manufactured goods. It documents that firms that export to countries inside the euro-zone are more productive than firms that sell their products in Germany only, but less productive than firms that export to countries outside the euro-zone, too. This is in line with the hypothesis that export markets outside the euro-zone have higher entry costs that can only by paid by more productive firms.

Micro- and small enterprises are of great importance for the economic growth in developing countries, as they contribute to employment creation and innovation. In light of their economic relevance, several approaches to support micro- and small enterprises have emerged, including building human capital through business trainings. However, the effects of existing business trainings on entrepreneurial success have so far been limited. One promising alternative training approach that has emerged in the last years is personal initiative training, which teaches self-starting, future-oriented, and persistent entrepreneurial behavior. This dissertation helps to improve the understanding of personal initiative training by shedding light on the mechanisms through which it affects business success, on supporting factors, and on its long-term impacts. Chapter 1 provides an overview on the topic of personal initiative training for entrepreneurs in developing countries. Chapter 2 introduces personal initiative training and other proactive behavior trainings in various contexts of work, including entrepreneurship. The chapter presents action regulation theory and the theory on personal initiative as the theoretical foundation of the training. In addition, the chapter provides insights into training and evaluation methods and makes recommendations for the successful implementation of personal initiative training. Chapter 3 offers a first answer to the question how personal initiative after training can be maintained over time. The chapter introduces training participants´ need for cognition as beneficial factor for post-training personal initiative maintenance. Chapter 4 explains how action regulation trainings like personal initiative training contribute to poverty reduction in developing countries by supporting entrepreneurial success. Chapter 5 enlarges upon the topic of personal initiative training for entrepreneurial success in developing countries. The chapter focuses on how personal initiative training supports female entrepreneurs in developing countries by helping them to overcome the uncertainty involved in entrepreneurial actions. Chapter 6 summarizes the overall findings and illustrates the theoretical and practical implications that result from this dissertation. In sum, this dissertation makes a contribution to the better understanding of personal initiative training and its effects on entrepreneurship in developing countries and thereby helps to create effective interventions to combat poverty in developing countries.