Research projects
Ongoing research projects
Blockchains hold the potential to fundamentally change the roles of market participants. In particular, they might change the relationship between business and consumers and redefine traditional roles or lead to a merger of “consumers“ and “producers“ into “prosumers“.
Referring to two realizations of this idea – the tendering of slight consumption activities by consumers and the differentiated identity management of data – the project investigates which legal and technical requirements have to be met and communicated to make consumers as well as companies appreciate such a restructuring of roles.
(The following research questions will be crucial for the project:
RQ1: What are the key advantages and disadvantages of Blockchains and Smart Contracts compared to other coordination mechanisms from consumers’ and business perspectives?
RQ2: Which transactions have a high/low potential to be executed on Blockchains or by Smart Contracts?
RQ3: Which legal circumstances need to be changed or created to make tenders initiated by consumers and blockchain-based identity management attractive for themselves as well as companies?
RQ4: What is the “state of acceptance“ among consumers and business regarding the use of Blockchains and Smart Contracts to perform transactions according to the „C2B“-paradigm? Which factors determine that acceptance? Which technical designs (especially interfaces of applications) increase the attractiveness of consumer-initiated tendering and blockchain-based identity management?)
This research project investigates whether the advantages of DLT-based registers of ownership suggest a switch to such systems, taking into account the differences in the various jurisdictions. Aiming at welfare maximization, this switch may require adjusting the rules on transfer of property including formalities, on insolvency and of course on land registers. In addition to this national perspective, we also study efficiency gains entailing from DLT-based cross-border property registration. Finally, we also consider how switching to DLT-based property registration in developing and transforming countries may affect justice and democracy by allowing the individuals to securely own property as foundation stone for economic and political participation.
The following research questions will be center-stage for the project:
(Which legal regime makes the assignment of rights to persons on the blockchain effective and efficient?
• Can DLT and Smart Contracts completely replicate the functionality of the highly developed public land register systems (particularly those of Germany, Austria and Switzerland)? Which transition problems and associated costs are to be expected? Considering existing land register systems, which advantages of a blockchain solution suggest a switch? Which disadvantages oppose?
• For which categories of movable assets could DLT overcome problems resulting from the absence of registers for movables as e.g. in Germany, Austria and Switzerland?
• Can DLT-based register system mitigate or replace formal requirements on transfer of real estate or rights therein without damaging their functionalities?
• Can and should the law support blockchain registries by a concept like “public faith in the blockchain”?
• Will blockchain registration make transfer and granting of intellectual property rights as safe and secure as the transfer of rights in tangible goods?
• How can the law ensure the reliability of the initial rights assignment on the blockchain? Which modes of initial rights assignment should be regarded as legally valid?
• What determines the hierarchy between possession and blockchain documentation and accordingly land register and blockchain documentation? Which legal adjustments need to be considered? Will owners have a choice between possession and DLT registration as evidence of property?
• Do crypto assets constitute a fourth category of goods besides real estate, chattel and incorporeal goods?
• What transaction should be valid if someone transfers the ownership of a good first on the blockchain and thereafter by transfer of possession (or vice versa)?)
Sharing the costs of energy refurbishment of rental housing fairly.
Buildings are to be greenhouse gas neutral by 2045, according to the Federal Climate Protection Act. Millions of properties need to be modernized. Will landlords pay, or will tenants pay? This is the subject of a research project led by the Department of Economics at the University of Kassel.
The project is called FLAMME (Fairness, Burden Sharing and Acceptance of Tenancy Law regarding Modernizations for Energy Efficiency). It examines how costs and benefits for energy-efficiency modernizations can be shared. Should landlords bear the refurbishment costs, because the building fabric largely determines heating energy consumption, or should it be tenants, who save on heating costs? How should heating costs be distributed in general? What allocation is determined by tenancy law? What would be fair and properly acknowledge to the long-term nature of the renovation, the interest of landlords in refinancing the renovation, and the willingness of tenants to pay more rent for lower heating costs or climate-friendly living? What share of the costs should society bear?
The researchers examine the allocation systems of German tenancy law in terms of law and economics, and ethics, as well as new allocation models: for example, the integration of the modernization costs into the utility costs, the use of graduated rental agreements, concepts such as the warm rent system from Sweden or an energy-related rent index. On the basis of renovation examples that ensure the achievement of climate targets in typical rental buildings, stakeholder surveys will be conducted on the burden distributions resulting from the allocation systems in order to ascertain which allocation systems are perceived as fair and by whom. This could increase the acceptance of the socially necessary modernization measures.
Partners from research and practice
The research consortium combines law, economics and engineering. The economics perspective is contributed by the University of Kassel as head of the network:
The search group on Foundations of Law, Private Law, and the Economic Analysis of Law investigates when modernization are worthwhile. "In this way, we can anticipate which incentives for action the law sets and thus make proposals for legislation that is as cost-efficient and fair as possible," explains head of the research group and network coordinator Prof. Dr. Georg von Wangenheim.
Prof. Dr. Heike Wetzel, head of Chair of Applied Microeconomics and Empirical Energy Economics, is in charge of the household surveys. Wetzel: "By analyzing fairness aspects, we identify which groups of people perceive certain allocation systems as fair and where acceptance problems for the necessary modernization measures may lie."
In addition to the University of Kassel, the Forschungsinstitut für Wärmeschutz e. V. München - FIW München, the Institut für Technische Gebäudeausrüstung Dresden - ITG Dresden and the Umweltbundesamt - UBA are involved. The project is being funded for three years by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection under the "Energy Transition and Society" funding line of the 7th Energy Research Program. The funding amount just exceeds the million mark, with around half going to Kassel.
Interest groups representing tenants and landlords are represented in the monitoring group. Members are: Deutscher Mieterbund, Bundesverband Freier Immobilien- und Wohnungsunternehmen, Haus & Grund Deutschland - Zentralverband der Deutschen Haus-, Wohnungs- und Grundeigentümer e.V., Verband Privater Bauherren, and Bundesverband deutscher Wohnungs- und Immobilienunternehmen. It is supplemented by other interest groups; their cooperation has been assured by: Deutsches Energieberater Netzwerk DEN e.V., Bundesverband Energieeffiziente Gebäudehülle BuVEG, the City of Munich and its housing association WBG München, and Vonovia SE.
In the unIT-e² project, 28 companies and research institutes are driving forward the optimal integration of electromobility into the energy system. Within the framework of four so-called "clusters", several field tests as well as laboratory investigations are taking place. The practical projects are accompanied by the subprojects Research and Grid, which support the consortium in overarching topics and accompany it with their own research projects.
The University of Kassel is located in the North Hessian cluster "Heav-E". Here, up to 125 test persons will investigate the charging behavior of electric car users in an 18-month field test. The aim of the field test is to test and develop new and intelligent charging concepts in order to enable optimal integration into the local power grid even with a high penetration of electric cars.
For this purpose, data related to the charging of electric cars will be collected during the test period and surveys will be conducted with the test persons. In addition, the participants will be offered various charging concepts during the test period, with which they can earn monthly premiums by adjusting their charging behavior. This should convey to the test persons that in the future not only the network operators can profit from a network-serving charging behavior, but also the users of electric cars.
The overarching questions in the cluster:
- Analysis of different incentive concepts and their impact on the charging behavior of electric car users.
- Further development of intelligent charging infrastructure
- Investigation and development of intelligent charging systems
- Analysis of the implications of charging behavior on the utilization of the distribution network infrastructure.
The research group on Foundations of Law, Private Law and Economics of Law is providing theory-based support for the field tests in this cluster. In addition to its participation in the cluster, however, the department is also firmly anchored in the research subproject: Here, it co-leads the working group on law & regulation together with the Stiftung Umweltenergierecht (Foundation for Environmental Energy Law). The main topics in the research subproject are:
- Design of § 14a EnWG
- Uncovering and exploiting the contract design potential of various market players
- Effect of dynamic price components on the charging decisions of end consumers and the associated feedbacks to the grid level.
Link: Wir mobilisieren die digitale Energiewende · UN|IT|E² (unit-e2.de)
The relationship between environmentally-relevant behavior and the development of values and norms (ZumWert)
Duration: July 2019 until June 2022
Project coordination: University of Kassel, Unit Empirical Economic Research
Funding institution: University of Kassel
Summary: Environmentally friendly activities by individuals and groups make an important contribution to the achievement of social environmental protection goals (such as the emission reduction targets set in the Paris climate agreement). Voluntary contributions to environmental and especially climate protection are therefore the subject of environmental economic, psychological, and sociological research, with a focus on the influence of values and norms. Against this background, this project examines the extent to which the associated standards development and internalization processes can be changed and influenced over time in order to achieve an overall result that is beneficial for the community. Environmentally-relevant values and norms are first identified and embedded in a cross-disciplinary theoretical language. The combination of methods from economics and psychology makes it possible to identify the causal effects of the selected values and norms on environmentally relevant behavior. This allows to overcome the disadvantages of traditional approaches, in which the investigation is often based on correlations. At the same time, influences on the dynamics of standardization processes are identified. The involved parties in this project complement each other in terms of content and methodology.
Completed research projects
Dynamic electricity pricing and smart-grids are key elements of the vital transformation towards a decarbonized power production. Integrating volatile produced renewable electricity at large-scale will require electricity users, who adapt their consumption to the available electricity supply, particularly if energy sectors are coupled. Via price signals this consumption adjustment can be achieved. Economists have long been in favor of dynamic pricing, while it has rarely been implemented so far. Although recent technological progress has made it economically and technologically feasible, consumers’ acceptance remains a crucial barrier to a widespread implementation. The objective of this project is to develop economic and legal solutions to raise the social acceptance of dynamic pricing schemes and thereby to unlock the potential of demand-side flexibility in wind and solar power dominated energy systems. Against this background, this project aims to provide practical advice to regulators, utilities and retail firms in addressing consumers’ acceptance of dynamic tariffs.
Decarbonization of the building space heating sector (DeGeb)
Duration: November 2018 until October 2021
Project coordination: Agora Energiewende Berlin
Cooperation partners: University of Kassel (Chairs of Empirical Economic Research, Foundations of Law, Private Law and Economics of Law, and Applied Microeconomics and Empirical Energy Economics), Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Economics and Energy System Technology (IEE) Kassel
Commissioned by: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), second phase of the funding priority "Economics of Climate Change" ("Ökonomie des Klimawandels")
Summary: Heating residential and non-residential buildings is one of the substantial sources of CO2 emissions. Buildings and heating systems are long-lasting goods that are prone to path dependencies, which turn decarbonisation into a challenge. The impact of available options like energy efficiency and renewable energies depends on whether they are actually chosen by home owners. Hence, the impact mainly depends on incentive structures and the underlying regulatory framework. Apart from public law, this mainly refers to private law which governs relationships between actors like landlords and tenants, owners and communities of owners, and providers of heating systems or heat grids. Within the scope of the project, impacts of micro incentives on the energy system transformation in the building sector are examined, the role of corresponding regulatory frameworks is analysed, opportunities for stimulating sustainable investment decisions are assessed, and policy implications are derived. The objective of the project is a comparison of the aggregate impact of different regulatory frameworks in the decarbonisation of the building heat sector.
Dialogue on the Economics of Climate Change: DeGeb is one of the research projects within the framework of the funding priority Economics of Climate Change II. These are interlinked by the project Dialogue of the Economics of Climate Change, which supports the funding priority. This promotes the active transfer of knowledge between the projects and intensifies the exchange between research and practice.
Contact: Leo Reutter (leo.reutter@uni-kassel.de)
Energieeffizienter Wohnraum am Beispiel Kassel (EnWorks)
Das im Oktober 2013 begonnene interdisziplinäre Projekt zielt darauf ab, in der Zusammenarbeit von Ingenieur-, Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaftlern Steuerungsinstrumente und -verfahren vor allem des privaten Rechts so zu optimieren, dass die beteiligten Akteure in der Praxis bereit und in der Lage sind, die technisch mögliche Energieeffizienzsteigerung in Gebäuden umwelt- und gesellschaftsverträglich umzusetzen. In enger Rückkoppelung mit Praxispartnern und Akteuren aus Kassel werden innovative Vorschläge entwickelt, die technisch vorausschauend, ökonomisch effizient, politisch durchsetzbar, gesellschaftlich akzeptiert und juristisch praktikabel sind.
Am Projekt arbeiten das Fachgebiet Bürgerliches Recht, Gesellschaftsrecht, Wettbewerbsrecht, Prof. Martina Deckert, das Fachgebiet Bauphysik, Prof. Anton Maas und das Fachgebiet Grundlagen des Rechts, Privatrecht und Ökonomik des Zivilrechts, Prof. Georg von Wangenheim, eng zusammen. [mehr]
Die Bedeutung und Diffusion von Institutionen in verbundenen Innovationssystemen
Wissenschaftliche und anwendungsorientierte Ziele des Projekts
Nachhaltiges Wirtschaften setzt nachhaltige Innovationen und als Bedingung dafür nachhaltige Innovationssysteme (IS) voraus. Die Funktionsweise von IS, also geographisch, sektoral oder technologisch definierte Zusammenhänge von innovierenden Akteuren und den sie beeinflussenden Interaktionen, ist durch eine Vielzahl von formellen und informellen Institutionen (Verhaltensregeln und -regelmäßigkeiten mit normativem Anspruch) geprägt, die dann auch ihre Nachhaltigkeit und die Nachhaltigkeit der in ihnen entstehenden Innovationen steuern. Institutionen können den Raum möglicher Handlungsalternativen erweitern und begrenzen, sowie Anreize für bestimmte Teilmengen bieten. Sie reduzieren Unsicherheit, koordinieren Verhaltensweisen, helfen bei Problemlösungen und setzen auch Anreize, bestimmte Handlungen (auch nach Innovationen suchende) durchzuführen oder zu unterlassen. Damit wird nachhaltiges Wirtschaften neben staatlichen Anreizmechanismen in Form von rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen und fiskalischen Steuerungsmechanismen wesentlich durch gesellschaftliche Normen bestimmt, welche die Prozesse in den IS beeinflussen. [mehr]