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Die [...] Überlegungen sind an der Beantwortung der Frage interessiert, inwiefern sich im Ausgang von Lacans Seminar XI ein Beitrag zur Geschichte und Theorie alter sowie neuer Bildmedien formulieren läßt...
Für den Umweltbereich gilt, dass die zu verwendenden Daten und Informationen durch eine außergewöhnliche Komplexität und Heterogenität geprägt sind. Die für eine effiziente und vorsorgende Nutzung dieser Ressourcen notwendige interdisziplinäre Zusammenarbeit erfordert daher, neben herkömmlichen auch moderne Kommunikationstechniken anzu wenden. Insbesondere das weitverbreitete und kostengünstige WWW bietet in Verbindung mit dem Aufbau von Umweltinformationssystemen geeignete Möglichkeiten, durch die den vielfältigen Anforderungen an die Verbreitung von umweltrelevanten Informationen weitestgehend entsprochen werden kann.
In Museen und Umweltzentren hält die Computertechnik Einzug. Erst in der Verwaltung zur Datenverarbeitung, dann in den Magazinen als Katalogersatz eingesetzt, breitet sich in den letzten Jahren der Computer in den Besucherbereich als Ausstellungsmedium aus. Die Ausstellungsmacher werden mit einem neuen Medium konfrontiert, welches den meisten von ihnen fremd ist. Während ihnen andere Medien der Ausstellungsgestaltung bekannt sind und sie deren Vor- und Nachteile kennen, ist ihnen allein schon die digitale Technik unvertraut.
Aus dem Komplex von reellen Funktionen und damit zusammenhängender Fragen sind vor allem folgende Ergebnisse erzielt worden: Auch die höheren Ableitungen sind C-stetig. Die Feststellung, ob eine Zahl rational oder reell ist, ist C2-stetig. Die Feststellung, ob eine rationale Folge dicht in IR liegt, ist C2-stetig. Die Bestimmung der Konvergenz und des Grenzwertes einer rationalen oder reellen Folge ist C3-stetig. Die Feststellung, ob eine konvergente Teilfolge einer rationalen oder reellen Folge existiert, ist C3-stetig.
Weltkrieg <1914-1918>, Geschichtsschreibung
Es wird über ein Personalentwicklungsprojekt in einem deutschen Großunternehmen berichtet. Bei den Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmern handelte es sich um Nachwuchsführungskräfte, die ihre Arbeit in den alltäglichen Widrigkeiten der Praxis und den Zwängen hierarchische Strukturen zu bewältigen haben. Im Mittelpunkt des Projektes stand die Förderung individueller Lern- und Veränderungsprozesse, wobei dem Aspekt der 'Verantwortung im Management' besondere Bedeutung zukam.
In einer empirischen Untersuchung werden die Wahrnehmungen der Schüler-Schüler-Beziehungen von hoch vs. niedrig individualistisch, rivalisierend, feindlich und defensiv orientierten Schülern aus 7. Hauptschulklassen im Laufe eines Schuljahres miteinander verglichen. Dabei zeigte sich, dass a) keine Effekte über die Zeit vorliegen, b) die stärksten Unterschiede zwischen hoch und niedrig kompetitiven Schülern in den beiden Lernumweltbereichen Hilfsbereitschaft und Konkurrenzorientierung von Mitschülern liegen, und dass c) die Wettbewerbsorientierung mit dem geringsten Partnerbezug (individualistisch) die höchsten Effekte aufweist. Vor allem das letzte Ergebnis deutet darauf hin, dass den kategorialen Unterscheidungen motivationaler Orientierungen aufgrund des Partnerbezuges (DEUTSCH, 1973) bisher zu wenig Beachtung geschenkt wurde.
In den meisten Volkswirtschaften der Welt stellen Treibhausgas- und insbes. CO2-Emissionen eine unumgängliche Notwendigkeit für wirtschaftliche Entwicklung dar, so dass bei der Zuteilung von Emissionskontingenten an einzelne Staaten insbesondere die Frage zwischenstaatlicher Gerechtigkeit an Bedeutung gewinnen wird. In dieser Arbeit werden daher Kriterien für die Verteilung von Emissionsrechten im Rahmen eines globalen Emissionshandels (EH)-Systems unter dem Gesichtspunkt der Verteilungsgerechtigkeit untersucht. Anhand von drei Prinzipien distributiver Gerechtigkeit werden Zuteilungskriterien, die in die internationalen Verhandlungen eingebracht wurden, betrachtet. Basierend auf der Analyse dieser Kriterien wird exemplarisch ein Verteilungsszenario dargelegt, dem das "egalitäre" Kriterium einer strikt bevölkerungsabhängigen Zuteilung zugrunde liegt. Die Ergebnisse einer darauf aufbauenden Kalkulation zeigen, dass eine pro Kopf-Verteilung der Emissionszertifikate den Großteil der 'Entwicklungsländer' zu weitaus höheren Emissionen berechtigen würde, wohingegen die industrialisierte Welt nur noch zu einem Bruchteil ihres gegenwärtigen Emissionsaufkommens berechtigt wäre. Mittels des Instruments des EH könnte aus einer solchen Primärverteilung ein beträchtlicher Finanztransfer von Nord nach Süd resultieren und auf diesem Wege globale Wohlfahrtsdisparitäten vermindern.
In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden Untersuchungsergebnisse von niedersächsischen Gewässern auf Triphenylzinn (TPT) präsentiert. Betrachtet werden die Matrices Wasser, Schwebstoff, Sediment und aquatische Organismen, wie Makrozoobenthos und Fische, um eine möglichst umfassende Aussage hinsichtlich des Akkumulationsverhaltens von TPT zu erhalten. Da TPT ein ähnlich endokrin wirksames Potential wie Tributylzinn (TBT) aufweist, über TBT aber wesentlich mehr Informationen und Erkenntnisse als über TPT vorliegen, sind zudem vergleichende Betrachtungen zwischen diesen beiden Organozinnspezies angestellt worden. Die wichtigsten Aussagen dieser Arbeit sind, dass sich TPT in den Kompartimenten Wasser, Schwebstoff und Sediment unauffällig verhält, es jedoch über ein sehr hohes Bioakkumulationsverhalten verfügt. Aus diesen Ergebnissen ist zu fordern, dass Gewässerüberwachungsprogramme unbedingt um die Stufe eines Biomonitorings, in dem aquatische Organismen als Endglieder der Nahrungskette auf Schadstoffe untersucht werden, zu erweitern sind.
In dem vorliegenden Beitrag wird die These vertreten, dass sich im Bereich der sog. Neuen Medien Forschungstraditionen herausgebildet haben, die sich von pädagogischen Fragestellungen entfernen.
Ein wesentliches Merkmal der sozialen Interaktion zwischen Lehrkräften und Schülerinnen bzw. Schülern ist deren partizipative Charakter. Die Allgemeine Didaktik in ihrer Breite, einzelne didaktische Theorien im Besonderen sowie spezifische Unterrichtsmethoden thematisieren - wenn auch auf unterschiedlichen theoretischen und praktischen Niveau - die Rolle der Mitbestimmung im Unterricht.
Französische Kriegsgefangene, Deutschland, Nationalsozialismus
Mehr als 2/3 aller Bankfusionen scheitern. Größeneffekte (economics of scale) sind regelmäßig nur durch Fusionen kleiner Banken zu erwarten. Nennenswerte Kostenersparnisse lassen sich nur realisieren, wenn sich Geschäfstgebiet und Produktpalette der Fusionspartner überschneiden. Verbundinterne Fusionen von Sparkassen und Genossenschaftsbanken können oftmals nur Größeneffekte produzieren. Das Geschäftsgebiet benachbarter Sparkassen (Genossenschaftsbanken) überschneidet sich dank des Regionalprinzips nur an der Peripherie. Kostenersparnisse sind auf den zentralen Betriebsbereich beschränkt; Filialzusammenlegungen bedeuten zugleich den Rückzug aus der Fläche. Die Zusammenarbeit von Sparkassen und Genossenschaftsbanken verspricht dagegen jene Kosteneffekte, die durch verbundinterne Fusionen, eine vertikale Integration von Sparkassen und Landesbanken oder die Übernahme von Sparkassen durch private Großbanken nicht zu erreichen sind.
Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit entstand im Rahmen eines Praxissemesters in der Abteilung Anlagenmanagement der Hamburger Sparkasse. Es wird ein systematischer Überblick über die Discounted Cash Flow-Verfahren gegeben, wobei die Berechnung des Marktwertes des Eigenkapitals im Vordergrund steht.
Ziel der Untersuchung ist es, Persönlichkeitsmerkmale der Unternehmensgründer aufzudecken, von welchen ein Einfluss auf den Erfolg der Unternehmung ausgeht.
Der Aufsatz wurde anlässlich der Emeritierung von Prof. Dr. Reinermann im Oktober 2003 veröffentlicht. Er beschreibt den Einsatz elektronischer Aktenverwaltungssysteme.
Sozialwissenschaftlicher Sexualforschung werden in der Zukunft wichtige Aufgaben innerhalb der Sexualerziehung, der Sexualpädagogik, der Sexualbildung und der Sexualberatung erwachsen. Dabei gilt es, inhaltlich und methodisch neuartige Bildungskonzepte zu kreieren, zu entwickeln und zu erproben. Ziel sollte die Förderung einer humanen Sexualkultur sein, die sich an der Erklärung der Sexuellen Menschenrechte (1999 Hongkong) orientiert.
General Mental Ability, the Big Five, and several context specific variables are studied in regard to their relationship with two criteria of expatriate success, namely, adjustment and job performance. Interviews and standardized tests were conducted with a sample of 66 German and Austrian expatriates in South Korea. Results show no relationship with General Mental Ability for neither of the two criteria. Hypotheses for Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability were partially confirmed; Extraversion emerged to be negatively related to other-ratings of adjustment. Several context specific variables were found to be related to the criteria. Drawing from the study’s results, recommendations for future studies in the expatriate domain are provided.
Das OS300 ist ein auf SPS-basierendes Leitsystem für Fahrerlose Transportsysteme (FTS). Zum Beobachten und Bedienen des Systems werden zurzeit handelsübliche Visualisierungssysteme wie z.B. Wincc (Siemens) oder Intouch (Wonderware) eingesetzt, deren Funktionalitäten auf allgemeine Industrieanwendungen ausgerichtet sind. Die speziellen Anforderungen einer FTS-Anwendung können in der Regel nur durch einen hohen Engineeringaufwand erfüllt werden. Im Zuge der Harmonisierung der verschiedenen FTS-Leitsysteme der E&K AUTOMATION-Gruppe wurde entschieden, die Visualisierung des FTS-Leitsystems OS800 auch für das OS300 zu nutzen. Das OS800 ist ein PC-basiertes Leitsystem, welches mit dem Echtzeitbetriebssystem RMOS zusammenarbeitet. Die Visualisierung (BuB – Beobachten und Bedienen) ist eine Windowsanwendung. Im Rahmen der Diplomarbeit soll die bestehende Schnittstelle zwischen BuB und OS800 analysiert werden. Danach erfolgt die Umsetzung (Programmierung) dieser Schnittstelle für das OS300.
Auf der Grundlage einer breit angelegten Identifizierung und Quantifizierung von 79 PAK-Derivaten in Grundwasserproben einer teerkontaminierten Altlast wurde deren Ausbreitungs- und mikrobiologische Abbauveralten im Aquifer untersucht. Dazu wurden im Vorfeld 2 chromatographische Verfahren, 11 verschiedene Extraktionswege und 5 Derivatisierungsverfahren auf ihre Eignung überprüft. Von den 79 zugeordneten PAK-Derivaten konnten im Abstrom 47 positiv nachgewiesen, quantifiziert und einige weitere qualitativ nachgewiesen werden. In Zonen mit niedrigen biologischen Abbauraten zeigten die polaren PAK-Derivate größere Reichweiten in der Schadstoffahne als ihre unpolaren Pendants.
This paper discusses the interdependencies that exist between vertically-linked industries in the (Spence-)Dixit-Stiglitz model of monopolistic competition. The main objective is to develop a concept for quantifying the magnitude of sectoral coherence in models of the New Economic Geography. It is motivated by the suggestion, by Venables (1996), that 'strategic industries' be identi®ed in terms of their agglomeration potential. Using a partial-analytic approach, we focus on inter-industrial relations in a closed economy to draw conclusions regarding international trade. We ascertain that two factors have an impact upon the strength of industrial linkages: 1) the monopolistic scope of intermediate suppliers, in terms of (technical) substitution elasticity; and the share in downstream costs for intermediates. Within a simulation study, this paper applies this new theoretical concept to eight basic industries across ten European countries.
An empirical analysis of various waves of the ALLBUS social survey shows that union density fell substantially in western Germany from 1980 to 2004 and in eastern Germany from 1992 to 2004. Such a negative trend can be observed for men and women and for different groups of the workforce. Regression estimates indicate that the probability of union membership is related to a number of personal and occupational variables such as age, public sector employment and being a blue collar worker (significant in western Germany only). A decomposition analysis shows that differences in union density over time and between eastern and western Germany to a large degree cannot be explained by differences in the characteristics of employees. Contrary to wide-spread perceptions, changes in the composition of the workforce seem to have played a minor role in the fall in union density in western and eastern Germany.
Abstract. The ecological literature suggests that biodiversity reduces the variance of ecosystem services. Thus, conservative biodiversity management has an insurance value to risk-averse users of ecosystem services. We analyze a conceptual ecological-economic model in which such management measures generate a private benefit and, via ecosystem processes at higher hierarchical levels, a positive externality on other ecosystem users. We find that ecosystem management and environmental policy depend on the extent of uncertainty and risk-aversion as follows: (i) Individual effort to improve ecosystem quality unambiguously increases. The free-rider problem may decrease or increase, depending on the characteristics of the ecosystem and its management; in particular, (ii) the size of the externality may decrease or increase, depending on how individual and aggregate management effort influence biodiversity; and (iii) the welfare loss due to free-riding may decrease or increase, depending on how biodiversity influences ecosystem service provision.
Tätigkeitsbericht WS 2004/2005 - SS 2006 des Lehrstuhls für Produktion und Wirtschaftsinformatik
This paper examines whether the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001 have influenced the job prospects of Arabs in the German labor market. Using a large, representative database of the German working population, the attacks are treated as a natural experiment that may have caused an exogenous shift in attitudes toward persons who are perceived to be Arabs. Evidence from regression-adjusted difference-in-differences-estimates indicates that 9/11 did not cause a severe decline in job prospects. This result is robust over a wide range of control groups and several definitions of the sample and the observation period. Several explanations for this result, which is in line with prior evidence from Sweden, are offered.
Im Rahmen der Arbeit wird ein neues Struktur-Prozess-Modell (OASIS-Modell) zur Abbildung von Informationsprozessen im Rahmen touristischer Entscheidungs-prozesse erarbeitet und begründet. Teilaspekte des Modells werden mit Hilfe eines Mehr-Methoden-Ansatzes empirisch überprüft. Ein wesentliches Ziel der Arbeit ist die Untersuchung der Methoden zur Erhebung der Informations-verarbeitung. Dazu liegen eigene Ergebnisse mit drei verschiedenen empirischen Methoden (Befragungen, IDM-Experimente, Eye-Tracking-Experimente) vor. Ein Schwerpunkt der Methodenentwicklung und des Methodeneinsatzes wurde auf die Information Display Matrix gelegt. Dazu wurde mit dem IDM Visual Processors ein komplett neues Experimentalsystem erarbeitet. Das Programm verknüpft flexible Experimentalsituationen mit einer integrierten Auswertungslogik, so dass die Datenanalyse erheblich vereinfacht oder überhaupt erst mit vertretbarem Aufwand ermöglicht wird. Vom System noch nicht geleistete Analyseaufgaben können aufgrund der verwendeten Standarddatenbank mit Hilfe einfacher Datenexports in anderen Systemen erledigt werden. Im Rahmen der Analyselogik werden erstmals auch dreischrittige Transitionen in Echtzeit berechnet. Damit ist es möglich, weitere abgeleitete Koeffizienten mit vertretbarem Analyseaufwand zu generieren.Zentrales inhaltliches Ergebnis der Arbeit ist die Erstellung eines Modells zur Strukturierung und empirischen Überprüfung des Informationsverhaltens von Urlaubsreisenden. Dieses nach seinen fünf zentralen Dimensionen benannte OASIS-Modell vereint 1. Ein fünfdimensionales Informationsfeld 2. Ein Strukturmodell der möglichen Einflussfaktoren nach vier Dimensionen 3. Die Integration der beiden Modellelemente in eine funktionale und zeitliche Dimension des Entscheidungs- und Informationsprozesses. Die Entwicklung des Modells beruhte auf der genauen Analyse von ca. 20 bereits bestehenden Prozess- und Strukturmodellen sowohl des allgemeinen als auch des touristischen Entscheidungs- und Informationsverhaltens. Im Vergleich zu bestehenden Modellansätzen sind damit vor allem die folgenden Fortschritte gelungen: 1. Das Informationsfeld wird durch die Teilung in fünf Dimensionen für die Analyse besser fassbar: Sowohl die Wirkung der persönlichen, situationalen, produktbezogenen und externen Einflussfaktoren auf jede der Dimensionen als auch die Wechselwirkungen zwischen den Dimensionen können empirisch überprüft werden. Zwar ergibt sich allein innerhalb der Dimensionen des Informationsfeldes eine Zahl von 10 bi-dimensionalen und 45 multidimensionalen Wirkungsfeldern, die durch entsprechende Analysen hinterlegt werden müssten. Damit wird aber lediglich die Komplexität des tatsächlichen Informations- und Entscheidungsverhaltens abgebildet. 2. Die vier Dimensionen der Einflussfaktoren erlauben wiederum die Analyse ihrer Wirkung auf das Informationsfeld, aber auch die Analyse ihrer Wechselbeziehungen. 3. Die Einbettung des Strukturmodells in einen längeren Prozess und die Definition einer vier-schrittigen Informationsepisode wird postuliert. Im Zuge der Untersuchung ist es gelungen, mit Hilfe verschiedener Erhebungs- und Analysemethoden Teilbereiche des Modells zu prüfen und zu erklären. Ein gesamtheitliche Überprüfung des Modells wird aber auch in Zukunft kaum gelingen. Insofern gibt es für die zukünftige Forschung nur zwei Wege: Entweder die Komplexität des Modells so weit zu reduzieren, dass es mit einem einheitlichen Analyseansatz greifbar wird (wogegen aber die große Zahl bereits vorhandener Teilmodelle spricht), oder das Modell als Arbeitsrahmen zu sehen, in dem Teilbereiche sukzessive untersucht und überprüft werden. Dieser Weg ist mit der vorliegenden Untersuchung begonnen worden.
Gegenwärtige atmogene N-Einträge in die Lüneburger Heide überschreiten die durch den critical-load für Sandheiden definierte Belastungsgrenze von 10-20 kg ha-1 und zeigen den Handlungsbedarf für eine langfristige Erhaltung dieser geschützten Lebensräume. Die traditionelle Schafbeweidung im NSG Lüneburger Heide kann diese hohen atmogenen N-Einträge kompensieren. Das Herdenmanagement minimiert den Nährstoffeintrag über die Exkremente der Tiere, so dass diesem Transfer nur eine geringe Bedeutung zukommt. Die N-Austräge über das Sickerwasser vor, während und nach den Pflegemaßnahmen spielen nur eine untergeordnete Rolle. Extensive Pflegemaßnahmen wie die Mahd und das kontrollierte Brennen sind nicht geeignet die atmogenen N-Einträge langfristig zu kompensieren. Intensiven Pflegemaßnahmen (Schoppern, Plaggen) gelingt dieses, benötigen aber einen zu langen Bearbeitungszyklus, innerhalb dessen kombinierte Verjüngungsmaßnahmen notwenig werden. Die Pflegemaßnahmen haben Auswirkungen auf die N- und P-Vorräte im Heidesystem und führen großteils zu einer P-Verarmung. Das kontrollierte Brennen beeinflusst den P-Haushalt am geringsten. Eine Kombination des Feuereinsatzes mit anderen extensiven Maßnahmen erscheint daher sinnvoll.
Aktuell weisen Sparkassen im Geschäft mit Firmenkunden in der Regel eine gute bis sehr gute Marktposition und eine solide Ertragslage auf. Vordergründig gibt es damit scheinbar wenig Anlass, am Marktauftritt und an den etablierten Organisationsstrukturen des Firmenkundengeschäfts in Sparkassen etwas zu ändern. Damit die Wettbewerbsposition in Anbetracht der absehbaren Marktveränderungen langfristig gefestigt werden kann, sind gleichwohl rechtzeitig Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, mit denen eine vertriebsorientierte Ausrichtung des Firmenkundengeschäfts erreicht wird. Dessen Merkmale und Bestandteile werden im Folgenden vorgestellt, wobei als Ausgangspunkte eine Analyse des Status Quo und der marktlichen Herausforderungen dienen.
Gegenstand der Diplomarbeit ist die Untersuchung von Steuerungsverfahren für freiaufgestellte, nachgeführte Photovoltaikanlagen (PV-Anlage). Diese Variante wird auch Freiflächenanlage genannt, weil die PV-Anlage nicht auf einem Gebäude, sondern auf einer Freifläche aufgestellt ist. Für freiaufgestellte, zweiachsig, dem Sonnenverlauf nachgeführte Prototypen von PV-Anlagen sind Untersuchungen zur Ertragsanalyse gegenüber starr oder einachsig arbeitenden PV-Anlagen vorzunehmen. Hierzu wird ein Messaufbau in der Diplomarbeit beschrieben.
This paper discusses a model of vertical and horizontal product differentiation within the Dixit-Stiglitz framework of monopolistic competition. Firms compete not only in prices and horizontal attributes of their products, but also in the quality that can be controlled by R&D activities. Based upon the results of a general equilibrium model, intra-sectoral trade and the welfare implications of public intervention in terms of research promotion are considered. The analysis involves a numerical application to ten basic European industries.
Interaktivität stellt fürr Virtualität eine notwendige Bedingung dar, denn zur subjektiven Konstruktion einer Realitätt aus computererzeugten Sinnesdaten muss sich die Feedback-Schleife aus Handlung, Wahrnehmung und darauf reagierender erneuter Handlung eng schließen. Der Text beleuchtet aus Sicht der Kulturinformatik die technikgeschichtlichen und kunsttheoretischen Zusammenhänge zweier Begriffe, die zentral sind für den Diskurs um und die Verortung von interaktiver Computerkunst.
Reviewing the development of network access charges in the German electricity market since 2002 reveals significant variation. While some firms continually increased or decreased their access charges, a variety of firms exhibited discontinuous behavior with price changes in both directions. From an economic viewpoint this price setting turbulence is astonishing because grid operators are non-contestable natural monopolists, which in this time period were regulated by Negotiated Third Party Access (NTPA). Depending on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of NTPA, expected behavior would be either regulated average cost prices or monopoly prices, but not the observed turbulence. Although in 2005 NTPA scheme was replaced by a Regulated Third Party Access (RTPA) scheme with a regulator, an analysis of the factors influencing the price setting behavior within this period offers valuable information for the new regulator and the still discussed new incentive regulation, which is expected to start in 2009. Using multivariate estimations based on firm data covering the years 2000-2005, we test the hypotheses that asymmetric influence of regulatory threat, different cost and price calculation knowledge, strategic use of structural features and the obligation to publish specific access charges have influenced the electricity network access charges in Germany.
This paper aims to determine if the contingent valuation method (CVM) can provide valid results useful in policy-making. This will be investigated by using a CV study that captures the willingness to pay (WTP) for the municipal cultural supply in Lueneburg, Germany. In contrast to previous CV studies that included a wide range of descriptive statistics, the empirical analysis of the current study focuses on multivariate analysis to explore the factors associated with the WTP. The results reflect current hypotheses in cultural economics. Thus, higher education levels and higher income are positively correlated with higher WTP. While the results indicate a highly significant impact of non-use values on the WTP for cultural goods across the different regression models, the findings for some variables differ considerably in magnitude across different regression models.
Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit basiert auf dem Praxisbericht, der während der Mitarbeit im Forschungsprojekt ILIPT (Intelligent Logistics for Innovative Product Technologies) an der Leuphana Universität Lüneburg entstand. Eine steigende Anzahl von Kunden hegt bei einem Neuwagenkauf den Wunsch nach einem speziell auf ihre Wünsche zugeschnittenen Fahrzeug. Diesem Trend zur Individualisierung begegnen die Automobilkonzerne mit einem umfangreichen Angebot an Fahrzeugvarianten. Da jedoch gleichzeitig ein anhaltend hoher Druck des Marktes zur Kostenvermeidung besteht, rückt das Management von Varianten und der daraus resultierenden Komplexität, immer stärker in den Fokus des Interesses. Ist die Komplexität zu hoch, steigen die Ausgaben rapide. Eine maximale Reduktion der variantengetriebenen Komplexität ist jedoch in den wenigsten Fällen die Lösung des Problems: Gibt es zu wenig Varianten sinkt die Attraktivität für den Kunden, da eine ausreichende Befriedigung seiner Bedürfnisse nicht mehr gegeben ist. Deshalb gilt es, ein Komplexitätsoptimum zu erreichen. Bei diesem Ziel fällt einer Prognose über die Entwicklung der Komplexitätskosten bei einer Veränderung der Variantenzahl eine besondere Bedeutung zu. In dieser Diplomarbeit geht es um die Möglichkeit, derartige Kosten mit Hilfe von Simulationen abzuschätzen und um eine Analyse des derzeitigen Standes der Technik auf diesem Gebiet. Beginnend mit einer Literaturrecherche werden im Anschluss vorhandene Werkzeuge betrachtet und schließlich die bisherigen Ansätze zur Erstellung eines Komplexitätskostenmodells analysiert.
In the light of the concurrent loss of biodiversity, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) research attracted a great deal of attention and emerged as one of the important fields of research in ecology. Since important ecological interactions such as competition occur between individuals, the understanding of individual tree growth was considered to be fundamental for forest related BEF research. Individual tree growth is determined by the above- and belowground interactions of a tree individual with its local neighbourhood. To obtain a deeper understanding of BEF relationships, I broadened the focus from individual tree growth (usually measured as diameter or biomass increment) to the arrangement and dynamics of the above-ground modules of trees in dependence of their local neighbourhood. More precisely, the main objective of the present thesis was to analyse the impact of tree diversity on individual tree growth, crown architectural and branch demographic variables. Thereby I considered crown architectural variables as important indicators of the competition for light. In addition, crown architectural variables impacted ecosystem services such as erosion control. Furthermore, the results of the present thesis contributed to the current discussion on species coexistence theories, which may be differentiated by two opposing views: one that relies on neutral processes and one that implicates a role for meaningful differences in the ecological strategy (niche) of co-occurring species. The studied forest ecosystems were the subtropical broad-leaved evergreen forests of southeast China, which have been under high human pressure due to a long history of intensive land-use. The area is of particular interest for BEF research due to the high species richness of woody plants, including many, yet poorly studied species, and due to the rough terrain with steep slopes, which cause severe soil erosion. The present thesis combines three observational with two experimental studies, applying the local neighbourhood approach along an age gradient from tree saplings to mature trees. In the Gutianshan National Nature Reserve (GNNR), I conducted two observational studies on permanent plots which were chosen according to a space-for-time substitution design. The aim of the first study was to reveal the effects of diversity (species richness, functional diversity) together with other biotic and abiotic variables on morphological growth parameters (crown area, crown displacement and stem inclination) of target trees of four tree species (Castanea henryi, Castanopsis eyrei, Quercus serrata and Schima superba). In the second study, the same target trees together with their neighbours were used to analyse the relation between stand related functional diversity and the horizontal and vertical structure of the canopy. The third study was conducted in a young secondary broad-leaved evergreen forest. Using two target species (Castanopsis fargesii and Quercus fabri), the role of diversity, intra- vs. inter-specific competition and the mode of competition (symmetric vs. asymmetric) on the target individuals was tested by analysing five-year radial growth increments. The two other studies were carried out in an experimentally established plantation, using saplings of four tree species (C. henryi, Elaeocarpus decipiens, Q. serrata and S. superba), which were planted in monoculture, twoand four-species combinations and in three densities. The fourth study focused on mechanisms of coexistence and the role of species richness, species composition, species identity and density on sapling growth. The fifth study tested the effect of sapling density and identity on the througfall kinetic energy, which represents a measure for the erosive power of rain. It was found that functional diversity does affect crown architectural and canopy related parameters of forests in the GNNR. However, no effects of species richness on radial-growth were detected in the younger forest. Since I also did not find strong effects of species richness on saplings in the experimental plantation, diversity effects may evolve at a later age stage. The importance of the diversity effect may be related reversely to that of species identity in an age gradient of forest stands. The findings suggest that different mechanisms of coexistence operate simultaneously but that their relative importance may shift through the life stages of trees. During the sapling stage, species-specific differences in growth and architectural traits support niche theory. In older forest stands, no species-specific differences in growth parameters could be detected. However, I did find effects of functional diversity on horizontal canopy structure. I conclude that mechanisms of coexistence may not only change with forest stand age, but may also differ for distinct traits. The present thesis, being the first to apply the local neighbourhood approach with regard to crown architecture and branch demography within the BEF field of research, stresses the importance of this individual based approach. Although the observed forest systems are very complex, crown architectural and canopy structural variables were found to be affected by diversity. The finding that the degree of erosive power of rain could be elucidated by crown architectural variables, encourages further studies to reveal possible relations between biodiversity and other ecosystem functions or services, which might be mediated by crown architectural and canopy structural variables.
Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial firms are a frequent research topic in psychological research. However, the focus of this research has largely been on the entrepreneur as a person and on the entrepreneurs’ strategy for the business. By contrast, the entrepreneur as a leader and the entrepreneurial firm as a work environment for employees have received little attention. Therefore, this dissertation aims to integrate theoretic thoughts from organizational behavior research into entrepreneurship research. Specifically, I will focus on novelty creation within entrepreneurial firms and organizational phenomena which provide a context for employees in novelty creating activities. This dissertation adds to the literature as it provides insight in the effects of work environment facets on employees’ engagement in novelty creating activities in entrepreneurial businesses. In three empirical chapters, I will focus first on the effects of entrepreneurial orientation on efficiency of employee work in innovation projects. Second, I will look at a facet of organizational culture, the error management culture, and its effects on individual learning of employees. Last, I will focus on occupational roles of employees within small businesses and effects of these roles on responses to a questionnaire and on work in innovation projects. In all three empirical chapters I test my hypotheses in a sample of N = 40 entrepreneurial businesses and employees within these businesses. For my chapter on occupational roles this sample is complemented by two additional samples of college students. In sum, results indicate that the entrepreneurial business in all three chapters exerts significant influences on employee work. Furthermore, I show that employee participation in novel activities is positive for entrepreneurial businesses (Chapter 2: Correlation between employees’ and entrepreneurs’ evaluation of innovation project effectiveness: r = .44; p < .01; Chapter 3: Correlation between organizational level leaning and organizational growth in sales: r = .35; p < .01). Therefore, I suggest that research on the entrepreneurial firm as a context for work may contribute to our knowledge on success factors in entrepreneurship, and may therefore be a relevant direction of future research. Especially, it may be fruitful to investigate aspects of work in which entrepreneurial firms may differ from other, less entrepreneurial organizations.
Angesichts der seit den 1980er Jahren andauernden, sehr umfassenden Modernisierung der öffentlichen Verwaltung richtet sich die Untersuchung auf die Effektivität und Wirksamkeit von Reformen i. S. ihrer politischen Ziele. Da hierbei vor allem fiskalische Motive maßgeblich waren, steht das Bestreben im Mittelpunkt, die Staatsausgaben und den Personaleinsatz durch eine schlankere Behördenorganisation zu reduzieren. Inwieweit dies auf dem Wege struktureller Reorganisationsmaßnahmen erreicht wurde, untersucht die Arbeit für die deutschen Bundesländer auf der Basis einer vergleichenden quantitativen Analyse. Hierfür wurden eigens Daten zur Behörden- und Personalstruktur der letzten 20 Jahre erhoben, anhand derer sich die Verwaltungs- und Personalentwicklung gesamthaft wie auch differenziert nach Ländern, Aufgaben, Ressorts und Behördentypen abbilden und vergleichen lässt. Dabei zeigt die deskriptive Auswertung den Umfang der stattgefundenen Veränderungen auf und lässt Rückschlüsse auf Verlauf und Strategien der Reformpolitiken zu. Die quantitative Wirkungsanalyse wiederum dokumentiert einen nachweisbaren Zusammenhang zwischen strukturellen Organisations- und den damit intendierten Personalveränderungen, bestätigt mithin die Effektivität der Maßnahmen. Dabei wird auch ersichtlich, dass nicht nur die Intensität, sondern auch die Art der Veränderungen, also das organisatorische Konzept der Reformen den Grad und den Umfang des beabsichtigten Stellenabbaus beeinflussen. Hieraus lässt sich im Ergebnis auch ableiten, dass die deutschen Flächenländer im Vergleich noch ein erhebliches Konzentrationspotenzial aufweisen, um über eine Vereinfachung ihrer Behördenorganisation Effizienzpotenziale zu erschließen.
Herbizide, die durch Spray-Drift, Volatilisation oder Winderosion aus landwirtschaftlichen Flächen ausgetragen werden können wiederum auf Nichtzielpflanzen gelangen. Es wird angenommen, dass Wälder eine Senke für luftgetragene Pestizide darstellen. Wirkungen von luftgetragenen Herbiziden auf Nichtzielpflanzen können nicht ausgeschlossen werden. An Blättern von Nichtzielpflanzen haftende Herbizide können wiederum durch Regenereignisse aus der Laubschicht ausgewaschen werden und in den Boden gelangen. Welche Stoffe nach deren Deposition ausgewaschen werden oder aber in der Laubschicht verbleiben hängt vom Verteilungsverhalten an der Blattoberfläche ab. In der vorliegenden Dissertation wurde das Verteilungsverhalten von current-use Herbiziden und einiger ihrer Abbauprodukte an der Oberfläche von Nichtzielpflanzen bestimmt. Als Modellorganismus diente die Waldkiefer Pinus Sylvestris L. mit deren Nadeln Versuche zur Charakterisierung des Adsorptions- und Desorptionsverhaltens von 55 Herbiziden aus wässrigen Lösungen durchgeführt wurden. Es wurden Verteilungsversuche sowohl mit rekonstituiertem epikutikulärem Wachs als auch mit intakten Kiefernnadeln durchgeführt. Für den Stoff Terbuthylazin konnte bei Versuchen mit rekonstituierten epikutikulären Wachsen eine Aufnahme aus der wässrigen Lösung in das Wachs festgestellt werden. Der Verteilungskoeffizient zwischen Wachs und Wasser betrug für die Adsorption log KWachsW = 3, 0. Für die Desorption wurde ein höherer Verteilungskoeffizient von log KWachsW = 3, 3 ermittelt und auf Grund der Differenz eine teilweise irreversible Bindung des Terbuthylazins an das epikutikuläre Wachs angenommen. Sorptionsversuche mit wässrigen Lösungen und intakten Kiefernnadeln zeigten für 19 weitere Herbizide mit einem log KOW > 3,8 eine schnelle Adsorption aus der wässrigen Phase an die Nadeloberfläche mit einer mittleren Lebensdauer für die Adsorption von 12 Minuten (Aclonifen, Bifenox, Bromoxynil-octanoat, Diflufenican, Fenoxaprop-p-ethyl, Fluazifop-p-butyl, Fluroxypyrmeptyl, Haloxyfop-ethoxyethyl, Haloxyfop-methyl, Mefenpyr-diethyl, PCP, Pendimethalin, Picolinafen, Propaquizafop, Prosulfocarb, Pyridate, Quizalofop-ethyl, Triallate und Trifluralin). Die für diese Stoffe ermittelten Kutikula/Wasser-Verteilungskoeffizienten liegen im Bereich log KCW = 3,3 bis 4,8. Für 7 Stoffe war nach einer schnellen Verringerung der Konzentration in der wässrigen Phase eine weitere stetige Abnahme der Herbizidkonzentration mit einer Lebensdauer unter 2000 Minuten zu beobachten (Fluroxypyr-meptyl, Fenoxaprop-p-ethyl, Propaquizafop, Quizalofop-ethyl, Trifluralin, Fluazifop-p-butyl und Haloxyfop-methyl), was durch eine Aufnahme der Stoffe über die epikutikuläre Wachsschicht in das innere Gewebe der Kiefernnadeln erklärt werden kann. Die Stoffe Bromoxynil-octanoat, Fluroxypyr-meptyl, Propaquizafop, Quizalofop-ethyl und Trifluralin zeigten eine irreversible Aufnahme aus wässrigen Lösungen in Kiefernnadeln. In einem Laborversuch wurde die Deposition von Herbiziden auf intakten Kiefernnadeln simuliert. Die Verteilung zwischen der epikutikulären Wachsschicht, Niederschlagswasser und den nach Extraktion mit Dichlormethan verbleibenden Nadeln wurde für das Herbizid Isoproturon und seine Abbauprodukte ermittelt. Das hierfür entwickelte Versuchsdesign erlaubte die Messung der Verteilungsvorgänge an intakten, noch am Zweig befindlichen Kiefernnadeln. Die Translokation, Volatilisation und die Bildung von Abbauprodukten konnten quantifiziert werden. Die Laborversuche ergaben, dass Isoproturon bei Kontakt mit wässrigen Lösungen sofort (Lebensdauer unter 1 Minute) von der Oberfläche der Kiefernnadeln desorbiert und nicht in das innere Gewebe der Kiefernnadel aufgenommen wird. Darüber hinaus treten bei Driftrückständen kleiner Stoffmenge und Schichtdicke (1 ng/mm²) für Isoproturon hohe Verluste (zwischen 47 und 88 % der ursprünglich applizierten Menge) durch Volatilisation und abiotischen Abbau auf. Aus den Ergebnissen der Laborversuche können Rückschlüsse zum Verbleib des Herbizids Isoproturon im Waldökosystem getroffen werden. Sie zeigen, dass Driftrückstände von polaren Herbiziden durch Regenereignisse aus der Vegetationsoberfläche von Nichtzielpflanzen ausgetragen werden und in andere Umweltkompartimente gelangen können.
This dissertation concerns the question of how economics can contribute to the analysis of trade-offs between values (or normative objectives). The analysis is illustrated for the case of policies that pursue the goal of sustainability. Methodologically, this is done by reflecting economic concepts in light of philosophical theories and using generic models to analyze trade-offs between particular values. In sum, the work shows how economics can help in analyzing the factual relationships between values by clarifying the set of feasible acts and outcomes. The first paper of this cumulative dissertation concerns the question what a general definition of efficiency with respect to normative objective implies about relationships between two values. In order to conceptualize relationships between values carefully, the analysis distinguishes instrumental from intrinsic values and discusses the question whether there is one intrinsic value (value monism) or many intrinsic values (value pluralism). Next, a small economic model is used to show that there can be different relationships between values such as win-win relationships and trade-offs in value-efficient states if there are three or more values. Further, the distinction between Pareto-efficiency (based on individual preferences) and value-efficiency (which can also include non-preference values) is used to study relationships between values. The second paper uses the definition of sustainability as inter- and intragenerational justice to discuss the relationship between these two objectives. The general aim of this paper is to discuss what economic concepts can contribute to the discussion of tradeoffs between justices. For this, a syntax of the concept of justice is employed, different relationships between justices are defined and economic concepts such as scarcity, efficiency and opportunity costs are transferred to the justice context. One result from this analysis is that there must be a trade-off between these two justices in such respective efficient outcomes. The third paper concerns an intertemporal mechanism leading to the well-known equity-efficiency trade-off in an intergenerational setting. For this, two central characteristics of intergenerational policy making are taken into account: irreversibility and ignorance (or unawareness). A pertinent example is the irreversible use of fossil fuels before and after the discovery of the effect of CO2 emissions on climate change. The trade-off between Pareto-efficiency and intergenerational equity that results from these two characteristics is shown in a model with two non-overlapping generations which use a non-renewable resource. In the model there is initial unawareness about an intergenerational externality from resource use that is only discovered after the irreversible use of the resource. A central result of the paper is the trade-off between intergenerational equity and efficiency that emerges if initially unknown sustainability problems arise after irreversible policies have been enacted. The fourth paper concerns the question what the concept of merit goods can contribute to discussions of sustainability. For this, the history of the concept is discussed, then merit goods are defined and connected to the philosophical literature on different conceptions of well-being. In the next step different challenges and opportunities of merit good arguments are discussed for the sustainability context. For example, it becomes clear that merit good arguments concern conceptions of well-being and do not directly concern the aspect of intergenerational distribution in sustainability problems.
The Ili Delta in Kazakhstan is an important ecosystem that offers crucial wetland habitats for several bird species. However, the Ili River, the Ili Delta and the Balkhash Lake are suffering from water shortage due to climate change and human activities. The desertification of the Aral Sea, an obvious point of comparison to the Balkhash region, also involved the degradation of wetland habitats and the related loss of many bird species relying on these habitats. Therefore, water shortage at the Ili Delta may also be the reason for the loss of wetland habitats and bird species. In this study, bird species numbers, species abundances as well as bird diversity at different habitats in the Ili Delta were examined. There are many habitat types provided by the Ili Delta, for example reed bed vegetation, Tugay forest, bare soil floodplains along rivers and steppe. The results of this study showed that the central delta region with habitats of submerged reed vegetation showed the highest number of bird species and the greatest diversity. Threatened bird species at the Ili Delta were also observed only in these wetland habitats. Steppe habitats showed the lowest numbers of bird species and the lowest bird diversity. In general, all habitats at the Ili Delta are important for the ecosystem and essential for the bird species that depend on them for their survival. With expansion of arid steppe habitats due to water shortage, however, previous wetland habitats may be lost. Moreover, bird species that depend on these wetland habitats may also be lost. Therefore, protective measures for the Balkhash region in general and the wetland habitats at the Ili Delta and its distinct avifauna in particular are urgently needed.
The importance of a social perspective on the relationships between humans and nature has longbeen acknowledged. The field of social-ecological systems research in particular is striving toachieve a holistic understanding of human-nature relationships by balancing social andecological perspectives. Here I sought to develop a social understanding of the Saxon area inCentral Romania, by exploring aspects of human-nature relationships as seen from theperspective of local people. To this end, I employed the concepts of social-ecological systems(SES), ecosystem services (ES) and cultural landscapes to assess perceptions of locals throughempirical case studies.I first conducted a literature review to acquire an overview of a particular type of human-naturerelationship mediated by non-consumptive use and non-use values (“cultural ecosystemservices”). Second, to isolate and address the interaction from the social system to the ecologicalsystem, I investigated the different ways locals perceived the role of landscapes in SouthernTransylvania. I conceptually mapped these landscape preferences by revealing their potentialland use and management implications. Third, to approach the human-nature relationship fromthe ecological system to the social system, I studied the flow of ES to disaggregated humanbeneficiaries. Specifically, I studied which factors, beyond ecosystem processes and functions,influenced nature derived human well-being from the perspective of potential beneficiaries. Iconceptualised the mediating role of a range of contextual factors underpinning the currentdistribution of ES, with regard to the relation between ES and human well-being. Fourth, inorder to explore an example of bidirectional human-nature relationship, I studied the particularcase of human-carnivore coexistence and the suite of mechanisms shaping it.Despite building throughout this thesis a more complex and in-depth understanding of the humandimensions of the studied system, I chose four main cross-cutting themes to explain the human-nature connection in Southern Transylvania. These four themes may serve as pillars of a sociallyminded understanding, as well as potential research and policy foci. First, the values held bylocals are key for understanding the endemic human-nature relationships and should not beoverlooked in future social-ecological assessments or policy interventions. Second, the culturallandscape of Southern Transylvania is both a physical and virtual space of social-ecologicalinteraction fostering human-nature experiences and social-ecological knowledge integration.Third, the identified diversity of the social system in terms of landscape aspirations and ESbeneficiaries is expanding the range of human-nature connections, but at the same time, may infuture be a source of conflict or disconnection if not managed appropriately. Finally, small-scalefarmers, through their interactions with the land and resultant belief system, play a major role inmaintaining the human-nature relationships, but their values and lifestyle are threatened.
This thesis makes an important contribution to better understanding biodiversity and ecosystem function relationships across trophic levels in forests - aspects that are still underrepresented in BEF research. Ongoing biodiversity loss can be expected to change important trophic interaction pathways in these ecosystems, making increased efforts in exploring the mechanisms underlying, and the drivers determining, the impact of trophic complexity on the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning a crucial objective for holistic approaches to BEF research.
In 1999 David Elstein delivered a lecture series examining the evolvement of UK broadcasting policy from 1949 to 1999. His sharp analysis is a valuable contribution to the post-war devel-opment of the British broadcasting system and unfolds many topical issues in current media policy debates.
Despite the great progress that has been made in the prophylaxis of oral diseases over the past decades, dental caries and periodontal diseases remain major challenges in the field of dentistry. Biofilm formation on dental hard tissues is strongly associated with the etiology of these oral diseases. Therefore, the process of bioadhesion and biofilm formation on tooth surfaces is of particular interest for dental research. The first stage of bioadhesion on dental surfaces is the formation of the pellicle layer. This mainly acellular film, composed largely of adsorbed proteins, glycoproteins, and lipids, is distinguished from the microbial biofilm (plaque). As the interface between teeth and the oral environment, the pellicle plays a key role in the maintenance of oral health and is of great physiological and pathophysiological importance. On the one hand, the pellicle shows protective properties for the underlying dental hard tissues. On the other hand, it also serves as the basis for dental plaque and therefore, for the development of oral diseases such as caries and periodontitis. Hydrophobic interactions, which are governed by lipophilic substances, are of high relevance for bacterial adherence. Therefore, pellicle lipids, which are a significant constituent of this biological structure, are an interesting target for dental research, as they could modulate oral surfaces, influence microbial interactions, and potentially impede bacterial adherence. Compared to the extensive work on the pellicle´s ultrastructure and protein/amino acid composition, little attention has been given to its lipid profile. Knowledge of the lipid composition of the pellicle may provide insight into several oral pathological states, including caries, dental erosion, and periodontal disease processes and could contribute to novel approaches in preventive dentistry. The principle aim of this thesis was the comprehensive characterization of the fatty acid (FA) profile of the in situ formed pellicle layer. This includes the influence of pellicle maturation on the FA profile as well as intra- and interindividual differences. Furthermore, investigations on the effect of rinses with edible oils on the pellicle´s FA composition were a focus of this work. For these purposes, an analytical method based on a combination of innovative specimen generation and convenient sample preparation with sensitive mass spectrometric analysis was successfully developed and comprehensively validated within this thesis. Pellicle samples were formed in situ on bovine enamel slabs mounted on individual upper jaw splints. After a comprehensive sample preparation, gas chromatography coupled with electron impact ionization mass spectrometry (GC-EI/MS) was used in order to characterize qualitatively and quantitatively a wide range of FA (C12-C24). The individual FA profiles of pellicle and saliva samples collected from ten research participants were investigated. The relative FA profiles of the pellicle samples gained from the different subjects were very similar, whereas the amount of FAs showed significant interindividual variability. Compared to the pellicle´s characteristic FA profile, higher proportions of unsaturated FAs were detected in the saliva samples, highlighting that FAs available in saliva are not adsorbed equivalently to the pellicle layer. This, in turn, shows that pellicle formation is a highly selective process that does not correlate directly with salivary composition. Additionally, pellicle samples collected after 3, 30, 60, 120, and 240 min of intraoral exposure were analyzed. It could be shown that pellicle maturation has only a minor impact on the FA composition. However, the FA content increased substantially with increasing oral exposure time. Modifying the pellicle´s lipid composition by using edible oils as a mouthwash could alter the physicochemical characteristics of the pellicle and strengthen its protective properties by delaying bacterial adhesion. Therefore, the impact of rinses with safflower oil on the pellicle´s FA composition was determined. The application of rinses with safflower oil resulted in an accumulation of its specific FAs in the pellicle, thus representing a possibility for modifying the pellicle´s lipid profile. The present work is the first to apply a validated method that combines in situ pellicle formation, sample preparation, and the comprehensive determination of FAs via a sensitive analytical method. The results provide valuable information regarding the pellicle´s FA composition which closes an existing knowledge gap in pellicle research. A broader knowledge of the lipid composition of the pellicle contributes to the understanding of oral bioadhesion processes and may help facilitate novel approaches in preventive dentistry.
After being administrated to humans or animals, pharmaceuticals may be metabolized by a variety of mechanisms and pathways within the body. Once these compounds and/or their metabolites are excreted, they may undergo degradation in the aquatic environment. Unfortunately, a rapid and complete mineralization cannot always be guaranteed, whereas relatively stable transformation products (TPs) may be formed. The largest part of older studies focused on investigation of the elimination kinetics of parent compounds without considering the amount and chemical structure of individual TPs. Only recently, there is an increasing trend to deliver such information. Nevertheless, since drugs are defined as significant environmental pollutants, it is not only important to elucidate their TPs, but also necessary to investigate whether these formed compounds preserve the same mode of action as the parent compound or are even more toxic. Thus, two main objectives of this thesis can be formulated. Firstly, to highlight the concern originated by metabolites and transformation products of pharmaceuticals that contaminate the environment. Hereby, the already-published knowledge on TPs within a certain selection of drugs is assessed to exemplify the number and quality of the existing information on their TPs. Secondly, to particularly investigate the fate of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin (CIP). This is done by (a) evaluating the suitability and sustainability of the photolytic decomposition as an advanced water treatment technique, (b) monitoring the course of genotoxicity of the irradiated mixtures using a battery of genotoxicity and cytoxicity in vitro assays, and (c) considering the potential genotoxicity for CIP´s individual TPs by the employment of in silico approaches using quantitative structure activity relationships (QSAR) models. This thesis based on the results and conclusions of five articles, which can be found in the appendix. A systematic literature review was conducted on the current state of knowledge on pharmaceuticals and its derivatives in the environment. Two groups, namely antibiotics and anticancer drugs, were considered more closely with respect to the availability of chemical structures for their TPs. Furthermore, the photodegradation of CIP as well as a preliminary toxicity assessment of its identified TPs were investigated in three research papers. An extensive review with a table at its core shows the existing data on 158 TPs, which already have an assigned registry number in chemical abstracts service (CAS-RN), was presented. In total, 294 TPs, identified with chemical structures in the literature, were found for 15 compounds out of the 21 that were selected as target compounds. Eleven TPs, created from CIP, were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography/high-resolution multiple-stage mass spectrometry. It was detected that the transformation of CIP mainly occurred through substitution of fluorine, defluorination, hydroxylation of the quinolone core and the breakdown of the piperazine ring. Some of the identified TPs of CIP were predicted as genotoxic by QSAR analysis, while the experimental testing for a few genotoxic and cytotoxic endpoints showed that the potential of the resultant mixtures could be primarily dependent on the concentration of residual CIP. In contrast, irradiation mixtures were neither mutagenic in the Ames Test nor genotoxic in the in vitro Micronucleus Test. It is possible that the effect of the TPs was masked by antagonistic mixture interactions and/or they were not formed at effectively concentrations. Nevertheless, all of the identified TPs of CIP still retained the core quinolone moiety, which is responsible for the biological activity. Thus, a more comprehensive assessment, encompassing more genotoxic endpoints, chemical analysis characterization and exposure analyses, needs to be conducted. Information available on TPs demonstrates that already slight changes in treatment conditions and processes result in the formation of different TPs. Nevertheless, most of the transformation products could neither be identified nor fully assessed regarding their toxicity. This, in turn, presents a major challenge for the identification and assessment of TPs. Hence, from a practical and sustainability point of view, limiting the input of pharmaceuticals into effluents as well as improving their (bio)degradability and elimination behavior, instead of only relying on advanced effluent treatments, is urgently needed. Solutions that focus on this
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit gibt einen Einblick in das Konzept der Transkulturalität nach Wolfgang Welsch. Angesichts der Erkenntnisse Welschs wird ein Modell für transkulturelle Kompetenz entwickelt und vorgeschlagen, welches sich maßgeblich an dem 3-Säulen-Modell transkultureller Kompetenz nach Dagmar Domenig sowie dem Kompetenzmodell für den Lernbereich Globale Entwicklung des Bundesministeriums für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) orientiert. Orientierungswissen (Erkennen), Selbstreflexion (Bewerten) und Empathie (Handeln) bilden die drei Säulen des hier neu vorgeschlagenen Konzeptes. Ausgehend von dem handlungs-orientierten Kommunikationsprinzip der Gewaltfreien Kommunikation nach Marshall B. Rosenberg soll die Bedeutung der Selbstempathie in Bezug auf die drei genannten Säulen dargestellt werden. Ziel der Arbeit ist es daher - neben der Entwicklung des Kompetenzmodells - zu diskutieren, inwiefern Selbstempathie notwendige Voraussetzung für die Förderung transkultureller Kompetenz ist.
Die Senkung der Abgasemissionen von Dieselmotoren ist ein zentraler Bestandteil der Motoren-Entwicklung. Die positive Beeinflussung kann auf verschiedene Arten erfolgen. Zum einen werden durch die Optimierung der innermotorischen Verbrennung die Abgasbestandteile gesenkt. Zum anderen kann mit Hilfe von Abgasnachbehandlungs-systemen der Ausstoß von umweltschädlichen und toxikologischen Abgasbestandteilen minimiert werden. Die Rückführung von Abgas in den Frischluft-Massenstrom (Abgasrückführung, AGR) ist eine konstruktive Maßnahme zur Reduktion von Stickstoffoxid-Emissionen bei Dieselmotoren. Bei diesen Abgasrückführungs-Systemen ist das AGR-Ventil ein zentraler Bestandteil und wird häufig mit einem Kühler kombiniert. Je nach Abgaskonzept des Motors werden Hoch- oder Niederdruck-Abgasrückführung - d.h. das Abgas wird vor oder nach dem Abgasturbolader entnommen - oder eine Kombination aus beiden System eingesetzt. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden die Wechselwirkungen und Einflüsse von Ablagerungen in Turbo-aufgeladenen Dieselmotoren betrachtet. Der Schwerpunkt der Untersuchungen wird auf das Teilgebiet dieser Ablagerungen im Hochdruck-AGR-System gelegt, da der zu untersuchende Volkswagen Motor in Fahrzeugen zur Einhaltung der Abgasemissionsstufe Euro 5 mit einer wassergekühlten Hochdruck-AGR und einem Abgasnachbehandlungssystem ausgerüstet ist. Das Abgas der Hochdruck-AGR wird direkt vor dem Abgasturbolader entnommen und wieder der Frischluft-Ansaugstrecke zugeführt. Das entnommene Abgas wird dabei nicht durch Abgasnachbehandlungs-Systeme gereinigt, sondern alle Abgasbestandteile werden über den Kühler und über das Ventil geführt. Dabei kann es zu Verschmutzungen kommen, die potentiell die Kühlleistung, sowie die zurück geführte Abgasmasse und das Brennverfahren beinträchtigen könnten. Im Laufe der Arbeit wird die Arbeitsweise der genannten Abgasrückführung und der verschiedenen Brennverfahren im Dieselmotor eingehend beschrieben. In der vorliegenden Dissertation werden drei Aspekte der genannten Verschmutzungen bzw. Ablagerungen im AGR-System näher untersucht. Erster Aspekt: Zunächst werden die physikalischen und chemischen Ablagerungs-mechanismen aufgezeigt, die zu Verschmutzungen bzw. zu Ablagerungen in AGR-Systemen führen können. Zweiter Aspekt: Die Ablagerungen wurden hinsichtlich ihrer chemischen Zusammensetzung untersucht. Es konnte dabei festgestellt werden, dass die gefundenen Ablagerungen vollständig organisch-chemischer Natur sind und zum größten Teil aus Dieselruß, polyzyklischen aromatischen Kohlenwasserstoffen, unverbranntem Kraftstoff, sowie diversen polymeren Strukturen bestehen. Letztere werden in situ durch die vorherrschenden Temperaturen und vorliegenden Molekül-Kombinationen dargestellt. Dritter Aspekt: Die Einfluss-Faktoren und der Mechanismus der Ablagerungsbildung werden beschrieben und in Motor-Funktionsprüfstand- und in Labor-Versuchen nachgestellt. Insbesondere der Einfluss von polyzyklischen aromatischen Kohlenwasserstoffen und der Aufbau von organischen Polymeren auf Basis von Phenol-Aldehyd-Harzen, als auch Netzwerk Bildungsmechanismen mit Biodiesel-Molekülen und Veresterungs-Reaktionen haben sich als signifikante Mechanismen herausgestellt. Darüber hinaus kann ein starker Einfluss der Abgas- und Kühler-Temperaturen nachgewiesen werden. Je größer die Temperaturdifferenz zwischen Kühlwasser-Temperatur und Abgas-Temperatur ist, desto besser werden die chemischen Komponenten auf der Kühler-Oberfläche abgeschieden. Zusätzlich verstärken Abgas-Temperaturen bis zu 800 Grad C die Pyrolyse-Reaktionen und damit die Bildung von Netzwerken aus polyzyklischen aromatischen Kohlenwasserstoffen. In Verbindung mit anschließenden Abkühlphasen werden die kondensierten Abgas-Bestandteile abgekühlt und der Status einer Netzwerk-Bildungs-Reaktion ´eingefroren´. In Zusammenspiel mit Dieselruß-Partikeln wird eine Oberfläche geschaffen, die weitere Abgas-Komponenten aufzunehmen vermag. Die sich daran anschließenden Hoch-Temperatur-Phasen pyrolysieren das organische Material und erzeugen damit eine feste und festhaftende Oberfläche bzw. Isolationsschicht. Die im Abgas enthaltene Wärme kann nicht mehr über den Wärmetauscher abgeführt werden und die Pyrolyse-Reaktionen werden durch steigende Temperaturen an der Oberfläche verstärkt. Die Ablagerungsbildung katalysiert sich selbst.
The dissertation project focuses on empirically investigating consumers' attitudes, motivations and purchasing decisions regarding sustainable products. The focus on this micro perspective, however, does not reflect consumers' roles within the transformation towards sustainable consumption. Therefore, the present framework paper puts the included papers into a greater context and evaluates the findings on a meta-level by applying an enhanced transition management theory. The analysis underlines that consumers' limited personal capabilities are an underlying reason for unsustainable practices. Therefore, the active engagement not only of consumers, but also of companies is required if the transformation is to be successful. If companies actively support consumers in making sustainable choices, consumers can engage in sustainable consumption with only low cognitive efforts. On this basis, genuine sustainable choices are enabled. The dissertation provides practical implications by highlighting potential measures which will help to promote sustainable products from niches to mainstream. In sum, the dissertation project enhances academic understanding of consumers´ sustainable purchasing behavior and reveals the potential of integrating such insights into the management of transformations towards sustainable consumption.
Für die lernförderliche Verknüpfung von Theorie und Praxis in der Lehrerbildung bieten sich insbesondere innovative Lerntools wie das Lernarrangement Videokonferenzsystem an. Selten liegt der Fokus bei der Forschung zu Theorie und Praxis allerdings auf den Überzeugungen der Lehramtsstudierenden zu Theorie und Praxis. Man weiß deswegen nur wenig darüber, was Lehramtsstudierende über diese beiden Konzepte denken. In dieser Studie wird deswegen der Frage nachgegangen, welche Überzeugungen Lehramtsstudierende zu Theorie und Praxis haben. Des Weiteren wird anhand des Lernarrangements Videokonferenzsystem untersucht, inwieweit Lehramtsstudierende Verknüpfungen von Theorie und Praxis als solche wahrnehmen und ob sich die Überzeugungen zu Theorie und Praxis nach der Arbeit mit dem Lernarrangement Videokonferenzsystem verändern können. Anhand qualitativer Leitfadeninterviews wurden 54 Lehramtsstudierende der Leuphana Universität Lüneburg zu zwei Messzeitpunkten befragt und anschließend mithilfe der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse ausgewertet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Studierenden theoriekonforme, unvollständige sowie der Theorie widersprechende Überzeugungen zu Theorie und Praxis haben und dass ihnen beide Konzepte wichtig sind. Allerdings wissen die Studierenden häufig nicht, wie sie Theorien nutzen können. Positiv für das Lernen der Studierenden scheint dabei zu sein, wenn diese möglichst viele unterschiedliche Praxiselemente sowie Theorie-Praxis-Verhältnisse in ihrem Studium wahrnehmen. Die Studierenden erkennen das Lernarrangement Videokonferenzsystem als eine Verknüpfung von Theorie und Praxis an. Sie nennen außerdem die grundliegenden Konzepte des Lernarrangements Videokonferenzsystem als lernförderlich. Schließlich scheinen die Überzeugungen der Studierenden zu Theorie und Praxis veränderbar zu sein. Aus den Ergebnissen der Studie lässt sich ableiten, dass eine einfache Erhöhung des Praxisbezugs in der Lehrerbildung nicht zielführend scheint. Es werden aber mehr Konzepte benötigt, die Theorie und Praxis sowie ihre unterschiedlichen Verhältnisse miteinander verbinden. Des Weiteren bedarf es im Studium mehr Kommunikation über sowie Lerngelegenheiten zu Theorie und Praxis.
Die Arbeit liefert die Grundlagen zur chemischen Entfernung von Biodiesel aus dem Motoröl, um eine Minderung der Einschleppungsproblematiken beim Einsatz von biogenen Kraftstoffen und Dieselpartikelfiltern zu erzielen. Das Prinzip beruht auf einer wechselwirkenden Beimischkomponenten die eine Azeotropbildung mit Biodiesel einleitet. Eine gaschromatographische Headspace-Screening-Methode diente der Messung von Aktivitätskoeffizienten in Anwesenheit von Biodiesel. Die Ergebnisse dieser Analysen lieferten erste Erkenntnisse welche funktionalen Gruppen eine notwendige starke Wechselwirkung mit Biodiesel besitzen. Die gaschromatographischen Analysen wurden zudem mit Simulationsrechnungen mittels COSMOtherm untermauert. Im Laborversuch haben sich polare Säuren wie Ameisensäure oder Essigsäure als gute Beimischkomponenten erwiesen. Aldehyde, Ketone oder Alkohole sind weniger geeignet. Säuren wirken als Hydrogen Bond Donator und besitzen hohe Aktivitätskoeffizienten mit Biodiesel. Durch die Destillation des gebildeten azeotropen Gemischs kann die Entfernung von Biodiesel aus dem Motoröl bei niedrigen Temperaturen von ca. 180 Grad Celsius bis 190 Grad Celsius realisiert werden. Ohne den Einsatz von Beimischkomponenten liegt die Destillationstemperatur von Biodiesel bei ca. 330 Grad Celsius.
Poor quality of freshwaters is a widespread problem. The concept of complexity is a particularly promising concept to analyse and address this problem, and public policy problems more generally. The main reason is the concept's strength in unifying structural features of problems within a more comprehensive structural approach to political problem-solving. So far, however, these possible benefits remained hidden given the lack of a clear understanding of complexity, ultimately hampering a systematic analysis of the implications of complexity for solutions and governance strategies. This study aims at strengthening the value of the concept of complexity for systematic comparative analyses of water-related problems and public policies in general. To achieve this goal, this work is to specify the concept of complexity as well as the implications of complexity for solutions and governance strategies, both from a theoretical and an empirical point of view. To this end, five main basic approaches are applied, referring to underlying premises, the role of an interdisciplinary approach, the European Water Framework as an empirical reference point, the integration of practical knowledge, and the focus on external validity. This dissertation provides a detailed operationalisation of complexity related to the dimensions of goals, variables, dynamics, interconnections, and informational uncertainty. It also shows that freshwater pollution-related problems in Germany differ along these five complexity dimensions. This applies to 37 types of pollution-related problems and four clusters of problems, which refer here to tame, wicked, system complexity, and uncertainty problems. This dissertation suggests that relations between complexity and policy delivery can be both positive and negative and vary along dimensions of complexity and policy delivery. Regarding the analysed freshwater pollution problems, this work also shows various effects of complexity on policy delivery, both along the 37 types of problems, and along four clusters of wicked problems. This dissertation suggests a differentiated theoretical approach to define governance for complex problem-solving, demonstrating that the role of diverse institutions, actors, and interactions differs for solutions along five key dimensions of complexity and different management strategies that are information gathering, modelling, using decision-support tools, prioritising of measures, conflict solving, deciding under uncertainty, and being adaptive and flexible.
This thesis deals with the influence of sustainability communication on the purchase decision of sustainable tourism products involving German specialist tour operators. Sustainability communication is a challenge, because sustainable tourism is an abstract and vague concept which consumers find it difficult to grasp and about which they are sceptical. The service characteristics of tourism products complicate the decision making stage, which is a high-involvement situation of uncertainty to which sustainable product attributes add complexity. As an introduction, an interdisciplinary theory discussion reveals knowledge gaps in terms of the value-belief-norm theory and the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). The first article, which is the first systematic literature review on the topic, reveals that there is a limited theoretical understanding of sustainability communication, a lack of practical understanding of how to design sustainability messages, and an inadequate set of methodologies for its research. It identifies knowledge gaps concerning: the holistic approach to sustainability communication; its role in the attitude-behaviour gap; an interdisciplinary theoretical understanding focusing on belief-based social psychological theories and theories of persuasion; qualitative methods; and experimental design. The second article investigates the role of sustainability communication in the attitude-behaviour gap, employing the value-belief-norm theory to explain how information is processed by special interest customers. Interview findings show that ineffective sustainability communication is the reason for the gap and that customers unintentionally booked sustainably. The study identifies eight groups of beliefs which explain the processing of sustainability attributes. Sustainability information is effective when it is value-congruent, that is, when customers perceive they can make a difference, they begin to ascribe a responsibility to themselves. The third article investigates how to design an effective sustainability message in tour operator advertising. Drawing on the ELM, the study shows that appeal type does not significantly influence persuasion but the topic presented is important. Cultural sustainability is the sustainability topic that is most persuasive for cultural tourists, while consumer prior knowledge and issue-involvement with the topic promote successful information processing.
Mit der Novellierung des Bauvertragsrechts im Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuch (BGB) wurde auch das einseitige Leistungsänderungsrecht und Regelungen für die Ermittlung der Mehr- und Mindervergütung in dem BGB–Bauvertrag aufgenommen. Durch Beschluss des Deutschen Bundestages vom 28. April 2017 ist das neue Bauvertragsrecht eingeführt und wird am 1. Januar 2018 in Kraft treten. Ob die Schnittstelle zwischen Leistungsänderung und Gegenleistung, unter Berücksichtigung baubetriebswirtschaftlicher Aspekte und der Ausgeglichenheit zwischen Leistungsänderung und Gegenleistung mittels der vorgegebenen Maßstäbe überhaupt möglich ist, wurde in der vorliegenden Arbeit untersucht. Hierfür wurde das baubetriebliche System des BGB–Bauvertrags erarbeitet und die Novellierung des Bauvertragsrechts im Hinblick auf die Bereiche des Änderungsrechts (§ 650 b BGB) und der Vergütungsanpassung (§ 650 c BGB) vorgestellt. Basierend auf der Vorstellung des neuen BGB–Bauvertrags wurden die Möglichkeiten der Leistungsänderungen in der Schnittstelle zu der Ermittlung der Mehr- oder Mindervergütungen herausgearbeitet. Dabei wurde festgestellt, dass neben den beiden Vergütungsermittlungsmethoden des § 650c BGB auch die Möglichkeit der freien Vergütungsermittlung nach § 650 b Abs.1 BGB gegeben ist. Auch wie die Sachverhalte Nachlässe, Mengenänderungen bei Einheitspreisverträgen sowie Bauzeit und die Art der Ausführung bei der Kostenermittlung und der Beauftragung von vergessenen Leistungen zu berücksichtigen sind, ist in die Untersuchung eingeflossen. Trotz der aufgezeigten Lücken des neuen Bauvertragsrechts wurde mittels der Untersuchung der Schnittstelle zwischen den Änderungsverlangen und der Vergütung der vergessenen Leistungen festgestellt, dass grundsätzlich die Umsetzung im baubetrieblichen System möglich ist. Mit den vorgestellten Kalkulationsansätzen in Kombination mit einer Gemeinkostenausgleichsrechnung wird ein Ansatz für die Lösung der fehlenden Ausgeglichenheit zwischen Leistung und Gegenleistung vorgestellt. Darüber hinaus wird herausgearbeitet aus welchen Gründen es bei Bauprojekten, die auf dem neuen BGB–Bauvertrag basieren, zu Streit zwischen den Vertragsparteien und damit zu einer Verteuerung und Verzögerung der Bauprojekte kommen wird.
In recent years, especially since 2015, Germany and other European countries have accepted high numbers of refugees. The social and vocational integration of these refugees and of those yet to come represents a challenge. (Social) entrepreneurship is one means to achieve this goal, to fully tap into the potential of refugees and to give them a chance to make a living in host countries. This dissertation examines the potential of vocational integration of refugees through (social) entrepreneurial activities. It includes a detailed literature review and suggests possible direction in the emerging field of refugee (social) entrepreneurship. This dissertation shows that to foster refugee (social) entrepreneurship, the identification and evaluation of specific and potential needs for support is essential. Incubators in particular have a high potential for supporting refugee entrepreneurs, in part it is possible for them to address some of the challenges faced by this target group, which differ from those of locals or migrant entrepreneurs. More specifically, this dissertation aims to answer two research questions: (1) What are relevant (social) entrepreneurial concepts that can contribute to the vocational integration of refugees? (2) What are the distinct contributions of and challenges faced by refugees when it comes to their vocational integration through (social) entrepreneurial activities? Analyzing select practical cases, this dissertation has several important implications for researchers who seek to bridge the gap between academia and society in the context of refugee entrepreneurship and refugee social entrepreneurship research. The findings presented here are also relevant for practitioners, for example those working at business incubators, who aim to facilitate the vocational and social integration of refugees in general and refugees with entrepreneurial aspirations in particular.
The dissertation analyzes the role of large banks in the context of financial (in)stability. Based on the underlying "too big to fail"-problem (TBTF), the three included papers investigate the reasons for the instability of banking systems on a national and international level. Already in advance, but at least since the years 2007/2008 with the escalation of the financial crisis, especially large banks are under critical supervision of regulators and the society. There exist numerous aspects that should to be taken into account when addressing TBTF which complicates the finding of a solution to the problem. In particular, the thesis investigates three major issues in this context: (1) The contribution of the size of a bank to the development of financial crises or the exposure of large banks to systematic risk and contagious spillovers. (2) The spillover effects from one banking system to another and the importance of banks' foreign asset holdings for the transmission of sovereign risk on foreign banks. (3) The impact of the degree of competition in the German banking market on the stability of the banking system.
Whereas the extant literature discusses what Sustainability-Oriented Innovations (SOIs) are and why firms develop them, little is known about how they are developed. To enable firms to innovate for sustainability, it is essential to know more about the processes underlying SOI development, which are considered as very difficult, with many firms failing. Drawing on several academic papers and relying on qualitative research methods, the thesis uses the Fireworks model to examine how innovation processes unfold at established small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The main contribution of the thesis is to advance the Fireworks model to the context of SOIs unfolding at SMEs. The findings reveal that SOIs unfold in an emergent, somewhat chaotic way, that duration and outcome are uncertain, that the overall journey is composed of multiple intertwined innovation paths, of which several will likely lead to setbacks. To manage this complex process, the thesis suggests to set four management foci: (1) to create a dedicated organizational unit for exploration, (2) to create conditions allowing intelligent learning for efficient exploration, (3) to carry out in-depth investigation of the related technological innovation systems, and (4) to plan carefully the re-integration of the innovation into the core business for commercialization.
The timber shortage led to large scale afforestations on previously agriculturally used land in Central Europe during the 19th and 20th century. Widespread afforestation programs created recent forest ecosystems (i.e. young forest systems in terms of their development history). Despite the positive effect of increasing the forest area of Central Europe, the ecological effects of these land-use changes on forest ecosystems remain poorly understood. In order to increase the understanding of ecosystem processes in forests, an assessment of conceivable shifts in ecosystem functions caused by former land-use changes and forest management is required. By analysing aboveground growth rates of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in response to environmental change drivers, such as climate extremes and nitrogen (N) deposition, the presented thesis aims to assess the role of land-use and management legacies in modulating present responses to drivers of environmental change. To this end, annual radial growth rates of individual trees were measured in mature beech stands. The investigated stands differed either in their land-use history (i.e. ancient forest sites versus recent forests) or their forest management history (i.e. managed forest sites versus short-term and long-term unmanaged forest sites). Measurements of radial growth rates were complemented by analyses of the fine root systems, soil chemical properties and crown projection areas to gain insights into the mechanisms underlying alterations in tree growth. Within the projects of the presented thesis, shifts in the climate-growth relationships driven by land-use and management legacies were analysed. In addition, land-use legacy mediated differences in the climate-nitrogen-growth relationships were assessed. The key findings are: (I) Soil legacy driven alterations in the fine root systems cause a higher sensitivity of radial increment rates to water deficits in summer for trees growing on recent forest sites than for trees growing on ancient forest sites. (II) Management legacies (in terms of tree release) enhance the sensitivity of beech’s radial growth to water deficits in spring through changes in crown sizes. (III) Interacting effects of spring water deficits and co-occurring high deposition of reactive N compounds lead to stronger radial growth declines in trees growing in ancient forests. This is likely caused by resource allocation processes towards seed production, which is, in turn, mirrored by decreasing radial growth rates. In this context, high N deposition likely boosts mass fructification in beech trees. Overall, it has been demonstrated that the ecological continuity plays a crucial role in modulating both climate sensitivity and the growth response to interacting effects of water deficits and nitrogen deposition in beech trees. The presented thesis identified a trade-off between the climate sensitivity and maximised growth rates within beech trees, depending on forest history. The results show that the growth of beech in ancient, unmanaged beech forests is less sensitive to water deficits than in recent and managed beech forests. Additionally, interacting effects of spring water deficits and N deposition likely increase the reproductive effort of beech trees, particularly in ancient forests. Thus, the results of this thesis once again underpin the uniqueness of ancient, unmanaged beech forests, whose importance for the conservation of biodiversity has been widely acknowledged. In summary, the presented thesis highlights the need to consider the "ecological memory" of forest ecosystems when predicting responses to current and future environmental changes.
To counteract species loss and preserve the remaining biodiversity, with its important ecosystem functioning and services essential to human well-being, there is an urgent need to develop promising and long-term conservation strategies. In order to achieve these goals, extensive research to gain a better understanding of the general mechanisms underlying community diversity is of greatest importance. Especially, the identification of intrinsic ecological and distributional species traits is receiving increased attention in ecology and conservation biology research. Depending on the expression of their traits, species perform particular ecosystem functions and respond in a specific manner to environmental conditions. Although insects make up the largest part of animal diversity, the majority of studies on extinctions have mainly focused on vertebrates. Among invertebrates either charismatic taxa or those targeted by conservation laws have been investigated until now (e.g. butterflies or saproxylic beetles). Being highly species-rich and trait-diverse, ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) should be even more suitable for conducting trait-based analyses. Thus, using ground beetles as a model taxon, four case studies focusing on the analyses of traits form the basis of this doctoral thesis. The work of this thesis was conducted with the aim of gaining general insights on the influence of species traits on ground beetle community compositions, such as habitat occupancy and species vulnerability to extinction, for instance. An important aspect when investigating species traits is the consideration of confounding factors, such as dependent relations between the different traits. Compiling a large dataset of 555 Central European species, the author identified that dependent relations between the six tested traits of ground beetles (distribution range size, habitat specialization, body size, hind-wing morphology, breeding season and trophic level) are highly common. Across all identified dependent trait relations, the relation between body size and hind wing morphology or range size and hind wing morphology showed the strongest significant dependencies. Since the consideration of trait relations is necessary to provide reliable interpretations, all analyses of this thesis tested several traits simultaneously and considered possible trait interactions. Studies on local communities found specific traits characterizing the local species pools of certain habitat types. Here, the species pools of seven different habitat types (coastal, forest, mountain, open, riparian, wetland and special habitat) were used to determine habitat-specific trait filters. The identified traits, characteristic for certain habitat types, were in most cases in accordance with the previous findings on local communities. Across Germany, the species of frequently disturbed habitat types, namely coastal, riparian and wetland habitats were characterized by small body size, high amount of macroptery, intermediate to high habitat specialization, spring breeding, and predatory feeding behavior. The species of stable habitat types (forest, mountain, and open habitats), however, were found to be generally larger in body size and more frequently breeding in autumn, further displaying greater variations in the other traits. The gained knowledge on the habitat-specific filtering of traits improve our understanding of the organization and assembly of communities, and can thereby help to detect alterations in the habitat-specific species pool due to natural or human-induced environmental changes. Furthermore, traits can provide evidence on species occurrences and vulnerability to extinction. Three case studies of this thesis aimed to gain new insights on this topic, through the investigations on the following research questions: (1) Which traits drive species extinction risks of Central European ground beetle species? (2) How traits influence the species occurrences of 28 forest species within a large area in Central Europe? (3) Whether certain traits are related to long-term population trends of the species pool from an ancient forest in northern Germany? The results indicated, that depending on the habitat type and tested species pool, different traits prove to be good predictors for the vulnerability of species. Nevertheless, across different geographical and taxonomical scales, especially species with small range sizes and high habitat specialization faced a greater risk of extinction. Therefore, the two traits distributional range size and habitat specialization emerge as reliable predictors of ground beetles vulnerability to extinction. Interestingly, body size did not display a consistent response; while increasing body size led to higher extinction risk in riparian, wetland and open habitats and large macropterous species showed higher extinction risks across the entire species pool, smaller species showed long-term population declines in an ancient forest.
Metals fulfill crucial functions in areas as diverse as renewable energy, digitization and life style appliances, mobility, communication, or medicine. In the context of sustainability, achieving a more sustainable metal use means (i) minimizing the adverse effects associated with metal production and use and (ii) sustaining the availability of metals in a way that benefits present and future generations. Urgent need to act to avoid bottlenecks as well as meeting the challenge of possible conflicts of use among those areas of application calls for appropriate strategy making to intervene in the complex field of metal production and use that involves various, often interlinked operating levels, actors, and spatial and temporal scales. This dissertation focuses on strategies as a means to intervene in a system. It pursues the question, which design features could guide future strategy making to foster sustainability along the whole metal life cycle, and especially, how a better understanding of temporalities, i.e. understanding time in a diverse sense, could improve strategy design and help to bridge the assumed "transformation-material gap". This research converges the results from four research studies. A conceptual part explores the role of temporalities for interventions in complex and interlinked systems, which adds to the conceptual basis, on which the empirical part builds up to explore present and future interventions in metal production and use. The research revealed three essential needs that future strategies must tackle: (i) managing the complex interlinkages of processes and activities on various operational levels and spatial and temporal scales, (ii) providing clear guidance concerning the operationalization of sustainability principles, and (iii) keeping activities within the planet’s carrying capacity and embracing constant change as an inherent system characteristic. In response to these needs, the author developed three guidelines with two design features each (one relating to content, and one to the process of formulating and implementing the strategy) to guide future strategy making. The results show that time matters in this respect. If considered in close relation to space and diversely understood in the sense of temporalities, it serves to (i) understand the impact (duration and magnitude) of an intervention, (ii) recognize patterns of change that go beyond establishing linear, one-dimensional connections, and (iii) design interventions in a way that considers the resilience of a system. These findings can contribute to closer considering our understanding of transformation processes towards sustainability in future interventions in metal production and use.
Abstract As simple as it is, results describing the world are heavily dependent on the quality of the underlying data. One of the very crucial variables in microanalytical analyses of well-being and human resources is income. The more, when the situation of the self-employed is regarded. This paper focus on the distribution of income based on very sound data: the German Income Tax Statistic (Einkommensteuerstatistik) 1992. New is the actual possibility to use for the first time such a sound microdatabase to analyze the self-employed in particular: a 100.000 microdata sample of the population wide German Income Tax Statistic. New is the comparison between income from dependent and self-employed work with emphasis on the entrepreneurs and professions, and new is the indepth decomposition inequality analysis of the aggregated groups and of the single professions based on an inequality generalized entropy decomposition approach. One overall striking result is: the occupational status as an employee, entrepreneur or as a profession with its connected low between inequality share is by far not the overall driving factor to ‘explain’ the overall income distribution and inequality picture of the re-unified Germany; it is the within group inequality which counts in particular.
To improve the properties of thermochemical heat storage materials, salt mixtures were evaluated for their heat storage capacity and cycle stability as part of the innovation incubator project "Thermochemical battery" of the Leuphana university Lüneburg. Based on naturally occurring compound minerals, 16 sulfates, 18 chlorides and 5 chloride multi-mixtures, 18 bromides and 5 intermixtures between sulfates, chlorides and bromides were synthesized either from liquid solution or by dry mixing for TGA/DSC screening before continuing the heat storage evaluation with five different measurement setups at a laboratory scale. The TGA/DSC analysis served as a screening process to reduce the number of testing materials for the upscaled experiments. The evaluation process consisted of a three-cycle dehydration/hydration measurement at Tmax=100°C and Tmax=200°C. In case of the bromide samples a measurement of hydration conditions with Tmax=110°C and a water flow at e=18.68mbar, were added to the procedure to detect the maximum water uptake temperature. Also, a single dehydration to a temperature of Tmax=500°C was implemented to observe melting behavior and to easier calculate the samples’ stages of hydration from the remaining anhydrous mass. Materials which showed high energy storage density and improved cycle stability during this first evaluation were cleared for multi-cycle measurements of 10 to 25 dehydration and hydration cycles at Tmax = 100 to 120°C and the evaluations at m=20 to 100g scale. An estimate for the specific heat capacities at different temperatures of the materials which passed the initial stage was calculated from the TGA/DSC results as well. The laboratory scale measurement setup went through five stages of refining, which led to reducing the intended maximum sample mass from m=100g to m=20g. A switch from supplied liquid water to water vapor as the used reactant was also implemented in exchange for improved dehydration conditions. Introducing a vacuum pump for evaporating the water limited the influence of outside heat sources during hydration and in-situ dehydration was enabled as to not disturb the state the samples were settling in between measurements. Baseline calculation from blanc measurements with glass powder and attempts to calculate the specific heat capacity cp of the tested materials by 6 applying the Joule-Lenz-law to the measurement apparatus was another step of method development. The evaluation process of the laboratory scale tests at the final setting consisted of 1 to 5 cycle measurements of in-situ dehydration and hydrations with applied vacuum for t=30 minutes at p~30mbar. Upscaling the sample mass to m=20g allowed for a close observation of different material behaviors. Agglomeration, melting and dissolving of the m=10mg samples during the TGA/DSC analysis can be deducted from the recorded measurement curves and the state of the sample after measurement. However, at laboratory scale the visible volume changes, observed sample consistency after agglomeration and an automatic removal of molten and dissolved sample mass during the measurement allowed for a better characterization and understanding of the magnitude of the actual changes. This was done for the first time, particularly for mixed salts. Of the original number of 62 samples, 4 mixtures which passed the initial TGA/DSC screening namely {2MgCl2+ KCl}, {2MgCl2+CaCl2}, {5SrBr2+8CaCl2} and {2ZnCl2 + CaCl2} were chosen for further evaluation. The multi-cycle TGA/DSC measurements of {2MgCl2+ KCl}, {2MgCl2+CaCl2} and {5SrBr2+8CaCl2} showed an improved cycle stability for all three materials over the untreated educts. Of the four materials {2ZnCl2 + CaCl2} displayed the strongest deliquescence during hydration in the upscaled experimental setup. {2MgCl2+CaCl2} proved to be the most stable material regarding the heat storage density. The {MgCl2} content of the mixture is likely to partially or completely react to {Mg(OH)Cl} at temperatures of T>110°C, which however does not impede the heat storage density. {5SrBr2+8CaCl2} displayed a low melting point in hydrated state, causing a fast material loss. This makes it an undesirable storage material. A lower heating rate may still help to avoid an early melting. The {2MgCl2+KCl} mixture was the most temperature stable of the mixtures showing no melting or dissolving behavior. A reaction of the {MgCl2} component of the mixture to {Mg(OH)Cl} was not observed within the applied temperature range of T=25 to 200°C.
Mobilität und Tourismus gehören untrennbar zusammen, denn ohne einen Ortswechsel gibt es keine Urlaubsreise. Der Tourismus aber verursacht ca. 5 % der anthropogenen Kohlendioxidemissionen, von denen etwa 75% auf den touristischen Verkehr entfallen. Neben dem Flugverkehr trägt insbesondere der motorisierte Individualverkehr einen hohen Anteil an den Emissionen. Angesichts des deutlichen Beitrags des touristischen Verkehrs zum Klimawandel erscheint es notwendig, sich mit Wegen zu einer ökologischen touristischen Mobilität zu beschäftigen. Zur Untersuchung der Einflussfaktoren auf die touristische Verkehrsmittelwahl wurde ein Erklärungsmodell basierend auf der Theorie des geplanten Verhaltens entwickelt. Neben den Basiskonstrukten der Einstellung, der subjektiven Norm und der wahrgenommenen Verhaltenskontrolle wurden als ergänzende Modellkonstrukte die persönliche Norm, das allgemeine Umweltbewusstsein sowie gewohnheitsmäßiges Handeln hinzugefügt. Eine empirische Untersuchung (N=738) ermittelte durch multiple lineare Regression wichtige Ansatzpunkte für die Gestaltung von Handlungsempfehlungen. Signifikante Ergebnisse konnten für die Konstrukte der Einstellung, der subjektiven Norm, der wahrgenommenen Verhaltenskontrolle, der persönlichen Norm, der Gewohnheit sowie der Kontrollvariablen Alter und Einkommen erreicht werden. An diesen Einflussfaktoren auf die Intention, zukünftig ein umweltfreundlicheres Verkehrsmittel zur Reise in den nächsten Städte-Kurzurlaub zu wählen, setzen die Implikationen für die Praxis an und zeigen Möglichkeiten auf, die touristische Mobilität ökologischer zu gestalten.
Many fewer women than men try the entrepreneurial way in Germany. Any explanation for this phenomenon must be complex, as many factors are relevant for its production. Among other things, it is possible to speculate on sexual/gender discrimination, on more or less voluntary decisions of women or on different starting conditions for potential entrepreneurs. We assume that these options are closely related. This paper will concentrate, though, on the third alternative. Its focus will be set on the “family field,” or more precisely, on the role of family law in hindering women from trying self-employment. The family field in Germany has not evolved in the sense of gender equality along with all other areas of society - e.g., entrepreneurship. No gender equality is possible if the family field is not part of it. This paper analyses causes and consequences for this phenomenon.
Key Words: Gender studies, Family Law, Entrepreneurship, chance equality, social sustainability
Die Beurteilung von Unterrichtsqualität stellt in der schulischen Praxis eine Schwierigkeit dar, weil sie eng mit der Frage danach, wer den Unterricht bewertet, verknüpft ist. Üblicherweise schätzen Lehrkräfte ihren Unterricht selbst ein. Seltener wird Unterrichtsqualität von geschulten, externen Beobachtern beurteilt. Eine weitere relevante Perspektive auf die Qualität des gehaltenen Unterrichts stellt die der Schüler dar. Die Qualität dieser Perspektive steht im Fokus dieser Arbeit. Der Begriff Unterrichtsqualität gliedert sich im deutschsprachigen Raum in drei Qualitätsdimensionen auf: die Kognitive Aktivierung, die Konstruktive Unterstützung und die Klassenführung. In dieser Arbeit wird die Unterstützungsdimension aufgefächert in zwei Qualitätsdimensionen: die Instruktionale Unterstützung und die Emotionale Unterstützung. So ergeben sich vier Basisdimensionen von Unterrichtsqualität, die aus der Perspektive von Schülern in dieser Arbeit untersucht werden sollen. Bisherige Studien haben nur unzureichend untersucht, ob es einen Zusammenhang zwischen den Unterrichtsthemen und der Beurteilung der Qualitätsdimensionen durch Schüler gibt. Die meisten Studien in dem Forschungsfeld stützen ihre Ergebnisse auf Erkenntnisse, die auf Durchschnitten der gesamten Klasse beruhen, nicht auf Individualergebnissen. Die hier vorliegende Arbeit knüpft mit ihren Fragestellungen an diese Wissenslücken an. Es werden dabei zwei Hauptfragestellungen untersucht. Zum einen wird die Stabilität der Unterrichtswahrnehmung in folgenden drei Teilfragestellungen untersucht: (1) Wie stabil ist das beobachtete Qualitätsniveau in den einzelnen Dimensionen? (2) Wie stabil sind die Einschätzungen der Unterrichtsqualität in den vier Dimensionen Kognitive Aktivierung, Instruktionale Unterstützung, Emotionale Unterstützung und Klassenführung über die Zeit? (3) Sind die Beurteilungen der Unterrichtsqualität themenunabhängig? Hinzu kommt die Frage: Welchen Zusammenhang zeigen Mathematikleistungen und das mathematikbezogene Selbstkonzept mit den Unterrichtsbeurteilungen der Schüler? Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde in acht längsschnittlichen Erhebungen mit einer Gruppe von in drei Klassen parallel unterrichteten Fünftklässlern eines Hamburger Gymnasiums durchgeführt (N=85). Das Instrument zur Erfassung der Unterrichtsqualität aus der Perspektive von Schülern in den vier Basisdimensionen Kognitive Aktivierung (7 Items), Instruktionale und Emotionale Unterstützung (9 Items und 5 Items) sowie Klassenführung (5 Items) wurde auf der Grundlage der Skalen Fauth, Decristan, Rieser, Klieme und Büttner (2014b) und Kauertz et al. (2011) entwickelt. Das Instrument kam zu acht Messzeitpunkten zum Einsatz. Die Skala zur Erfassung des mathematikbezogenen Selbstkonzeptes (4 Items) der Schüler stammt aus Bos, Dudas, Gröhlich, Guill und Scharenberg (2010) und wurde zu Beginn und am Ende der Messreihe einmal verwendet. Die Reliabilitäten der jeweiligen Skalen zu den jeweiligen Messzeitpunkten nimmt immer akzeptable, oft sogar gute Werte an. Die Leistungsfähigkeit in Mathematik wurde im Rahmen des standardisierten Tests KERMIT5 erfasst und auf der Grundlage von vier Klassenarbeiten und Schulnoten im Laufe des Schuljahres durch die Lehrkraft eingeschätzt. Es wurden lineare Strukturgleichungsmodelle (LGM) zur Messung der Veränderungen der eingeschätzten Unterrichtsdimensionen über die acht Messzeitpunkte mit der Software Mplus (L. K. Muthén & Muthén, 2014) berechnet. In weiteren Schritten wurden dann die Mathematikleistung und das mathematikbezogene Selbstkonzept als Prädiktorvariablen eingefügt und ihr Effekt auf die Unterrichtsbeurteilungen untersucht. Es wurde die Korrelation zwischen der Mathematikleistung und dem mathematikbezogenen Selbstkonzept zu den linearen Strukturgleichungsmodellen hin untersucht. Der Zusammenhang zwischen Unterrichtswahrnehmung und Lernleistung wurde für jede Qualitätsdimension als Regressionsanalyse berechnet und jeweils als Pfaddiagramm dargestellt. Klassenspezifische Tendenzeffekte bei der Beantwortung der Items durch Schüler wurden herausgerechnet. Die Modellfits der berechneten linearen Strukturgleichungsmodelle zur Untersuchung der Beobachtungsstabilität weisen akzeptable Werte auf. Die Wachstumsanalysen zeigen, dass das Niveau der Kognitiven Aktivierung über die Zeit stabil bleibt. Beide Unterstützungsdimensionen werden mit zunehmender Zeit etwas niedriger beurteilt. Gleiches gilt für die Klassenführung. Weiterhin zeigen Stabilitätsanalysen, dass die Unterrichtsbeurteilungen über die Zeit eine relativ hohe interindividuelle Stabilität aufweisen. Höhere mathematische Leistungen (im Test) führen zu signifikant niedrigeren Beurteilungen der Kognitiven Aktivierung und der Emotionalen Unterstützung des Unterrichts. Bessere Noten gehen mit höherer wahrgenommener Unterstützung einher. Ein besseres mathematikbezogenes Selbstkonzept führt zu einer signifikant höheren Beurteilung der Kognitiven Aktivierung und zu einer signifikant niedrigeren Beurteilung der Klassenführung des Unterrichts. Insgesamt belegen die Ergebnisse, dass alle Basisdimensionen der Unterrichtsqualität relativ stabil von den Schülern und unabhängig von den unterrichteten Themen eingeschätzt werden. Die häufigere Erhebung erlaubt aber die bessere Modellierung von Niveauveränderungen über die Zeit.
Personally meaningful tourist experiences foster subjective mental wellbeing. Modern, human-centred technologies such as gamified technology have been recognised as a promising means to support tourists in their co-creation of meaningful tourist experiences. However, a deeper understanding and conceptualisation of tourists' engagement with gamified technologies in the tourist experience has remained absent so far. This study draws on positive psychology as the guiding theoretical lens to conceptualise and explore tourists' underlying motives for engaging with gamified technology, as well as the gratifications thereof for the tourist experience. In doing so, this thesis identifies how tourists generate meaning through interacting with gamified technology in the tourist experience, thereby fostering the co-creation of meaningful tourist experiences and contributing to subjective mental wellbeing. Being among the first studies to link the concepts of positive psychology, gamified technology, and tourist experiences, the results of this thesis provide rich findings on the underlying motives for tourists to engage with gamified technology during vacation, as well as the gratifications of gamified technology for the creation of meaning in the tourist experience. Using the theoretical lens of positive psychology and achievement motivation theory as the main theoretical underpinning, this study is positioned at the intersection of social psychology, human-computer interaction, and tourism as the field of application. Conceptually, this thesis provides an in-depth understanding of tourists’ engagement with gamified technology, including the socio-psychological motivators for engagement and the outcomes thereof for the tourist experience.
Society has come to the point that it requires a "Great Transformation" towards sustainability to ensure the viability of the planet for a vital society. The energy transition plays a central role for this transformation. For transforming the patterns of energy production and use in an energy transition as part of the "Great Transformation", this process of change now needs to strengthen its focus on information, communication, and knowledge systems. Human society needs to establish a knowledge system that has the potential to create usable knowledge for sustainability solutions. This requires organizing a communication system that is sufficiently complex, interconnected, and, at the same time, efficient for integrating reflexive, open-ended, inter- and transdisciplinary learning, evaluation, and knowledge co-production processes across multiple levels. This cumulative dissertation contributes to research in this direction by applying a systemic sustainability perspective on the content and organization of communication in the field of research on sustainable energy and the operational level of municipal climate action as part of the energy transition. Regarding sustainability, this thesis uses strong sustainability and its principles as a frame for evaluating the content of communication. Regarding the systemic perspective, the thesis particularly relies on the following theories: (i) the human-environment system model by R. Scholz as an overarching framework regarding interactions between humans and nature, (ii) social systems theory by N. Luhmann to reflect the complexity of society, (iii) knowledge management to consider the human character of knowledge and a practice-oriented perspective, and (iv) management cybernetics, in particular, the Viable System Model by S. Beer as a framework to analyze and assess organizational structures. Furthermore, the thesis leverages the potential of text mining as a method to identify and visualize patterns in texts that reflect prevalent paradigms in communication. The thesis applies the above conceptual and methodological basis in three case studies. Case Study 1 investigates the measures proposed in 16 municipal climate action plans of regional centers in Lower Saxony, Germany. It uses a text mining approach in the form of an Summary interpretation network analysis. It analyzes how different societal subsystems are connected at the semantic level and to what extent sustainability principles can be recognized. Case Study 2 analyzes and reflects paradigms and discursive network structures in international scientific publications on sustainable energy. The study investigates 26533 abstracts published from 1990 to 2016 using a text mining approach, in particular topic modeling via latent Dirichlet allocation. Case Study 3 turns again to the cases of municipal climate action in Lower Saxony examined in Case Study 1. It examines the involvement of climate action managers of these cities in multilevel knowledge processes. Using design principles for knowledge systems, it evaluates to what extent knowledge is managed in this field across levels for supporting the energy transition and to what extent local innovation potential is leveraged or supported. The three case studies show that international research on sustainable energy and municipal climate action in Germany provide promising contributions to achieve a transformation towards sustainability but do not fully reflect the complexity of society and still support a growth paradigm, in contrast to a holistic sustainability paradigm. Further, the case studies show that research and local action are actively engaging with the diversity of energy technologies but are lagging in dealing with the socio-epistemic (communication) system, especially with regard to achieving cohesion. Using the example of German municipalities, Case Studies 1 and 3 highlight the challenges of achieving coherent local action for sustainability and bottom-up organizational learning due to incomplete or uncoordinated multilevel knowledge exchange.
This thesis analyses how European merger control law is applied to the energy sector and to which extent its application may facilitate the liberalisation of the electricity, natural gas and petroleum industries so that only these concentrations will be cleared that honour the principles of the liberalisation directives. After having discussed the complex micro- and macro-economic considerations which accompany any concentration of business activities, this thesis discusses the merger control regime of the European Community (EC) so as to establish whether the merger control under either Art. 66 Treaty Establishing the European Coal and Steal Community (ECSCT), the case law under Art. 101 and 102 Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and (Art. 81 and Art. 82 Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community (ECT), as it was introduced by the Commission and reviewed by the CJEU, the original Merger Regulation (MR1989) or the amended Merger Regulation of 1997 (MR1997) or the amended Merger Regulation of 2004 (MR2004) facilitate the liberalisation of European electricity and gas markets. Said liberalisation was introduced by the Internal Electricity Market Directive (IEMD), the Hydrocarbons Licensing Directive and the Internal Gas Market Directive (IGMD). The paper focuses on the contestable idea that regulatory amendments - especially the introduction of third party access by means of the directives - only form a first necessary condition for attaining economic alterations whereas pro-active conduct of the marketers is the second and decisive one in order to increase the competitive performance of the European energy supply industries. The analysis is supported by a second argument which relates closely to the ambivalent nature of concentrations: A concentration may be used to increase the process of market opening and the expansion into new markets by pooling of scarce resources. It may also be used as a retro -active means so as to create national champions, increase barriers to market entry of new competitors, enable cross-subsidisation so as to expand dominant positions on heretofore competitive up- and downstream markets.
This doctoral thesis contributes to the vibrant discourse on boundary-crossing collaboration in the German teacher education system. It offers theoretical advancements, programmatic guidelines, and empirical findings which advocate for a transdisciplinary perspective. In order to do so, the framing paper critically links persistent challenges and current reform processes in the teacher education system with theoretical foundations and conceptual positions of transdisciplinarity. Against this backdrop, four articles provide further insights on: a) how to expand the prevalent systematic of innovation and transfer approaches (top-down, bottom-up, cooperative) by a transdisciplinary perspective, b) outlining guiding principles for the realization of transdisciplinary collaboration in the context of a boundary-crossing research and development project, c) providing empirical findings on effect relationships between transdisciplinary dimensions of integration characteristics, and d) identifying empirical types of actors based on specific assessment patterns towards these characteristics.
Im vorliegenden Beitrag geht es um die Veränderung der Arbeitszufriedenheit und um die Identifikation von zeitlichen Verlaufsmustern der Arbeitszufriedenheit. Als Grundlage der Analyse dienen die Daten des Sozioökonomischen Panels aus mittlerweile 35 Erhebungswellen (1984 bis 2018). Die Analyse umfasst 3.345 Zeitreihen, die jeweils einen Zeitraum von 15 Jahren umspannen. Zur Typisierung der einzelnen Arbeitszufriedenheitsverläufe werden die Regressionsrechnung und die Clusteranalyse verwendet. Der Haupttypus folgt dem generellen Trend, wonach die Arbeitszufriedenheit, von einem mäßig hohen Niveau ausgehend, stagniert bzw. sich im Lauf der Zeit leicht vermindert. Es gibt daneben allerdings auch Fälle, die auf einem hohen Arbeitszufriedenheitsniveau verbleiben. Und auf der anderen Seite findet man nicht wenige Personen, deren Arbeitszufriedenheit im negativen Bereich verharrt. Eine weitere Gruppe wird von Personen gebildet, deren Arbeits-zufriedenheit relativ großen Schwankungen ausgesetzt ist. Von den soziographischen Variablen Alter, Geschlecht und Berufsstatus gehen keine nennenswerten Wirkungen aus. Eine gesonderte Betrachtung der Unternehmensgröße erbringt, dass Personen, die dauerhaft in einem Kleinbetrieb arbeiten, eine größere Arbeitszufriedenheit aufweisen als Personen in größeren Unternehmen. Neben der Darstellung der inhaltlichen Einsichten, die die Zeitreihenanalyse erbringt, erfolgt eine Diskussion über die Verwendung der Modellergebnisse für auf die Zukunft gerichtete Szenario-Analyse.
Das 21. Jahrhundert als "urban century" bietet neben vieler positiver Aspekte auch zahlreiche Herausforderungen im Stadtraum. Neben Stressfaktoren wie Lärm und Umweltverschmutzung nehmen Extremwetterereignisse wie Hitze und Starkregen zu, muss also eine Klimafolgenanpassung erfolgen und muss zusätzlicher Wohnraum für mehr Menschen geschaffen werden. Erholungs- und Aktivitätsräume stehen zudem in Konkurrenz zum Ausbau der Infrastruktur. Die Herausforderungen bedingen die Notwendigkeit für transdisziplinäre Diskurse und Arbeitsweisen im Rahmen einer klimawandelgerechten Stadtentwicklung. Mit diesem Hintergrund setzt sich die Arbeit zum Ziel Potenziale zu erarbeiten, die sich in Lüneburg für eine Begrünung der Innenstadt bieten, um dem sich wandelnden Klima zu begegnen, sowie herauszuarbeiten welche Akteuren, Schlüsselfaktoren und Schlüsselelemente die Umsetzung von Begrünungsmaßnahmen einschränken oder stärken. Mit der Methode der Konstellationsanalyse sollen zukunftsgerichtete und zentrale Handlungsfelder verdeutlicht werden. Es soll die Basis für eine erfolgreiche und nachhaltige Arbeitsweise sowie Zusammenarbeit im Bereich der Klimafolgenanpassung in Lüneburg gelegt werden.
Sustainable landscape development is the main goal of decision makers worldwide. Achieving this goal in the long term leads to achieving social, economic and environmental sustainability. Remote sensing has been playing an essential role in monitoring remote areas. This study has employed part of the role of remote sensing in supporting the direction of decision makers towards sustainable landscape development. The study has focused on some of the main elements affecting sustainable environment: land uses, specifically agricultural land uses, water quality, forests, and water hazards such as floods. Three research programs were undertaken to investigate the role of Terrasar-x imagery, as a source of remote sensing data, in monitoring the environment and achieving the previous stated elements. The investigation was intended to investigate the effectiveness of TSX imagery in identifying the cropping pattern of selected study areas by employing a pixel-based supervised maximum likelihood classifier, as published in Paper I, assessment of the efficiency of using TSX imagery in determining land use and the flood risk maps by applying an object-based decision tree classifier as published in Paper II, and determination of the potential of inferential statistics tests such as the two samples Z-test and multivariate analysis, for example Factor Analysis, for identifying the kind of forest canopy, based on the backscattering coefficient of TSX imagery of forest plots, as presented in Paper III. Papers I and II covered two pilot areas in the Lower Saxonian Elbe Valley Biosphere Reserve “das Biosphärenreservat "Niedersächsische Elbtalaue" around Walmsburger Werder and Wehninger Werder. Paper III focused on the Fuhrberger Feld water protection area near Hanover in Germany. The inputs for this research were mainly SAR Imagery and the ground truth data collected from field surveys, in addition to databases, geo-databases and maps. The study presented in Paper I used two filters to decrease speckle noise namely De-Grandi as multi-temporal speckle filter, and Lee as an adaptive filter. A multi-temporal classification method was used to identify the different crops using a pixel-based maximum likelihood classifier. The classification accuracy was assessed based on the external user accuracy for each crop, the external producer accuracy for each crop, the Kappa index and the external total accuracy for the entire classification. Three cropping pattern maps were produced namely the cropping pattern map of Wehninger Werder in 2011 and the cropping pattern maps of Walmsburger Werder in 2010 and in 2011. The study showed that image filtering was essential for enhancing the accuracy of crop classification. The multi-temporal filter De-Grandi enhanced the producer accuracy by about 10% compared to the Lee filter. Furthermore, gathering and utilizing large ground truth data greatly enhanced the accuracy of the classification. The research verified that using sequence images covering the growing season usually improved the classification results. The results exposed the effect of the polarization and demonstrate that the majority of the classifications produced according to the crop calendar had higher total producer accuracy than using all acquisitions. The study demonstrated undertaken in Paper II applied the decision tree object-based classifier in determining the major land uses and the inundation extent areas in 2011 and 2013 using the Lee-filtered imagery. Based on the maps produced for the land uses and inundation areas, the hazard areas due to the floods in 2011 and 2013 were identified. The study illustrated that 95% of the inundated area was classified correctly, that 90% of vegetated lands were accurately determined, and around 80% of the forest and the residential areas were correctly recognized. The research undertaken in Paper III statistically analyzed the backscattering coefficient of the Lee-filtered TSX in some forest plots by the Factor Analysis and two sample Z-test. The study showed that Factor analysis tools succeeded in differentiating between the coniferous forest and the deciduous forest and mixed forest, but failed to discriminate between the deciduous and the mixed forest. On one hand, only one factor was extracted for each sample plot of the coniferous forest with approximately equal loadings during the whole acquisition period from March 2008 to January 2009. On the other hand, two factors were extracted for each deciduous or mixed forest sample plot, where one factor had high loadings during the leaf-on period from May to October, and the other one had high loadings during the leaf-off period from November to April. Furthermore, the research revealed that the two sample Z-test enabled not only differentiation between the deciduous and the mixed forest against the coniferous forest, but also discrimination between deciduous forest and the mixed forest. Statistically significant differences were observed between the mean backscatter values of the HH-polarized acquisitions for the deciduous forest and the mixed forest during the leaf-off period, but no statistically significant difference was found during the leaf-on period. Moreover, plot samples for the deciduous forest had slightly higher mean backscattering coefficients than those for the mixed forest during the leaf-off period.
This dissertation includes six articles tied together by the overarching question of how changes in public opinion, economics and public policy co-evolve in mature democracies, with a focus on redistributive (in seven European democracies) and secessionist preferences (in Catalonia and Scotland). The theoretical inspiration derives from three sources: 1. the Macro Polity model by Erikson, MacKuen/Stimson, 2. the Thermostatic Responsiveness model by Soroka and Wlezien, and 3. the literature on representation gap models by Gilens, Elsaesser and others. The Macro Polity and Thermostatic Responsiveness models come with an optimistic undertone, emphasizing that public policies adapt to public opinion, producing the policy-opinion congruence that defines responsive government. The Representation Gap model, by contrast, is more pessimistic in highlighting that the preferences of low-income groups are generally worse represented in public policies than the preferences of middle-income and especially high-income groups. While there is evidence in favor of these models for the majoritarian political systems in the US, Canada and the UK, less is known about the validity of these models in proportional democracies of continental Europe. The contributions in this dissertation address this research gap by integrating the three models and combining nearly 500 surveys to study the evolution of European public opinion at the national and subnational level.
Uganda has been plagued by political instability in the past and wide spread abuse of human rights coupled with failed economic policies. However, the country has witnessed increased economic growth and the government has embarked on several poverty eradication programmes despite rising income inequalities and poverty in the country. The task of ensuring poverty as a human right in the country has not been an easy one for those charged with the duty of ensuring the right to freedom from poverty. This research examines the complexity of attaining the right to freedom from poverty in a country like Uganda. This study will also give a philosophical view on poverty and human rights and those responsible for ensuring the implementation of this right. Through the analysis, the research examined the key challenges faced in attaining the right to freedom from poverty in Uganda, discussed how poverty was defined through different perspectives. The information provided in the analysis is further examined by putting the theoretical findings in correspondence with the gathered empirical information for more definitive results of the study. The fundamental results and conclusion of this research revealed the overall challenges faced in regarding poverty as a human right which include how poverty is defined, the mindset, the political history of Uganda and so on. However, the study has recommended extensive research into the role of the family in ensuring poverty as a human right and further research in the effectiveness of the laws in Uganda in ensuring poverty as a human right.
This doctoral dissertation aims to contribute to clarification of the potential of learning for water governance. The goal is to trace and understand the environmental impacts of learning through participation (research aim 1) and adaptive management (research aim 2), and the effect of learning on participation as a governance mode (research aim 3). For this goal, the researcher engages in a predominantly qualitative research design following the case study method. For every specific research aim cases are selected and analysed qualitatively according to conceptual categories and mechanisms which are defined beforehand. Quantitative studies are used to corroborate the results for research aim 1 and 2 in a mixed-method approach to enhance the validity of results. The empirical research context is European water governance, the implementation of the EU Water Framework and EU Floods Directive (WFD, FD) specifically. Eight cases of participatory decision-making across three European countries and five cases of adaptive management in Northern Germany for WFD implementation are examined to identify whether learning in these processes enhanced environmental outcomes. To detect whether governance learning by public officials occurred, the design of participatory processes for FD implementation in ten German federal states is assessed. The findings of research aim 1, understanding learning through participation and its effects on water governance, reveal that participatory planning led to learning through improved understandings at an individual and group level. Learning did, however, hardly shape effective outcomes. In the AM cases (research aim 2) managers and participants of implementing networks improved their knowledge as well as capacities, and spread the results. Nonetheless, environmental improvement was not necessarily linked to ecological learning. Regarding learning about participation as a governance mode (research aim 3) all interviewed public officials in German federal states reported some degree of governance learning, which emerged not systematically but primarily drawing on own experiences and intuition. These findings are condensed into three overarching lessons for learning in water governance: (1) Interactive communication seems to form the overall frame for participant and group learning. Framing of learning experiences turned out to play an important and potentially distorting role, for which professional facilitation and structured knowledge aggregation methods might be an im-portant counterbalance. (2) Learning did not automatically enhance environmental outcomes. It may thus not be an explanatory variable for policy outcomes, but a conditioning or intervening variable related to collective action, motivation for participation, and situating the issue at hand at wider societal levels. (3) The concepts of puzzling and powering might help understand learning as a source for effectiveness in the long-term when complemented with interest-based debates for creat-ing sufficient political agency of policy issues. Learning seen as puzzling processes might instruct acceptance and legitimization for new powering efforts. The perpetuation of learning in systematic ways and structures appears to characterize an alternative to this reflexive and strategic interplay, for which the water-related EU directives provide the basis.
Pestizide werden als Pflanzenschutzmittel im landwirtschaftlichen Bereich und als Biozide z. B. in der Industrie, in Haushalten und Kommunen eingesetzt. Bereits auf den behandelten Flächen und in den angrenzenden Gewässern können Pestizide Abbauprozessen durch u. a. Photolyse unterliegen. Diese Prozesse führen zur Entstehung von Transformationsprodukten (TP), deren Berücksichtigung bei der Umweltrisikobewertung für ein umfassendes Risikomanagement von großer Bedeutung ist. Doch gibt es über die in der Umwelt vorkommenden Transformationsprozesse und die dabei entstehenden TP immer noch Wissenslücken. Darüber hinaus sind die Eintragswege von TP, vor allem von Biozid-TP, in die angrenzenden Gewässer zum Teil unbekannt. Da eine Vielzahl von TP mit unterschiedlich starken ökotoxikologischen Effekten bewertet werden muss, besteht ein großer Bedarf an schnellen und umfassenden Methoden, um die stetig wachsende Anzahl an Chemikalien auf dem Markt erfassen zu können. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist daher, das Verhalten und den Verbleib ausgewählter Pestizid-TP in der aquatischen Umwelt zu analysieren. Zu diesem Zweck wurden unterschiedliche Phototransformationsprozesse von Pestiziden sowie der Eintrag aus Fassaden über Regenwasserversickerungsanlagen (RVA) in angrenzenden Gewässern der Stadt Freiburg untersucht. Schlussendlich erfolgte die Identifizierung der ökotoxikologischen Eigenschaften von 45 Pestizid-TP in einem mehrstufigen Ansatz durch die Kombination experimenteller und computerbasierter Methoden. Inwiefern unterschiedliche Phototransformationsprozesse zu unterschiedlichen TP führen, wurde im ersten Teil der Arbeit durch einen Vergleich der Entstehung von TP durch direkte und indirekte Photolyse der Substanzen Penconazol, Terbutryn und Mecoprop untersucht. Weiterhin wurde der Abbau durch die Bestrahlung mit unterschiedlichen Xenonlampen untersucht. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit wurde der Eintrag von Bioziden, die in Fassadenanstrichen Anwendung finden, und deren TP über Regenwasserversickerungsanlagen in das Grundwasser untersucht. Dabei wurden qualitative und quantitative Target-Screening-Methoden zum Nachweis und zur Quantifizierung bekannter und unbekannter TP der Biozide Diuron, Terbutryn und Octhilinon (OIT) in der aquatischen Umwelt mittels Flüssigkeitschromatographie mit gekoppeltem Massenspektrometer (LC-MS) kombiniert. Die ökotoxikologischen Eigenschaften von 45 Pestizid-TP wurden im dritten Teil dieser Arbeit in einem mehrstufigen Ansatz untersucht. Insgesamt zeigte sich, dass die Berücksichtigung von TP im Rahmen von Gewässerüberwachung und Risikobewertung eine genauere Abschätzung der Risiken durch Schadstoffe ermöglicht. Die in dieser Dissertation entwickelte Vorgehensweise, bei der TP zunächst im Labor erzeugt und bewertet und anschließend in aquatischen Systemen gezielt analysiert werden, kann einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Regulatorik des Einsatzes und der Zulassung von Pestiziden leisten.
The global food system faces many complex challenges, and there is general agreement that a transformation is needed. While localizing food has been proposed as a means to this end, changing global food supply chains may also lead to sustainable food systems. Because most food systems today have an international dimension and are likely to remain connected, on one way or another, to other ones across the globe, it is necessary to find solutions to problems such as exploitation or environmental degradation. Addressing this challenge and the related gap in the literature, this study examines the emerging practices of small intermediary food businesses, which act between agricultural producers and consumers, and may have the potential to advance sustainability in international food supply. Including a systematic review of the literature on food systems change (Study#1), this dissertation adopts a transformational sustainability research methodology, which is solution-oriented, aims to integrate system, target and transformation knowledge, and is characterized by a transdisciplinary research practice. It conceptualizes challenges of international food supply and empirically investigates entrepreneurial solution approaches to address these challenges (Study#2). Two transdisciplinary research projects with small coffee businesses located in Germany, Mexico, and the U.S. were conducted to examine how these approaches could be implemented (Study#3, Study#4, Workshop reports 1+2). Overall, this study shows that challenges in international food supply chains can be conceptualized as negative effects of large geographical and relational distances. It also identifies five entrepreneurial solution approaches specified by twelve sustainability-oriented design principles to address these negative effects. Creating relational proximity between supply chain actors, that is, strong relationships based on knowledge and care, seems to be a key factor to advance sustainability in international food supply.The results also suggest that by building such strong relationships and changing the fundamental principles of international food trade, small intermediary businesses could be important agents in food system transformations.
Since the early 2000s, ecosystem services strongly gained significance as a research topic. However, the temporal dimension of ecosystem services has not been taken into consideration, although this should be the basis for a sustainable long-term management of ecosystems and their services. Therefore, the author presents three articles in this thesis that deal with temporal aspects of ecosystem services. In two of them she also present a proposal for a framework for the classification of ecosystem services based on their temporal dynamics. In this dissertation she differentiates between two types of temporal aspects, both of which have in common that change takes place over a certain period of time. The concepts of transformation, transition and regime shift are used to describe changes in social or ecological systems as a whole, for example the transformation towards a more sustainable society. The temporal dynamics, on the other hand, relate to the temporal changes in ecosystem services themselves. The first article focuses on how the literature on ecosystem services incorporates social and ecological change. The second and third articles deal with the temporal dynamics of ecosystem services. While the second article presents a preliminary framework for categorizing the temporal dynamics of ecosystem services, the third article uses this framework to test how the temporal dynamics of ecosystem services are represented in the literature. Based on the insights from the three articles, the author concludes that most of the studies on ecosystem services only focus on one point in time. One reason for this is that most studies are conducted over a maximum of a four-year time span which does not allow to monitor dynamics over longer time spans.
This dissertation investigates interpersonal competence development in project-based sustainability courses. Visions of a sustainable, safe, and just future cannot be reached by one individual alone. Thus, future change agents need to be able to collaborate and engage with stakeholders, to approach the manifold crises, challenges, problems, and conflicts we are facing together, and to promote and push forward sustainability transitions and transformations. Therefore, this research investigates three project-based sustainability graduate courses by comparing and contrasting teaching and learning outcomes, processes, and environments. A comparative case study approach using a Grounded Theory-inspired research design which triangulates several qualitative methods and perspectives is applied to allow for generalizable insights. Thereby, this dissertation provides empirically-informed insights which are further discussed in relation to selected teaching and learning theories. This leads, first, to a discussion of practical implications within (and beyond) sustainability higher education; and second, provides a theoretical foundation for interpersonal competence development in project-based learning settings – so that educating future change agents can gain momentum. Findings of this research show that embracing conflicts when they occur (i.e. before they provoke cascading effects in the form of further conflicts down-the-road) is an effective strategy to help further develop interpersonal competence. This requires a conflict-embracing attitude. Attitude, in general, seems to be key in interpersonal competence and competence development overall. Self-reflection, if not explicitly required by outside influences (such as instructors), arises naturally from a self-reflective attitude, and is shown to provide the basis for developing interpersonal competence. This research introduces the term "Refl-Action" which stresses the importance of pairing "learning by doing" (as is often the focus in project-based learning settings) with conscious moments of "reflecting about the doing". More specifically, the research presented here identified four learning processes for interpersonal competence development: receiving input, experiencing, reflecting, and experimenting. Based on the empirical data, when the four processes are purposefully combined, following a meaningful sequence attitudes, knowledge, and skills in collaborative teamwork and impactful stakeholder engagement, are fostered (two facets of interpersonal competence). Each of the four learning processes is set in motion through various interactions students engage in during project-based sustainability courses: student-student (labeled "peer"), student-instructor (labeled "deliberate"), student-stakeholder (labeled "professional"), and student-mentor (labeled "supportive") interactions. When these interactions are made explicit subjects of inquiry - i.e. the (inter-)action is linked with (self-)reflection – different learning processes complement one another: Interpersonal competence facets (collaborative teamwork and impactful stakeholder engagement) and domains (attitudes, knowledge, skills) are fostered. While, overall, interactions, processes, and conflicts have been identified as supportive for interpersonal competence development, trust has emerged as another variable inviting further investigation.
Der Übergang aus der Kindertagesstätte (Kita) in die Grundschule gilt als Veränderungsprozess für angehende Schulkinder sowie deren Erziehungsberechtigte, aber auch für die begleitenden Erzieher und Lehrkräfte. Somit treten Potenziale auf verschiedenen Ebenen hervor. Gelungene Kooperation zwischen den Institutionen Kita und Grundschule kann also einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Gestaltung und Begleitung des Übergangs leisten. In dieser Masterarbeit wird daher eine eigene Studie zur Übergangsgestaltung aus der Perspektive von Erzieherinnen und Erziehern näher vorgestellt. Es handelt sich um einen Vergleich verschiedener Institutionen bzgl. ihrer Kooperationssituation, Vorgehensweise und eingesetzten Unterstützungsmaßnahmen. Da die Kooperation aus institutioneller Sicht als Schlüssel zum gelingenden Übergang gilt, werden vorrangig kooperative Situationen zwischen den Fachkräften fokussiert. Die Festlegung dieser Thematik basiert auf dem aktuellen Forschungsstand über die ausbaufähigen Kooperationsbeziehungen zwischen Kitas und Grundschulen. Um durch die eigene Studie einen Einblick in die Praxis zu erlangen, wurden zunächst sechs qualitative Interviews geführt. Aus diesen Erkenntnissen wurde eine quantitative schriftliche Befragung abgeleitet, an der sich 52 Erzieher aus 14 Kitas beteiligten. Besonders interessant ist an den Ergebnissen, dass das Wissen über Kooperationsmöglichkeiten - auch innerhalb von Einrichtungen – unterschiedlich verbreitet ist. Außerdem konnten Schwerpunkte in der Kooperation identifiziert werden, und es stellten sich verschiedenste Problematiken (dargestellt in Form einer 5-Punkte-Liste) heraus, an denen angesetzt werden kann, um die Übergangsgestaltung zu optimieren. Zudem wurden erste Erkenntnisse zur Lage / Region der Kitas, d. h. städtische Kitas im Vergleich zu ländlichen Kitas, gesammelt.
Die Dissertation leistet einen Beitrag zur Erforschung der Schriften John Stuart Mills, indem darin Mills rudimentär ausformulierte Denkfigur und Forschungslücke der "Art of Life" untersucht wird. Die Autorin erweitert die traditionelle Interpretation Mills als klassischem Utilitaristen um einen geschärften Blick auf Mills Handhabung des antiken Theorieelements der Tugend. Drei überlappende thematische Zugänge – Lust, Charakter, Glückseligkeit - dienen der Veranschaulichung und Stärkung der These, wonach es sich bei Mills Theorie um eine hedonistische, perfektionistisch gefärbte Theorie der guten Lebensführung handelt. Der methodische Rückgriff auf die Lust- und Glückskonzeption des Aristoteles erlaubt es Mills differenzierte Auffassung von Lust bzw. Freude zu ergründen, die Rolle des menschlichen Charakters für das (moralische) Handeln festzustellen und eudemische Spuren im Verständnis von Glück aufzudecken. Abschließend bietet die Dissertationsschrift eine Interpretation der Schriften Mills als Lebenskunstphilosophie mit moralischen und außer-moralischen Ebenen und zeigt Anschlusspotentiale zu antiken, sowie zeitgenössischen (Lebenskunst) Theorien auf.
Understanding that entrepreneurship can be better modeled from a systemic point of view is a primordial aspect that determines the important role of universities in entrepreneurial ecosystems. What makes the ecosystem approach a valuable tool for understanding social systems is that, from a holistic perspective, their behavior seems to have emerging characteristics. This dissertation presents a dual scientific account of the entrepreneurship phenomenon in universities. The work is divided into two equal parts, each of which is composed of two research papers. The narrative of the first half takes on a macro perspective view, consisting of one theoretical and one empirically-based conceptual case study. This part conceptually depicts a systematic approach to entrepreneurialism in higher education, namely an ecosystems perspective. The second half concentrates on the meso- and micro levels of study from the university's point of view, comprising of a case study as historical account for the emergence of the entrepreneurial university, and of a metasynthesis of empirical case studies in entrepreneurial universities, which serves as the basis for the development of entrepreneurial university archetypes. This doctoral work contributes to an in-depth understanding of Entrepreneurship in universities regarding its systemic qualities and archetypal characteristics of entrepreneurial universities. It argues for an ecosystem's perspective on the phenomenon of entrepreneurial activity, highlighting the fundamental role that universities play as the heart of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Furthermore, this research expands on the novel concept of the entrepreneurial university by using extensive case study literature to empirically identify distinct archetypes that better reflect the diverse reality of how universities engage as entrepreneurial actors by way of differentiated entrepreneurial structures, systems, and strategies.
Increased international compliance with human rights and democracy standards is a core issue for both human rights and democratizing actors as well as for victims of human rights abuse. International human rights organizations (IHROs) are expected to make positive contributions to this end, even though they possess low levels of authority. This authority has been renegotiated multiple times in various reform processes. An oversimplified expectation would have us assume that democracies would want to strengthen IHROs, and that autocracies would seek to weaken them. As the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) was reformed in 2006, 2007, 2010, and 2011, some autocracies strived to abolish parts of the UNHRC. Other autocracies aimed "merely" to weaken them. Democracies displayed an even larger variance. The question that drives this research work is how we can explain the broad variety of state preferences for strengthening or weakening IHROs. Previous research has mostly concentrated on democracies, leaving autocracies understudied. It also treated countries as black boxes. To account for such shortcomings, first, the author systematically tests the relationship between the UNHRC and its authoritarian and democratic members by means of inferential statistics. Second, he analyzes a bottom-up process inherent to New Liberalism. It scrutinizes the role of domestic societal actors, domestic institutions, as well as pressures on the international stage. The results reveal that societal actors, along with the interplay of wealth and regime type in the international realm, figure as the most important predictors of delegation preferences voiced by autocracies and democracies during the reform of the monitoring bureaucracy Special Procedures of the UNHRC. Societal actors play a more important role in democracies than in autocracies. Institutionalized domestic oversight mechanisms help societal actors to conduct effective lobbying at the domestic level. Oversight mechanisms are more important than the rule of law and electoral institutions. Regarding international coalition building, authoritarian regimes turn out to be better organized than democracies. The author concludes that supporters of strong IHROs shall 1. empower domestic societal actors; 2. disrupt cohesive delegation preferences of authoritarian regimes; and 3. invest in independent domestic oversight mechanisms.oversight mechanisms.
Transformative learning is increasingly set to become an essential component in sustainability transformation. Despite, little has been done to systematically explore the contribution to sustainability transformation. This learning theory developed decades ago independently of sustainability discourses; however, it provides an analytical framework for understanding the learning processes, outcomes and conditions in individual and social learning towards sustainability transformation. Against this background, the following research question arises: To which extent can transformative learning lead to sustainability transformation? This doctoral work aims to explore transformative learning processes, outcomes, and conditions occurring and advancing towards sustainability transformation of the textile-fashion industry in Mexico. Taking an exploratory approach, the methods employed were literature reviews to untangle concepts and to construct theoretical pillars to support the empirical research design and data analysis. For data collection, snowball-sampling techniques were used to explore the practice field of the textile-fashion industry in Mexico. Qualitative interviews were employed to gather data about the learning experiences of actors. Qualitative and quantitative methods were required to perform the respective data analysis, the qualitative codification of interviewees' responses. Analysis of social media content was also utilised to understand the communication and business practices of projects involved in the transformation of the textile-fashion sector. As a result, this work comprises three articles, one a systematic literature review and two empirical research articles, investigating the transformative learning processes of entrepreneurs in the development of sustainability niches. As for the findings of this doctoral work, the use of transformative learning in sustainability transformation requires a careful study of the theory and its conceptual elements. Regarding the case study, transformative learning is inherent in forming and developing sustainability niches as entrepreneurs venture into them: It is individual prior learning, expectations and actions that initiate the path of sustainability transformation while disorienting dilemmas, critical reflection, and discourse accelerate them. Through these stages, it is when individual learning turns into social learning. On the other hand, based on the multi-level perspective, the interplay between the niche, regime and landscape levels generates a space for sustainability transformation and transformative learning.
Increasing objections have been formulated towards broadening the security category. Securitisation is used to bring attention to urgent and existential threats that cannot be resolved through ordinary political decisions. During the time of the state of emergency between 2015 and 2017, France strengthened its security forces and introduced generalised surveillance measures to curb the terrorist threat. The purpose of this Bachelor thesis is to problematise the securitisation of terrorism in the French case. To do so, the Just Securitisation Theory by Rita Floyd is used to examine the following research question: Was it just to securitise terrorism in France between 2015 and 2017? Through critical discourse analysis of 54 presidential speech acts and secondary text analysis, this study aims to scrutinise securitising moves and security practices of the French government. The presented results indicate that the justness of securitisation is highly questionable. The analysis shows that the governments set excessive goals of eliminating terrorism and that security measures were misappropriated to fight organised crime instead of terrorism.
Urban areas are prone to climate change impacts. Simultaneously the world's population increasingly resides in cities. In this light, there is a growing need to equip urban decision makers with evidence-based climate information tailored to their specific context to adequately adapt to and prepare for future climate change. To construct climate information high-resolution regional climate models and their projections are pivotal. There is a need to move beyond commonly investigated variables, such as temperature and precipitation, to cover a wider breath of possible climate impacts. In this light, the research presented in this thesis is centered around enhancing the understanding about regional-to-local climate change in Berlin and its surroundings, with a focus on humidity. More specifically, following a regional climate modelling and data analysis approach, this research aims to understand the potential of regional climate models, and the possible added value of convection-permitting simulations, to support the development of high-quality climate information for urban regions, to support knowledge-based decision-making. The first part of the thesis investigates what can already be understood with available regional climate model simulations about future climate change in Berlin and its surroundings, particularly with respect to humidity and related variables. Ten EURO-CORDEX model combinations are analyzed, for the RCP8.5 emission scenario during the time period 1970-2100, for the Berlin region. The results are the first to show an urban-rural humidity contrast under a changing climate, simulated by the EURO-CORDEX ensemble, of around 6% relative humidity, and a robust enlarging urban drying effect, of approximately 2-4% relative humidity, in Berlin compared to its surroundings throughout the 21st century. The second part explores how crossing spatial scales from 12.5km to 3km model grid size affects unprecedented humidity extremes and related variables under future climate conditions for Berlin and its surroundings. Based on the unique HAPPI regional climate model dataset, two unprecedented humidity extremes are identified happening under 1.5°C and 2°C global mean warming, respectively SH>0.02 kg/kg and RH<30%. Employing a double-nesting approach, specifically designed for this study, the two humidity extremes are downscaled to the 12.5km grid resolution with the regional climate model REMO, and thereafter to the 3km with the convection-permitting model version of REMO (REMO NH). The findings indicate that the convection-permitting scale mitigates the SH>0.02kg/kg moist extreme and intensifies the RH<30% dry extreme. The multi-variate process analysis shows that the more profound urban drying effect on the convection-permitting resolution is mainly due to better resolving the physical processes related to the land surface scheme and land-atmosphere interactions on the 3km compared to the 12.5km grid resolution. The results demonstrate the added value of the convection-permitting resolution to simulate future humidity extremes in the urban-rural context. The third part of the research investigates the added value of convection-permitting models to simulate humidity related meteorological conditions driving specific climate change impacts, for the Berlin region. Three novel humidity related impact cases are defined for this research: influenza spread and survival; ragweed pollen dispersion; and in-door mold growth. Simulations by the regional climate model REMO are analyzed for the near future (2041-2050) under emission scenario RCP8.5, on the 12.5km and 3km grid resolution. The findings show that the change signal reverses on the convection-permitting resolution for the impact cases pollen, and mold (positive and negative). For influenza, the convection-permitting resolution intensifies the decrease of influenza days under climate change. Longer periods of consecutive influenza and mold days are projected under near-term climate change. The results show the potential of convection-permitting simulations to generate improved information about climate change impacts in urban regions to support decision makers. Generally, all results show an urban drying effect in Berlin compared to its surroundings for relative and specific humidity under climate change, respectively for the urban-rural contrast throughout the 21st century, for the downscaled future extreme conditions, and for the three humidity related impact cases. Added value for the convection-permitting resolution is found to simulate humidity extremes and the meteorological conditions driving the three impacts cases.
Considering the recent success of right-wing populist candidates and parties in the United States and across Europe, there has for some years now been talk among scholars (and the wider public) about a worldwide democratic recession. The younger generations appear to be especially unsupportive of democracy’s liberal principles and more willing to express support for authoritarian alternatives. What these authors overlook, however, is that the publics of advanced industrial societies have experienced an intergenerational value shift. In fact, populations in industrial democracies have become more liberal overall, but not everyone’s mindset is changing at the same speed. It is mainly – but not exclusively – the members of the lower classes that do not keep up. While societies have generally become more liberal, there is increasing alienation between the social classes over these liberal values. Drawing on a more recent trend in social class research with a social cognitive approach, this dissertation contributes to the study of growing anti-democratic tendencies around the world by analyzing the interplay between inequality dynamics and value orientations. The focus lies on investigating the effect socio-cultural polarization (i.e., ideological polarization between social classes) has on civic culture in the mature democracies of the West. The findings suggest that it is not ideological polarization between the social classes that has the greatest negative effect on civic culture, or general civic attitudes and behavior, for that matter. It is the increasing dissent in society about whether the country’s elites are still to be trusted with making the right decisions to increase the average citizen’s quality of life. This difference in opinion manifests itself in a decline in some civic attitudes.
The food and land use system is one of the most important global economic sectors. At the same time, today's resource-intensive agricultural practices and the profit orientation in the food value chain lead to a loss of biological diversity and ecosystem services, high emissions, and social inequality - so-called negative externalities. From a scientific perspective, there is a broad consensus on the need to transform the current food system. This paper investigates the suitability of True Cost Accounting (TCA) as an approach to inte-grating positive and negative externalities into business decisions in the food and land use system, focusing on the retail sector due to its high market power and resulting influence on externalities along the entire food value chain. For this purpose, a qualitative study was con-ducted with sustainability managers of leading European food retail companies in terms of their annual turnover, sustainable finance experts, and political actors related to environmental and social policy. A sample of N=11 participants was interviewed about the emergence and meas-urement of externalities along the food value chain, the current and future relevance of knowing about externalities for food retail companies, and the market and policy framework necessary for the application of TCA. The data collected was evaluated using the method of qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. Findings show that TCA is a suitable method for capturing positive and negative external ef-fects along the food value chain and thus also for meeting the growing social, political, and financial demands for its sustainable orientation. At the same time, there are still some chal-lenges in the application of TCA, both from a theoretical and a practical point of view. The main challenges at present are the lack of a standardised methodology, data availability, and key performance indicators. Due to the focus on prices, margins and competitors, food retail groups, in particular, emphasise the risk of revenue and profit losses as well as customer churn when applying TCA. Hence, the introduction of TCA in the food and land use system requires the development of measures that are socially acceptable, backed by legal frameworks and promote the scientific development of the methodology. This offers the opportunity to create a level playing field, apply the polluter-pays principle to the entire value chain and support science in developing appropriate indicators as well as a TCA database. Food retail companies can benefit from addressing TCA at an early stage by analysing their value chain to initiate change processes early, identify risk raw materials and products, reduce negative externalities through targeted measures, sensitise customers to the issue and thus differentiate themselves from competitors.
This research argues that the emergent driverless car, as a kind of autonomous vehicle, is a Foucault-ian "ethical apparatus", working as an epistemic device to materially embody and enable discursive power by generating notions of "autonomy" and "ethical decision-making". The ethical implications of AI, algorithmic, and autonomous technologies are topics of current regulatory and academic concern. This concern relates to the lack of meaningful oversight of black boxes inside AI systems, liabilities for manufacturers, and inadequate frameworks to hold AI-based socio-technical systems to account. One recent artefact, the driverless car, has taken on these concerns quite literally in the shaping of a niche discourse of the "ethics of autonomous driving". Ambitions to produce a fully autonomous vehicle based on AI technologies are constrained by speculative concerns that its decision-making in unexpected accident situations cannot be assumed to protect humans. "The ethics of autonomous driving" evaluates proposals to build "ethical machines" by examining the relationship between structures of human values and moral decision-making, and how they comport to computational architectures for decision-making. This is the first case this work takes up, chiefly organised around an analysis of a thought experiment, the Trolley Problem, and the online game, Moral Machine, that crowdsourced values to suggest approaches to an "ethics of autonomous driving". Rather than evaluate the feasibility or appropriateness of these two approaches, this work attends to the more critical issue that ethics is being proposed in terms of technologies turning on the logics of risk, speculation, and probabilistic correlations that are fundamental to how machine learning makes decisions. The concern in this work is less a normative framework or approach for a better or more appropriate ethics of autonomous driving. Rather, this work argues that what we understand as "the ethical" is being transformed when architected by, through, and for Artificial Intelligence / autonomous technologies to become their own regulators. Hence the production of autonomous driving necessitates computational infrastructures that are creating a world legible to and for the navigation of a driverless car. The author argues that this is fostering computational governance that has implications for human bodies and social relations, chiefly that conventional approaches to regulation and accountability attend to human values and decision-making rather than computational ones. A second case that this research examines is that of driverless car crashes, to examine how "autonomous" driving requires substantial embodied human knowledge and micro-work. Taken together, these two cases make an argument for how myriad practices of knowledge-production are translating the human world into something legible to the navigational needs of the car, producing changes in the human world through the actions of the car on that basis, and advancing notions of "autonomy". This work concludes with arguments for a critical reconceptualisation of ethics and ethical decision-making in AI / autonomous systems.
Artificial intelligence, most prominently in the form of machine learning, is shaping up to be one of the most transformational technologies of the 21st century. Auditors are among the professions forecasted to be the most affected by artificial intelligence, as the profession encompasses many highly structured and repetitive tasks. Automating such tasks would naturally increase the efficiency of financial statement audits. By allowing auditors to focus on higher value-added tasks, and the capability to analyze large volumes of data at a fracture of the time a human would need, artificial intelligence would also benefit the effectiveness of auditing. Despite these benefits, to this day, the actual adoption of artificial intelligence in the audit domain remains rather limited. The audit profession is highly regulated and has to consider requirements regarding, e.g. the application of professional standards, codes of conduct, and data protection obligations. Hence, the question arises of how audit firms can be supported in their efforts to adopt artificial intelligence and how machine learning systems can be designed to comply with the specific demands of the audit domain. The goal of this dissertation is to better understand the adoption of artificial intelligence in the audit domain and to actively support the adoption of artificial intelligence in auditing based on this understanding. To this end, we employ a mixture of research methods. On the one hand, the research presented here adopts a qualitative approach, examining the adoption of artificial intelligence and other advanced analytical technologies of the audit domain through taxonomy development and grounded theory. The findings of these studies inspire the second stream of work within this dissertation, which adopts a quantitative and design-oriented approach: It focuses on using machine learning to extract information from invoices for tests of details. Tests of details are essential substantive audit procedures used in nearly every audit. This dissertation proposes a new machine learning model architecture for information extraction from invoices, compares different machine learning models, and proposes design principles for machine learning pipelines for an audit application addressing the test of details through action design research.