How can economic theory explain the reasons why consumers adopt innovations? Using the example of innovations in washing machines two approaches are compared. The first focuses in the manner of household production theory on changes in constraints without specifying preferences, leading to the...

In Germany, solar thermal systems (STS) have only diffused to a minor extent yet. This paper analyzes, which demand side factors are decisive for the further proliferation of this environmentally benign technology. Making use of a consumer survey in North-West Germany in 2007, we examine the...

This survey reviews the empirical literature on the impact of environmental policy instruments on the rate and direction of technological change. The survey is explicitly focused on the empirical identification of the hypothesis to expect a stronger impact from market-based incentives than from...

The clean development mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol may induce a technological change in developing countries. As an alternative to the CDM-regime, developing countries may accept a (generous) cap on their own emissions, let domestic producers invest in new efficient technologies, and...

Das Produktdesign spielt eine wichtige Rolle in der Kaufentscheidung von Gütern wie Autos oder Smartphones. Um bei der Vorstellung eines Nachfolgers einer Pro-duktserie Neuheit zu symbolisieren, wird in der Praxis oft die Proportion von Desig-nelementen verändert. Trotz der Popularität von...

Ergonomen wie Designer planen Mensch-Maschine-Systeme mit dem Ziel, den technischen Teil des Systems den menschlichen Eigengesetzlichkeiten anzupassen – Kompatibilität der Maschine mit dem Menschen herzustellen. Trotz des gemeinsamen Ziels gehen beide Disziplinen unterschiedlich mit dieser...

The risk of opposition from the population increasingly plays a role in choosing the climate policy measures to achieve the objective to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In Norway, there is a long-standing cross-party consensus that the development of new technologies will be...

In this paper we apply agent-based methodology on an issue that is fundamental for economic prosperity and growth: the diffusion of innovations. The diffusion of innovations is one of the topics where agent-based simulation is an extremely fruitful method allowing not only the observation of...

Europe trails the global frontier of productivity growth and the region's trend is sluggish. Much prospective economic growth for Europe is likely to come from AI and its adoption by European firms which is projected to shoot up the productivity trend. For such AI-generated growth to work, high...

I provide an equilibrium analysis of 'selection markets': where consumers not only vary in how much they are willing to pay, but also in how much they cost to the seller. The model provides a joint explanation for three empirical phenomena: low uptake of existing products, slow demand for new...