Welcome

The Unit Empirical Economic Research, represented by Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler, offers courses in the area of statistical as well as micro- and panel econometric methods. All econometric courses include computer exercises with the program package Stata, in which the previously discussed methods and approaches are applied to real data sets. Further information on the courses can be found here.

At the same time, the unit conducts empirical and especially econometric research in the field of environmental, energy, climate and sustainability economics. The work is largely based on data from representative national and international household surveys, but also on firm-specific data. Further information on ongoing and already completed research projects can be found here.

In 2024, the unit was again extremely successful in submitting current research for presentation at prestigious international conferences. All unit members had the opportunity to discuss their research with international colleagues. On the basis of competitive review processes, the unit was, for example, represented at the following conferences:

At the 29th Conference of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE) in Leuven from July 01 to July 04, 2024, Dr. Gunnar Gutsche, Dr. Thilo Haverkamp, Sophia Möller, and Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler had the opportunity to present their current work.

At the 39th Conference of the European Economic Association (EEA) in Rotterdam from August 26 to August 30, 2024, Dr. Gunnar Gutsche, Sophia Möller, Mareike Staar, and Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler had the opportunity to present their current work.

On September 17/18, November 24, and December 11, 2022, articles on CO2 offsetting containing assessments by Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler appeared in Welt am Sonntag, the Haufe Group portal and Stuttgarter Zeitung. The full articles can be found here, here and here.

The Units Empirical Economic Research and Sustainable Finance hosted the fourth "Workshop on Empirical Sustainable Finance (WESFi)" on October 20 and 21, 2022. Current empirical work and ideas on the topics of "Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)" and "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)" were presented and discussed. The workshop was organized in hybrid form. Thus, as in previous years, renowned scientists from different countries (Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland) were able to participate.

On February 23, 2022, the Units Empirical Economic Research and Sustainable Finance hosted the roundtable "Sustainability in the Private Portfolio: Is transparency the key to more sustainable investment decisions?". The roundtable is part of the "Dialogue on Climate Economics", the accompanying process to the BMBF funding priority Economics of Climate Change II, where representatives from practice and science discussed in particular the challenges arising in the private portfolio due to new regulatory frameworks (e.g. the introduction of the EU taxonomy for sustainable economic activities). Due to the Corona crisis, the roundtable was hosted in digital format.

The results of the roundtable were summarized by Dr. Gunnar Gutsche at the 11th Forum Climate Economics. The corresponding video can be found here.

A brief study by the Universities of Kassel and Gothenburg and the SRH University of Applied Sciences Heidelberg on vaccination status and willingness to vaccinate in Germany in the fall of 2021 has once again shown that the proportion of those willing to vaccinate varies greatly from region to region. In addition, with regard to attitudes toward childhood vaccination, it was found that among parents, willingness to vaccinate their own children depends strongly on their own vaccination status (vaccinated or unvaccinated). The full brief study can be found here.

On December 13, 2021, an article on the study was published in the HNA-Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine. The full newspaper article can be found here.

On March 10, 2022, at an event organized by the Institute for Work and Technology (IAT) entitled "Between Fear, Skepticism, and Denial: What Do We Know About People with Vaccination Reservations in the Covid-19 Pandemic?", scientists and those responsible for health policy and the health care industry exchanged ideas about the arguments people with reservations about COVID-19 vaccinations use and how such reservations can be overcome. Dr. Elke D. Groh brought the results of the brief study, in conjunction with results of a more in-depth econometric analysis, as scientific input to the discussion. The IAT press release on the event can be found here.

For further inquiries, please contact Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler, Dr. Elke D. Groh (University of Kassel) and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Habla (SRH University of Applied Sciences Heidelberg).

In a study, Dr. Elke D. Groh and Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler investigated the influence of individual attitudes and values on household electricity consumption. This study was published in February 2022 in the journal Ecological Economics published.

On November 22, 2021, an article on the study was published in the HNA-Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine newspaper. The full newspaper article can be found here.

On December 02, 2021, Hessischer Rundfunk broadcast an interview with Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler and Dr. Elke D. Groh about this study on hrINFO, hr4 and hr1. The complete interview can be found below:

On October 29, 2021, an article on climate calculators and_{CO2 offsets} was published in the Stuttgarter Zeitung, which contains assessments by Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler. You can find the complete article here.

On April 21, Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler participated in the panel discussion of the event "Corona in climate protection: brake or catalyst?" during the Berlin Energy Days 2021, i.e. the central annual conference of the energy transition in Germany. The video of this virtual event will appear here shortly. A short video statement on successful climate policy in the run-up to the event can be found here.

On October 27, 2020, an article on sustainable financial products was published in the Stuttgarter Zeitung, containing assessments by Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler. You can find the complete newspaper article here.

Engler, Daniel, Gunnar Gutsche, Amantia Simixhiu, and Andreas Ziegler (2025), Social norms and individual climate protection activities: A survey experiment for Germany, Energy Economics 142, 108103

Gleue, Marvin, Theresa Luigs, and Andreas Ziegler (2025), The relevance of non-state climate protection activities as motivation for individual climate protection: Results from a framed field experiment,  Resource and Energy Economics 81, 101473

Habla, Wolfgang, Kumai Kokash, Åsa Löfgren, Anna Straubinger, and Andreas Ziegler (2025), Self-interest and support for climate-related transport policy measures in Germany and Sweden, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, forthcoming

Weidenbörner, Vincent, Marvin Gleue, Christoph Feldhaus, and Madeline Werthschulte (2025), The determinants of individual demand for time-variant electricity tariffs, Energy Research & Social Science 121, 103978

Dannenberg, Astrid, Gunnar Gutsche, Marlene Batzke, Sven Christens, Daniel Engler, Fabian Mankat, Sophia Möller, Eva Weingärtner, Andreas Ernst, Marcel Lumkowsky, Georg von Wangenheim, Gerrit Hornung, and Andreas Ziegler (2024), The effects of norms on environmental behavior, Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 18 (1), 165-187

Gleue, Marvin, Sören Harrs, Christoph Feldhaus und Andreas Löschel (2024), Identity and voluntary efforts for climate protection, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 221, 436-476

Kanberger, Elke D., Theresa Luigs, and Andreas Ziegler (2024), The relevance of proximity and work-related experiences for the individual support for power plants: An empirical analysis of wind, coal, and nuclear energy, Energy Policy 192, 114185

Kanberger, Elke D. and Andreas Ziegler (2024), The relevance of life-cycle CO₂ emissions for vehicle purchase decisions: A stated choice experiment for Germany, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 126, 104031

Schleich, Joachim, Elisabeth Dütschke, Elke D. Kanberger, and Andreas Ziegler (2024), On the relationship between individual carbon literacy and carbon footprints, Ecological Economics 218, 108100

Engler, Daniel, Gunnar Gutsche, Amantia Simixhiu, and Andreas Ziegler (2023), On the relationship between corporate CO₂ offsetting and pro-environmental activities in small- and medium-sized firms in Germany, Energy Economics 118, 106487

Gutsche, Gunnar, Heike Wetzel, and Andreas Ziegler (2023), Determinants of individual sustainable investment behavior - A framed field experiment, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 209, 491-508

Haverkamp, Thilo K.G., H. Welsch, and Andreas Ziegler (2023), The relationship between climate protection activities, economic preferences, and life satisfaction: Empirical evidence for Germany, Energy Economics 128, 106938

Kanberger, Elke D. and Andreas Ziegler (2023), On the preferences for an environmentally friendly and fair energy transition: A stated choice experiment for Germany, Energy Policy 182, 113730

Fait, Larissa, Elke D. Groh, and Heike Wetzel (2022), "I take the green one": The choice of regional green electricity contracts in the light of regional and environmental identity, Energy Policy 163, 112831

Feldhaus, Christoph, Marvin Gleue, and Andreas Löschel (2022), Can a Catholic institution promote sustainable behavior? Field experimental evidence on donations for climate protection, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics 98, 101855.

Feldhaus, Christoph, Marvin Gleue, Andreas Löschel and Vincent Weidenbörner (2022), On the determinants of regional sustainable electricity consumption, Die Unternehmung - Swiss Journal of Business and Research 76(3), 338-359

Groh, Elke D. (2022), Exposure to wind turbines, regional identity and the willingness to pay for regionally produced electricity, Resource and Energy Economics 70, 101332

Groh, Elke D. and Andreas Ziegler (2022), On the relevance of values, norms, and economic preferences for electricity consumption, Ecological Economics 192, 107264

Haefner, Gonzalo, Anja Köbrich León, and Janosch Schobin (2022), Frying Nemo? Experimental evidence on anthropomorphism, animal ethics, and food choice, Appetite 173 (1), 105989

Köbrich León, Anja and Janosch Schobin (2022), Romance and the ozone layer: panel evidence on green behavior in couples, Empirical Economics 63, 2101-2123

The IVWL will continue the IVWL Research Seminar Economic Behavior and Governance in the winter semester 2024/25. The goal of the seminar is to intensify the scientific exchange with colleagues from abroad, who are offered a forum to present their current research work at our department. The seminar takes place at Nora-Platiel-Straße 6 in room 0210.

Below you will find the current program:

Wednesday, 23.10.2024, 16:30
Jörg Ankel-Peters (RWI – Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Essen): “Seeking scientific consensus - using expert surveys to settle replication debates”

Wednesday, 30.10.2024, 16:30 
Adrian Fabre (Centre international de recherche sur l’environnement et le développement, Paris): “International attitudes toward global policies”

Wednesday, 15.01.2024, 16:30 
Gerhard Riener (University of Southampton, Southampton): “Representative Personalities? A large-scale field experiment on a citizen assembly in Austria”

Wednesday, 22.01.2025, 16:30 
Franziska Hoffart (Kassel Institute for Sustainability, Kassel): "Adressing climate-related asset stranding: Implications for a just energy transition and hydrogen economy"