Suchergebnisse

AbstractNudges are choice‐preserving interventions that steer people's behavior in specific directions while still allowing them to go their own way. Some nudges have been controversial, because they are seen as objectionably paternalistic. This study reports on nationally representative surveys in eight diverse countries, investigating what people actually think about nudges and nudging. The study covers Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, Russia, South Africa, and South Korea. Generally, we find strong majority support for nudges in all countries, with the important exception of Japan, and with spectacularly high approval rates in China and South Korea. We connect the findings here to earlier studies involving Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Our primary conclusion is that while citizens generally approve of health and safety nudges, the nations of the world appear to fall into three distinct categories: (i) a group of nations, mostly liberal democracies, where strong majorities approve of nudges whenever they (a) are seen to fit with the interests and values of most citizens and (b) do not have illicit purposes; (ii) a group of nations where overwhelming majorities approve of nearly all nudges; and (iii) a group of nations that usually show majority approval, but markedly reduced approval rates. We offer some speculations about the relationship between approval rates and trust.

"Der Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit neueren Entwicklungen im Politikfeld Verbraucherpolitik. Es wird der Frage nachgegangen, inwiefern es sich bei der so genannten 'Neuen Verbraucherpolitik' inhaltlich materiell und institutionell-formell um einen Neubeginn handelt. Das 'Neue', so wird argumentiert, ergibt sich zum einen aus neuen Herausforderungen (Globalisierung, Europäisierung, Aufgabe der Nachhaltigen Entwicklung u.a.), zum anderen aus einem veränderten Selbstverständnis der Politik als aktive wirtschafts- und lebensqualitätsfördernde Querschnittspolitik. Die Förderung nachhaltiger Konsummuster als verbraucherpolitisches Ziel wird diskutiert." (Autorenreferat)

The Board of the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra) decided in October 2015 that a proposal for a funding application call in the research area of "sustainable consumption" should be drawn up. According to the statutes of Mistra, research funded by the foundation "shall promote the development of strong research environments of the highest international class with importance for Sweden's future competitiveness. The research shall be of importance for finding solutions to important environmental problems and for a sustainable development of society. Opportunities for achieving industrial applications shall be taken advantage of." The funding application call to be developed by Mistra is to be based on an analysis of the current state of the art of research and of society's knowledge needs regarding sustainable consumption. Mistra commissioned a committee of four international senior researchers in the eld — Lucia A. Reisch, Maurie J. Cohen, John B. Thøgersen and Arnold Tukker (see Appendix 3) — to draft a background report to prepare the call. The group's tasks were outlined as follows: ► to describe the challenges facing society in this area, and the political (and policy) processes that are underway in Sweden and the rest of the European Union (EU) to tackle these challenges; ► to provide an overview of where the international research frontline is located and the status of Swedish research gaps in the area from an international perspective; ► to propose in detail the orientation of a new research program to be used as draft text for the call for funding applications. The aim of this background report is hence to shed light on future research topics within sustainable consumption from a Swedish perspective. The research pro- moted should help to develop Sweden's sustainable consumption research com- munity, to help cope with the most urgent challenges in the eld, and to promote Sweden's international competitiveness. Since the research committee did not possess the needed Swedish insider's view, we invited representatives of the Swedish research and stakeholder communi- ty of sustainable consumption to join an expert meeting in Stockholm at the Mis- tra Foundation on March 9, 2016 (for participants see Appendix 1). We aimed to learn more about their perspectives on and visions of worthwhile research topics as well as where they think the major research needs in Sweden are to be tackled. Additionally, Mistra had earlier commissioned an overview report on the Swedish research and policy landscape regarding sustainable consumption that also helped us to better understand the state of play. The Committee was tasked with developing a research programme adopting a comprehensive approach to sustainable consumption.3 However, a number of useful overviews of the eld, both conceptual as well as speci cally covering consumption areas such as food, energy, housing, transport, nance and others have been published recently and the report should not be read as a thoroughgoing assessment of the status of the field. Rather, it strives to go beyond what is already known and to identify relevant and worthwhile future research focus areas and themes. These are presented in Part 4 of this report.

The digitisation of the economy and the society poses new challenges for the consumer law. Does the digital economy and society need a consumer law 2.0, which is tailored to the particular legal issues and problems of consumers? The contributions answer the question in the affirmative. This is the result of an analysis of consumer algorithms, of online-platforms, the hsaring economy, consumer – datat protection, internet of things, law enforcement. The search for appropriate solution needs to be based on a solid data collection of consumer litigation and the chances and limits of regulation through technology.With contributions byLeonie Adam & Hans-W. Micklitz "Verbraucher und Online-Plattformen"Irina Domurath "Verbraucherrecht in der Plattformökonomie"Lea Kosyra & Irina Domurath "Datenschutz und Rechtsdurchsetzung"Andreas Oehler "Digitale Welt und Finanzen. Formen der Crowdfinanzierung: Handlungsbedarf für die Verbraucherpolitik?"Kai Purnhagen & Stefan Wahlen "Der Verbraucherbegriff, § 13 BGB und die Sharing Economy"Peter Rott "Rechtsklarheit, Rechtsdurchsetzung und Verbraucherschutz"Philipp Schmechel "Verbraucherdatenschutzrecht in der EU-Datenschutz-Grundverordnung"Martin Schmidt-Kessel, Mario Larch, Katharina Erler, Benedikt Heid & Anna Grimm "Wo gibt es verwertbare Daten zu Verbraucherstreitigkeiten?"Gerald Spindler "Regulierung durch Technik"Christiane Wendehorst "Besitz und Eigentum im Internet der Dinge"

Abstract
Greenhouse gas emissions from the food system constitute about one-third of the global total, hence mitigation in this sphere of human activity is a vital goal for research and policy. This study empirically tests the effectiveness of different interventions to reduce the carbon footprint of food choices made on food-delivery apps, using an incentive-compatible online randomised controlled trial with 4,008 participants. The experiment utilized an interactive web platform that mimics popular online food-delivery platforms (such as Just Eat) and included three treatment conditions: a sign-posted meat tax, a carbon-footprint label, and a choice-architecture intervention that changed the order of the menu so that the lowest carbon-impact restaurants and dishes were presented first. Results show that only the choice-architecture nudge significantly reduced the average meal carbon footprint—by 0.3 kg/CO2e per order (12%), driven by a 5.6 percentage point (13%) reduction in high-carbon meal choices. Moreover, we find evidence of significant health and well-being co-benefits. Menu repositioning resulted in the average meal order having greater nutritional value and fewer calories, whilst significantly increasing self-reported satisfaction with the meal choice. Simple back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that menu repositioning would be a highly cost-effective policy instrument if implemented at scale, with the return on investment expected to be in the range of £1.28 to £3.85 per metric ton of avoided CO2 emissions, depending on implementation costs.

Recent years have brought a gradual shift of responsibility for pension provisions, financial planning, health care and various insurances from governmental institutions and firms to individuals. To tackle this challenge, individuals need applied financial literacy and not merely theoretical knowledge about financial products and mechanisms that does not reflect real‐life situations. We survey 448 business students in Canada, Denmark, Germany and Iceland to examine how financial literacy is expressed in their financial portfolios. We contrast these findings with the respondents' own expectations and needs. The results show that most respondents exhibit good financial literacy as well as a realistic assessment of risk and return and their impact on (financial) well‐being.