Volume 74, Issue 2

The economic literature suggests that a cost-efficient climate protection policy should primarily rely on the price mechanism and emissions trading. An emissions trading system has been in place in the European Union since 2005, but only covers a few sectors, such as the energy and the industry sector. In other sectors, attempts are instead being made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by means of regulatory measures such as bans, particularly in Germany. This paper estimates the emission abatement costs of regulatory measures such as EU emission standards for cars and a general speed limit on highways. While the costs of regulatory measures are notoriously opaque, our exemplary calculations for speed limits show that bans can entail high hidden costs. To avoid making climate protection more expensive than necessary, politicians should therefore refrain from regulatory measures such as bans and rely more heavily on the highly effective and cost-efficient instrument of emissions trading.

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an unprecedented surge in remote work. This article explores whether the widespread adoption of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic represents a temporary response or a lasting transformation in work organization. Drawing on recent literature and repeated business surveys, it examines the diffusion and perception of remote work over the course of the pandemic and beyond. Furthermore, the article discusses the initial challenges companies faced in implementing remote work and key drivers of the long-lasting shift towards a more flexible work organization, including forced experimentation, better-than-expected experiences, employees‘ preferences, and technology advancements. Finally, the article addresses broader economic and social implications and how they might differ between fully remote and hybrid remote work arrangements.

Resilience is multifaceted. In the healthcare sector, this includes recognizing crises at an early stage, maintaining the ability to act and making competent decisions under great uncertainty that are often far-reaching or restrict the freedom of the population. Transparent, evidence-based policy advice can contribute to welfare-optimizing decisions. As many potential health crises will cross regional borders, cooperation is required both within Germany between the federal levels and at international level. A resilient healthcare system needs secure resources that it can access in preparation for and during crises. These include sufficiently trained staff as well as medicines, medical products, etc. and a reliable sustainable financial basis. Initial approaches and developments to strengthen the resilience of the German healthcare system exist in most areas. However, they should be pursued more intensively. It will hardly ever be possible to describe this process as complete as resilience is a dynamic concept. Ideally, the healthcare system is constantly learning in order to meet upcoming challenges.

The digitalisation of the world of work enables new phenomena such as cloud robotics and deep learning. With the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace, but also due to the massive use of digital communication technologies, our working world is currently being revolutionised. Increased outsourcing, symbiotic collaboration with robots, individualised employment relationships and a rise in teleworking and home office are coming to society. They encounter a legal framework that is not designed for these innovations. The new challenges have a lot to do with the readiness of the population for digital change and thus with specific educational components, furthermore with the expansion of the digital infrastructure, but at least as much with the legal regulations and thus with the regulatory policy in the respective countries. This article aims to highlight these regulatory challenges for Germany.