We assess how regional rail service affects air pollution in Germany, where rail service is procured in auctions or negotiations. We argue that the procurement mode is plausibly exogenous, and show that auctions deliver stronger rail service growth than negotiations. Instrumenting rail service growth with procurement mode, we find that increasing rail service by 10% reduces carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide pollution by around 1% and 2%, respectively. Sulfur dioxide and ozone, pollutants with no clear link to rail, are not affected. Expanding rail service reduces car and motorcycle use, especially on leisure and shopping trips. The effects of railway services on car and motorcycle use and on air pollution build up over time. Lives saved by reducing pollution via rail service growth are worth substantially more than the required subsidies.
Als Mitglied der Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation (EFI) übergab Frau Professor Uschi Backes-Gellner zusammen mit ihren Kommissionskollegen am 28. Februar 2018 das diesjährige EFI-Jahresgutachten an Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel.
Der Schweizerische Nationalfonds hat im Februar 39 Förderungsprofessuren an hervorragende Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler vergeben. Neun dieser Professuren gingen an die Universität Zürich. Ingo Scholtes, Senior Assistant und Dozent an der ETH Zürich, wird im Rahmen des Programms ab Sommer 2018 am Institut für Informatik forschen.
This is a summary of the main topics and findings from the Swiss Risk and Insurance Forum 2015. That event gathered experts from academia, insurance industry, regulatory bodies, and consulting companies to discuss the past and current developments and necessary next steps for dealing with old-age provision. Topics include the pension funding gap, demographic and societal challenges, the valuation of pension liabilities, economic and regulatory capital models, and the role of financial markets.
