This article demonstrates that the large feed-in tariffs currently guaranteed for solar electricity in Germany constitute a subsidization regime that, if extended to 2020, threatens to reach a level comparable to that of German hard coal production, a notoriously outstanding example of misguided...

As part of its efforts to reach the targets of the Kyoto Protocol, the European Commission is currently considering a new directive to reduce the per-kilometer CO2 emissions of newly registered automobiles. This paper critically assesses this proposal with respect to its economic and...

Along with the oil price, concerns about the security of energy supply have soared once again in recent years. Yet, more than 30 years after the OPEC oil embargo in 1973, energy security still remains a diffuse concept. This paper conceives a statistical indicator that aims at characterizing the...

Ergänzend zu den Beiträgen im ifo Schnelldienst 6/2008 stellen Ronald Bachmann, Thomas K. Bauer, Jochen Kluve und Christoph M. Schmidt, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI) Essen, erste Ergebnisse einer Unternehmensbefragung zu den Auswirkungen des Postmindestlohns...

Der Fall Nokia hat in der Öffentlichkeit Empörung hervorgerufen und die Frage des Für und Wider von Subventionen für private Unternehmen aufgeworfen. Sind Investitionsförderungen durch Subventionen sinnvolle Standortpolitik, oder werden nur Mitnahmeeffekte erzielt? Christa Thoben,...

It is well known that smoking causes severe adverse health effects, and it seems evident that governments are justified or even obliged to implement measures of tobacco control to mitigate these effects. Yet, as this paper argues with a distinct focus on Germany, the three most important and...

The question of whether two drugs - namely alcohol and tobacco - are used as complements or substitutes is of crucial interest if side-effects of anti-smoking policies are considered. Numerous papers have empirically addressed this issue by estimating demand systems for alcohol and tobacco and...