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Experts have been discussed in the literature concerning the role of transferring knowledge to client firms and private customers. Nevertheless, only limited evidence has been presented concerning the clients' internal perspective in particular on the degree of information. Seven papers are presented in the thesis using explorative qualitative and mixed methodological approaches. The first two chapters deal with the impact of knowledge-intensive business services on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The first paper characterizes information asymmetries as driver of demand by SMEs. ...

Residential energy consumption has been increasingly singled out by public policies as a key area for potential emission reduction. The public implementation of energy efficiency consultants (EECs) as change agents aims at the diffusion of innovation in building efficiency and overcoming information asymmetries in the construction sector. However, the success of these measures has been described as low. We conducted a case study involving 17 in-depth expert interviews to examine the causes of this failure within the German institutional context. This analysis has important implications for EECs in general and other European countries. We show that credence good characteristics in the ECC market led to a low willingness to pay. Certification of EECs does not suffice to overcome information asymmetries. We also identify a mismatch between EECs and customer incentives. As top-down policies have failed to facilitate a viable EEC market, we recommend a greater role for private and private-public networks, the cutting of EEC subsidies and a closer alignment between climate policy goals and home owners' economic efficiency considerations. ; Der Energieverbrauch von Wohnhäusern stellt eine wichtige Zielgröße der deutschen Politik dar, um die CO2 Emissionen langfristig zu senken. Die Förderung von Energieberatungen ist darauf ausgerichtet, innovatives Wissen unter Hauseigentümern zu verbreiten und potentielle Informationsasymmetrien im Sanierungsmarkt zu überwinden. Der Erfolg dieser Maßnahmen ist allerdings fragwürdig. Wir führen 17 Experteninterviews durch, um zu untersuchen, unter welchen Problemen der Energieberatermarkt leidet. Wir zeigen, dass der Energieberatermarkt von starken Informationsasymmetrien geprägt ist, die die Herausbildung eines Vertrauensverhältnisses erschwert. Die Zahlungsbereitschaft der Kunden ist niedrig. Wir identifizieren außerdem eine Diskrepanz zwischen den Anreizen der Berater (Energie sparen) und der Kunden (Kosten minimieren). Unsere Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass die Förderung von Energieberatungen ihr Ziele verfehlt. Weiterhin empfehlen wir die Stärkung von privaten und halb-öffentlichen Netzwerken und eine verbesserte Anpassung der Energiepolitik an die Bedürfnisse der Hausbesitzer.

Experts have been discussed in the literature concerning the role of transferring knowledge to client firms and private customers. Nevertheless, only limited evidence has been presented concerning the clients' internal perspective in particular on the degree of information. Seven papers are presented in the thesis using explorative qualitative and mixed methodological approaches. The first two chapters deal with the impact of knowledge-intensive business services on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The first paper characterizes information asymmetries as driver of demand by SMEs. ...

During recent international climate negotiations like in Paris 2015, the European Union agreed to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases. Policy-makers target the residential sector as a major user of fossil energy because potential to improve the energy efficiency in existing houses is observable. Energy audits have been implemented to offer information to homeowners within the aim of reducing the uncertainty concerning energetic refurbishment. Nevertheless, the impact of energy efficiency consultants (EECs) on retrofit measures is described as low in the literature. We conducted an online survey on German EECs, emphasizing their personal attitudes and contextual conditions, analyzing the implementation of an exploratory energy audit and providing recommendations for improving energy audits. The EECs answered the questions regarding the personal factors in a highly confident way. We explain this using the market framework in Germany, which requires a high-level performance due to the competition on the EEC market. The contextual conditions are evaluated critically, with about 49% expressing concerns about acquiring and managing financial resources for energy audits. The case study showed that EECs recommend innovative technologies to a limited degree, while the upfront costs are estimated very low. Finally, in the survey, the respondents prioritized an information policy improvement.

Experiments are an important governance instrument to support niche development, promote niche-regime interaction, challenge existing regimes and manage transition pathways for sustainable development. However, policy and regulatory learning of experiments are under-explored in the transition experimentation literature. Thus, this paper examines the following research question: How is the up-take of regulatory experiments for sustainability transitions influenced by their design elements and what role do institutional dynamics play in their up-take? The paper uses comparative qualitative content analysis to examine 27 international cases of regulatory experiments. We analyze the up-take of experiment results towards the three dimensions of scalability, transferability and unintended consequences. The analysis demonstrates that the timeframe, timing, political support, regulatory context, geographical particularities, selection processes, evaluation procedures, test of different design options, heterogeneity of participants and communication processes are important influencing factors for the up-take of experiment results.