In energy systems with large shares of variable renewable energies, electricity generation is lower during unfavorable weather conditions. System-friendly wind turbines (SFTs) rectify this by producing a larger share of their electricity at low wind speeds. This paper analyzes to what extent SFTs' benefits out-weigh their additional costs and how to incentivize investments into them. Using a wind power ...
In the first essay, titled “Retail Mergers and Assortment Repositioning”, I study how supermarkets compete in product variety and what this means for merger control. Authorities previously focused their attention on price effects of mergers. However, the recent years saw a shift in attention: For example, the new U.S. Horizontal Merger Guidelines (2010), issued by the Department of Justice and the ...
The 5th joint Financial Stability Conference on “EU at Crossroads: How to respond to Misalignments in Bank Regulation and achieve a consistent financial Framework?” The conference takes a foremost policy-oriented stance to discuss some of the most crucial issues lying ahead. Central questions are the future prospects for international cooperation on regulation, and how to tackle the...
Just out: the 2016 SOEP Wave Report, with a look at important developments in the SOEP studies over the last year, fieldwork reports from Kantar Public, projects and activities of the SOEP Research Data Center, and selected publications using SOEP data. Download here.
The emergence of online platforms has decreased transaction costs considerably, increased price transparency and hence enabled consumers to more easily compare and purchase products and services. At the same time, platforms may achieve market power leading to undesirable market outcomes. Is existing consumer protection law appropriate to address concerns arising on online platforms? Are...
The sharing economy relies on online platforms to bring together providers and consumers of goods and services. How do platforms compete in these two-sided markets characterized by direct and indirect network effects? Which pricing strategies do these new online platforms adopt? How does rapid innovation ubiquitous in these markets affect competition between platforms? How do new digital...
