ZEW invites you to participate in the session “Assessing the Economic Impact of Environmental and Innovation Policies in China and Europe”.

Abstract:
The first part of this session deals with economic effects of environmental and energy policies in the EU and in China. To this end, the impacts of various policy types will be analyzed. Moreover, we will examine the behavior and interaction of economic players and their implications on the design of specific policies. Several methodological approaches, such as experimental approaches, general equilibrium models as well as econometric methods, will be applied in order to perform these analyses. The session focuses on different levels of economic activities: the firm level, the sectoral level and the macroeconomic level. The topics which are explored include interactions of emission trading schemes with other policy measures, the responses of coal power plants on different regulation instruments and the effect of monitoring on that, cooperation mechanisms in case of a public good, and the impact of voluntary contributions and matching subsidies. This compilation of presentations will give the audience insights on recent topics in environmental and energy policies and economic methods to approach the analysis of those policies.

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ZEW invites you to participate in the session “Market and Public Incentives to Invest in Innovation”.

Abstract:
Currently, international markets face disruptive changes. Hence, governments as well as international companies spur research and development and harness its translation into innovation. The seminar provides a forum to present and to discuss the economic rationales of government support to R&D and innovation and on the economic efficiency of different support instruments. In addition, the seminar will also shed some light on the changing environments and changing framework conditions into which pubic interventions are embedded. We will look at two traditional lines of approaches to stimulate innovation in the private sector. Philipp Boeing examines the effectiveness and efficiency of R&D subsidies and talks about the potential to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of R&D subsidies in China. Maikel Pellens will provide a careful analysis of the impact of joint R&D projects of private companies and public research intuitions in applied R&D fields. Xiaobo Zhang looks at the link between labour supply and innovation and the reaction of innovation to the gender imbalance in the Chinese economy. Bettina Peters will highlight the impact on recent US import restrictions against Chinese products on third countries and discuss implications of trade on innovation incentives. The concept of spillovers is widely discussed in the economics and politics of innovation. Jianwei Dang will shed new light on spillovers using the case of big multinational companies and ask the question what closeness actually means by comparing its physical and its cultural dimension. Finally, the session will discuss the upcoming EU research framework programme “Horizon Europe” and its swing towards mission-oriented research and innovation policy. Hence, the overarching question of this session is whether more direct government intervention will induce a more significant move towards reaching social development goals (e.g. cleaner environment, reduction of inequality, better health, safer traffic) than a less interventionist R&D policy.