Biographische Erfahrungen und politische Einstellungen zwischen Jugend und Lebensmitte

The research aims at explaining the development of political attitudes between youth and midlife by biographical experiences. The sample is a cohort of 1596 former German high school students. The social origin and the political socialization of this cohort has been surveyed at age 16, and the life history as well as political attitudes at age 30 and 43; because of its educational privilege the cohort could extend its youth until age 30. As for political attitudes which may typically change between youth and midlife, value claims and their counter-part, the acknowledgement of societal constraints, are examined. The aim of the research is attained through three steps. First, it is examined if biographical experiences up to age 30 determine value claims, over and above the starting conditions of the “formative years”. As expected, occupational experiences lower value-claims, even if social origin and political socialization are controlled for. Second, it is examined if value-claims shrink between age 30 and 43 and the acknowledgement of societal constraints grows — which is confirmed. Third, it is examined, if at age 43 value claims are determined by occupational experiences between age 30 and 43 even when value-claims at age 30 are controlled for — which again is confirmed. The conclusion is that political attitudes after the “formative experiences”, in spite of their high stability, are still determined by occupational experiences.     

The dark side of price cap regulation: a laboratory experiment

In a nutshell, price cap regulation is meant to establish a quid pro quo: regulators are obliged by law to intervene only at rare, previously defined points in time, and only by imposing an upper bound on prices; firms are meant to justify regulatory restraint by adopting socially beneficial innovations. In the policy debate, a potential downside of the arrangement has featured less prominently: the economic environment is unlikely to be stable while the cap is in place. If regulators take this into account, they have to decide under uncertainty and also anticipate how regulated firms will react. In a lab experiment, we manipulate the degree of regulatory uncertainty. We compare a baseline when regulators have the same information as firms about demand with treatments wherein they receive only a noisy signal and another when they know only the distribution from which demand realizations are taken. In the face of uncertainty, regulators impose overly generous price caps, which firms exploit. In the experiment, the social damage is severe, and does not disappear with experience.     

Perspektiven des künftigen österreichischen und europäischen Zivilrechts

Dieser Beitrag befasst sich einleitend mit dem ABGB, das international untersch?tzt und unzureichend beachtet wird. Dem ABGB, wie den anderen nationalen Kodifikationen, wird nunmehr freilich ein Konkurrent erstehen: ein Gemeinsames Europ?isches Kaufrecht, für das die Europ?ische Kommission jüngst einen Entwurf vorgelegt hat. Nach einem überblick über die Genese dieses Entwurfs bietet der Beitrag in seinem Hauptteil eine erste kritische Einsch?tzung. Er weist darauf hin, dass der Entwurf lückenhaft ist und unter einer Reihe inhaltlicher M?ngel leidet; auch eine Revision des acquis communautaire, die diesen Namen verdient, hat bislang nicht stattgefunden. Eine Analyse des Entwurfs wird dadurch erschwert, dass vielfach nicht erkennbar ist, warum seine Verfasser bestimmte Entscheidungen getroffen haben. Die praktischen Erfolgschancen des Gemeinsamen Kaufrechts sind skeptisch zu beurteilen. Das liegt nicht zuletzt an seinem in dreifacher Hinsicht eingeschr?nkten Anwendungsbereich und an den überkomplexen Regeln zu seiner Wahl. Auch sind die allgemeinen Rahmenbedingungen eher ungünstig, denn weder die Sprachenfrage noch das Problem einer einheitlichen Auslegung ist befriedigend gel?st. Zudem stützt sich die Kommission auf eine ungeeignete Rechtsgrundlage.