Veranstaltungen

Blockchains are a new digital technology that combines peer-to-peer network computing and cryptography to create an immutable decentralised public ledger. When the ledger records money, a blockchain is a cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin. But ledger entries can record any data structure, including property titles, identity and certification, contracts, and so on. I argue that the economics of blockchains extend beyond analysis of a new general-purpose technology and its disruptive Schumpeterian consequences to the broader idea that blockchains are an institutional technology, and an instance of institutional evolution. I propose a transaction cost based model of blockchains as a three-sided market. I will explain why blockchain technology is the foundation of next generation digital economic infrastructure for global trade and commerce.

This lecture explains how experimental economics can shed new light on the functioning of "democracy". I draw on examples from my own research to illustrate advantages and problems of making collective choices through voting. The lecture discusses the role of institutions and emphasises the interplay of "rational" and "behavioural" factors.

Der Verein für Socialpolitik ist die Dachorganisation der Wirtschaftswissenschaften im deutschsprachigen Raum und in unterschiedlichen Fachausschüssen organisiert. Das WIFO hält derzeit den Vorsitz im Ausschuss für Evolutorische Ökonomie, der sich mit den langfristigen Bestimmungsfaktoren komplexer Wirtschaftssysteme beschäftigt. Im Mittelpunkt stehen dabei die Interaktion heterogener einzelwirtschaftlicher Akteure sowie daraus folgende Strukturveränderungen (z. B. von Institutionen, Branchen, Technologien) als Grundlage der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung. In den öffentlichen Gastvorträgen dieser Jahrestagung spricht Jason Potts von der RMIT Universität in Melbourne zu institutionellen Aspekten der Kryptoökonomie, während Jean-Robert Tyran von der Universität Wien demokratische Prozesse unter Aspekten der neueren Verhaltensökonomie beleuchtet.

Studienpräsentation "Euroscepticism and EU Cohesion Policy: The Impact of Micro-Level Policy Effectiveness on Voting Behavior" von Julia Bachtrögler und Harald Oberhofer

The course focuses on a typical single-region applied general equilibrium model: the ORANI-G model of the Australian economy. Variants of the ORANI model of the Australian economy have been used extensively for policy analysis in Australia for more than two decades. ORANI-G, a generic version of ORANI, has been used to model the economies of more than 30 countries around the world. The course aims to introduce participants to the ideas and techniques of CGE modelling, and to equip them to start using, adapting or constructing CGE models for their own simulations.

Following successful previous ENEF meetings organised in Sheffield, Rotterdam, Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Cambridge, Paris, Amsterdam, Strasbourg, Bologna, Madrid, Manchester, Toulouse, Turin, Pisa and Brighton, we are pleased to announce that the 16th ENEF meeting will be held in Vienna at the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO). The theme of this year's meeting reflects core themes of ENEF and the long-standing tradition of research on competitiveness, industrial dynamics and international trade at WIFO. The interplay between new digital technologies and value chains shapes much of the observed globalisation of production structures. Recently, the emergence of new players (especially China) and new technologies (robotisation and digitalisation) have raised questions about the implications of technological change. These concern firm strategies, employment, productivity, market concentration, and industrial dynamics in general. A wide variety of approaches and concepts are necessary to understand the complex relationship between industrial dynamics and the strategies of firms embedded in value chains. These may include the role of trade, industry characteristics, firm capabilities, institutional frameworks and policy interventions. In keeping with previous ENEF workshops, we welcome submissions from all areas of the economics of the firm, as well as relevant contributions from management, organisation science and political economy. The workshop will focus on empirical, theoretical and policy analysis of topics that include, but are not limited to: innovation and the international division of labour and tasks, off- and reshoring of production and the organisation of global value chains, productivity, superstar firms and reallocation processes, value chain strategies at the firm level, complexity, comparative advantage and firm strategies, the role of exporting and importing activities for industrial dynamics, the economics and politics of strategic investment policies, business surveys and firm behaviour over the business cycle, knowledge, diversification, and firm performance.