The change to a bioeconomy carries far-reaching economic and social consequences. These cause economic questions on micro and macro levels: Which economic and regulatory frameworks are necessary for the bioeconomy to be truly more sustainable? Which consequences result from the bioeconomy regarding poverty, food security and inequality? How do consumers and voters perceive this change and how can economic behavioral research help increase acceptance for a bioeconomy? These and other questions are answered by fundamental and applied research with the help of empirical approaches.
Research Groups
Project Highlights
Transformation to a bioeconomy calls for complex political measures to work on a national level in a most efficient and cost-effective way. Prof. Faße focuses on the German and European point of view of creating a portfolio of such measures which is linked tightly with repercussions on international trade and prosperity of emerging and developing countries which are suppliers of important natural resources but also buyers of bioeconomic products. These global effects of national acting enable a holistic view on the necessity of an international strategy of bioeconomy.
Change from a fossil-based economy to a sustainable biobased economy requires broad social acceptance. In Germany, too, there are big differences regarding the support of various options for action to design a bioeconomy. Based on representative surveys the professorships Economics (Prof. Goerg) and Sustainable Economic Policy (Prof. Pondorfer) link socio-economic variables with attitudes to such topics as bioeconomy and sustainability on an individual level. Such links allow purposeful development and assessment of political measures.
