Small decentralized power generation units (DG) are politically promoted because of their potential to reduce GHG-emissions and the existing dependency on fossil fuels. A long term goal of this promotion should be the creation of a level playing field for DG and conventional power generation....

Improvements in the building stock insulation and the replacement of heating systems will have to take place within the next decades in order to lower heat demand and the associated carbon emissions of the building sector. Moreover, continuous investments in heating systems are nec-essary due to...

Optimal age replacement policies for network components such as cables, overhead lines or transformers are usually identified based on gathered knowledge about the state of a component and its stochastic deterioration process. In this context, uncertainty is an important challenge because...

This paper investigates the incentives market participants have in the German electricity balancing mechanism. Strategic over- and undersupply positions are the result of existing stochastic arbitrage opportunities between the spot market and the balancing mechanism. This strategic behavior can...

Biotechnology is one of the knowledge fields particularly targeted by China, as it is considered to open up windows of opportunity for catch-up to the leading economies. However, the seizing of these opportunities requires the existence of an institutional and organizational structure supportive...

China has turned from a 'low risk' to a 'high risk' society since the start of the market reforms in the late 1970s. Market, while bringing diverse livelihood opportunities to rural people, has simultaneously distributed risks, and the exposure and vulnerability to them unequally among different...

In the three decades since China's economic opening to the world, the country's integration into the global economy has progressed by leaps and bounds. Especially after joining the WTO in 2001, international trade and investment flows have been on a steep upward trajectory. This process was not...

This collection of papers is based on an international workshop held in the summer of 2009 at the University of Duisburg-Essen. It brings together different perceptions regarding China, India and Bangladesh as they face the risks and crises of climate change and economic shocks like the recent...

Different starting conditions and decision-making mechanisms of European and East Asian economic integration are identified. They have led to different paths of integration. The EU process had a major impact on political stability in Europe; it has increased economic stability, at the expense of...

Transforming traditional agricultural economy into modern economic growth path is the main theme of economic development. Through theoretical and empirical analysis, we find that the key of transformation is to raise the economic value of people, to improve human capital investment and to match...