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Maßnahmen zur Erhöhung der Energieeffizienz sind häufig kostspielig. Die Umsetzung kann durch Bürgerfinanzierung erleichtert werden. Pilotprojekte in Belgien, Kroatien, Litauen und Portugal zeigen, wie ein geeignetes Umfeld für Effizienzmaßnahmen mit Bürgerbeteiligung in der EU geschaffen werden kann

In this article, we study the risk taking behavior under convex incentives in an innovative online trading setting. In particular, we empirically analyze how an infinite investment horizon and valuable outside options affect risk taking behavior. We find that traders choose the absolute and relative risk of the trading strategy depending on the proximity to the high-water mark (HWM), which represents a series of remuneration options on the assets under management. As a consequence, we observe more risk mitigating behavior the closer the HWM comes. Next, we show that the traders behave strategically and make their risk decisions based on their overall portfolio payoff. Finally, we find that social status indicators such as rankings and communication abilities significantly affect the risk taking behavior.

This paper presents new evidence on the implications of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on stock returns. By implementing a long-term focus as well as using subdivided measures for CSR, we cater to the intangible nature and the heterogeneity of CSR activities. We use a novel classification of these activities into nine areas, each belonging to one of the standard environment, social, and governance (ESG) dimensions. Using cross-sectional return regressions and buy-and-hold abnormal returns, we find that firms with strong CSR significantly outperform firms with weak CSR in the mid and long run in certain areas. Firm returns increase up to 3.8% with respect to a one-standard-deviation increase of the CSR rating. In a two-stage least squares (2SLS) approach we verify that the main economic channel for the appreciation of strong CSR stocks is unexpected additional cash flows. The results are relevant for assessing the efficiency of CSR, and have broader implications for asset managers who can ex...

Within this work, we analyze the lithium storage sites within carbon/silicon carbonitride (SiCN) composites. Commercial carbons, HD3 (hard carbon) and LD1N and LD2N (soft carbons), of varying porosity are impregnated with polysilazane (HTT 1800) and pyrolysed at 1100 °C. It is found in the first part of this study (Graczyk-Zajac et al. J Solid State Electrochem 19:2763–2769, 2015) that the initial porosity of the carbon phase plays an important role in determining the lithium insertion capacity and rate capability of the composite material. By applying Raman spectroscopy and solid-state 7Li MAS NMR on pristine, lithiated, and delithiated samples, we investigate the lithium storage sites within the composite materials. By means of Raman spectroscopy, it has been found that lithium storage in hard carbon-derived composites occurs in a significant extent via adsorption-like process within unorganized carbon, whereas for the soft carbon composites, storage in turbostratic carbon is identified. 7Li solid-state NMR confirms these findings revealing that more than 33 % of lithium stored in HD3/SiCN is adsorbed in ionic form at the surface and in pores of the composite, while around 38 % is stored between carbon layers. LD1N and LD2N composites store more than 50 % of lithium in the intercalation-type sites.

About 7% of Austria's currently known 16,300 caves host accumulations of perennial snow, firn, and/or ice. This high percentage is mainly due to the presence of large uplifted and heavily karstified plateaus in particular in the central and eastern part of the Northern Calcareous Alps. The highest abundance of ice-bearing caves can be found between about 1800 and 2100 m a.s.l. Most of the about 1200 ice caves in this country are small pits which act as cold traps. Almost all large ice caves, however, show more than one entrance and are characterized by strong seasonal air flow, giving rise to strong winter cooling and ice deposition close to the lower-elevation entrance. Four examples of ice caves are reviewed in this article. Eisriesenwelt opens at the western escarpment of Tennengebirge and hosts 28,000 m2 of ice behind the main (lower) entrance of a 42 km-long system. Located in the western part of Totes Gebirge, Schonberg-Hohlensystem ranks as the longest cave in the European Union. Its currently known 34 entrances give rise to a complex ventilation pattern and the presence of ice bodies in three parts of this vast system. Dachstein-Mammuthohle is a giant cave system at the northern escarpment of the Dachstein massif. Its two ice-bearing parts show an uninterrupted decline of ice height and volume since at least the last three decades and the ice will likely disappear within the next decade. Located in the lower Inn Valley of Tyrol, Hundsalm Eis- und Tropfsteinhohle is an example of a small sag-type cave hosting a shrinking firn and ice body. This cave will likely transform into a seasonal ice cave within the not-too-distant future.

Within this work, we investigate the structural and electrochemical properties of new composite materials based on disordered carbons embedded into a polymer-derived silicon carbonitride matrix. In particular, we focus on the relationship between the initial characteristic of disordered carbon, that is its microstructure and porosity with the lithium-ions storage properties of the composite. Although there is almost no difference between composites found by means of Raman spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction, it is demonstrated that the pore volume of the carbon is of significant importance, i.e., volume of the preceramic polymer must be matched with pore volume of the carbon in order to ensure the optimal electrochemical performance. Thus, it is possible to synthesize a composite containing only 50 % of external carbon, which recovers the capacity comparable to that of pure carbon.

In standard mean-variance bi-criterion portfolio selection, the efficient set is a frontier. While it is not yet standard for there to be additional criteria in portfolio selection, there has been a growing amount of discussion in the literature on the topic. However, should there be even one additional criterion, the efficient frontier becomes an efficient surface. Striving to parallel Merton's seminal analytical derivation of the efficient frontier, in this paper we provide an analytical derivation of the efficient surface when an additional linear criterion (on top of expected return and variance) is included in the model addressed by Merton. Among the results of the paper there is, as a higher dimensional counterpart to the 2-mutual-fund theorem of traditional portfolio selection, a 3-mutual-fund theorem in tricriterion portfolio selection. 3D graphs are employed to stress the paraboloidic/ hyperboloidic structures present in tri-criterion portfolio selection.

This article reviews the literature on techniques of credit risk models, multi-period risk measurement, and capital allocation, and gives a tutorial on applying these techniques to credit portfolios with a focus on practical aspects. The effects of the choice of considered loss process concerning the handling of write-offs and matured assets or rating migration are displayed, and the impact on portfolio optimization decisions is discussed. We highlight the trade-off between short-term and long-term profitability and allude to the practical challenges of an application of multi-period risk measurement.

We estimate a cross-sectional model of the yield spreads of German Mittelstand bonds as a function of liquidity measures as well as a number of variables that control for both the characteristics of the issuing firm and the bond characteristics. Our results show a significant positive effect of illiquidity on the yield spread, which persists after controlling for the risk of the bond. Economically, the size of the liquidity premium of Mittelstand bonds is approximately twice the size of speculative grade US corporate bonds. Our findings are robust to different measures of liquidity and potential endogeneity biases.

Hintergrund Der Horverlust fur Zahlen wird zur Berechnung des prozentualen Horverlusts aus dem Sprachaudiogramm und zur gutachterlichen Plausibilitatsprufung verwendet. Gangige Praxis ist es, den Horverlust fur Zahlen aus dem Sprachaudiogramm graphisch abzulesen. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, den Horverlust fur Zahlen mittels mathematischer Formeln exakt aus den gemessenen Verstandlichkeitswerten zu berechnen.

We estimate a cross-sectional model of the yield spreads of German Mittelstand bonds as a function of liquidity measures as well as a number of variables that control for both the characteristics of the issuing firm and the bond characteristics. Our results show a significant positive effect of illiquidity on the yield spread, which persists after controlling for the risk of the bond. Economically, the size of the liquidity premium of Mittelstand bonds is approximately twice the size of speculative grade US corporate bonds. Our findings are robust to different measures of liquidity and potential endogeneity biases.

This paper quantifies the long-term financial effects of strong (weak) corporate social performance (CSP). We contribute to the literature by seeking such effects on a broad range, i.e. different CSP dimensions which are depicted by so-called ESGEc scores - an acronym for environment, social, governance, and economic - and for 18 sub-scores of these four dimensions. Our central strategy is to analyze the time structure of abnormal firm returns dependent on CSP rating data. We find positive mid- and long-term effects in all four dimensions of up to 6.82% abnormal return with respect to a change from the lowest to the highest possible ESGEc score. These effects are robust to controlling for common risk factors, accounting data, and industry fixed effects. We identify market inefficiencies for certain sub-scores and verify that the economic channel for the appreciation of strong CSP stocks are both additional cash flows and additional demand during our sample period. Thus, investments in firms with a high CSP are profitable in the long run.

This paper explores the long-term performance of stocks with high corporate social performance (CSP), measured by so-called ESG scores depicting the environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G) dimension. We investigate the buy-and-hold abnormal returns of a long/short investment strategy including the top and low 20% stocks with respect to each of the ESG dimensions. The results of the bootstrap tests in a world-wide perspective indicate that financial markets are not capable to price different levels of CSP in the short run and in particular in the long run properly. The zero investment strategy produces significantly positive abnormal returns up to 20% in North America and Europe in a five year period. We also identify regional differences, for instance, a high social score does not pay in Japan and strong corporate governance yields significantly negative abnormal returns in Asia Pacific.

Computing the nondominated set of a multiple objective mathematical program has long been a topic in multiple criteria decision making. In this paper, motivated by the desire to extend Markowitz portfolio selection to an additional linear criterion (dividends, liquidity, sustainability, etc.), we demonstrate an exact method for computing the nondominated set of a tri-criterion program that is all linear except for the fact that one of its objectives is to minimize a convex quadratic function. With the nondominated set of the resulting quad-lin-lin program being a surface composed of curved platelets, a multiparametric algorithm is devised for computing the platelets so that they can be graphed precisely. In this way, graphs of the tri-criterion nondominated surface can be displayed so that, as in traditional portfolio selection, a most preferred portfolio can be selected while in full view of all other contenders for optimality. Finally, by giving an example for socially responsible investors, we demonstrate that our algorithm can outperform standard portfolio strategies for multicriterial decision makers.

Over sixty years ago, Markowitz introduced the mean-variance efficient frontier to finance. While mean-variance is still the predominant model in portfolio selection, it has endured many criticisms. One serious one is that it does not allow for additional criteria. The difficulty is that the efficient frontier becomes a surface. With it now possible to compute such a surface, we provide an overview on how Markowitz's risk-return (bi-criterion) portfolio selection can be extended to tri-criterion portfolio selection. With a focus on the geometry of the extension, many graphs are used to illustrate.

This paper presents the results of an empirical study concerning conventional and socially responsible mutual funds.We apply a sophisticated operations research algorithm embedded in inverse portfolio optimization on financial market data, ESG-scores and CRSP fund data. Due to our results we cannot find strong evidence of di erences between conventional and socially responsible mutual funds. In particular, the calculated risk tolerance parameters describing the real portfolio composition best show that socially responsible mutual funds may be even less concerned about the ESG-scores in the preference functional than conventional funds.

We present four models for predicting temperatures that can be used for pricing weather derivatives. Three of the models have been suggested in previous literature, and we propose another model which uses splines to remove trend and seasonality effects from temperature time series in a flexible way. Using historical temperature data from 35 weather stations across the United States, we test the performance of the models by evaluating virtual heating degree days (HDD) and cooling degree days (CDD) contracts. We find that all models perform better when predicting HDD indices than predicting CDD indices. However, all models based on a daily simulation approach significantly underestimate the variance of the errors.

This event study investigates the impact of the Japanese nuclear disaster in Fukushima-Daiichi on the daily stock prices of French, German, Japanese, and U.S. nuclear utility and alternative energy firms. Hypotheses regarding the (cumulative) abnormal returns based on a three-factor model are analyzed through joint tests by multivariate regression models and bootstrapping. Our results show significant abnormal returns for Japanese nuclear utility firms during the one-week event window and the subsequent four-week post-event window. Furthermore, while French and German nuclear utility and alternative energy stocks exhibit significant abnormal returns during the event window, we cannot confirm abnormal returns for U.S. stocks.

This paper analyzes the persistence of environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-scores in socially responsible (SR) mutual funds. ESG-scores can be used as a measure for the level of social responsibility of an SR mutual fund. It is shown that ESG-scores persist for approximately two years. However, the persistence of the ESG-scores is terminated after approximately three years. This implies that value-driven investors of SR mutual funds who seek high-ESG investments cannot rely upon a long-term continuation of high ESG-scores and thus need to rebalance their portfolio from time to time. The lack of long-term persistence in the ESG-scores is caused by changes in the holdings of the SR mutual funds.

This paper considers the financial optimization problem of a firm with several sub-businesses striving for its optimal RORAC. An insightful example shows that the implementation of classical gradient capital allocation can be suboptimal if division managers are allowed to venture into all business whose marginal RORAC exceeds the firm’s RORAC. The marginal RORAC requirements are refined by adding a risk correction term that takes into account the interdependencies of the risks of different lines of business. It is shown that under certain stationarity conditions this approach can guarantee that the optimal RORAC will eventually be achieved.

This event study investigates the impact of the Japanese nuclear disaster in Fukushima-Daiichi on the daily stock prices of French, German, Japanese, and U.S. nuclear utility and alternative energy firms. Hypotheses regarding the (cumulative) abnormal returns based on a three-factor model are analyzed through joint tests by multivariate regression models and bootstrapping. Our results show significant abnormal returns for Japanese nuclear utility firms during the one-week event window and the subsequent four-week post-event window. Furthermore, while French and German nuclear utility and alternative energy stocks exhibit significant abnormal returns during the event window, we cannot confirm abnormal returns for U.S. stocks.

This paper analyzes observed prices of US temperature futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). Results show that an index modeling approach without detrending captures the prices exceptionally well. Moreover, weather forecasts significantly influence prices up to 11 days ahead. It is shown that valuations of temperature futures relying on a model without detrending yield biased valuations by overpricing winter contracts and underpricing summer contracts. Several trading strategies are devised to exploit the mispricing observed at the CME and to demonstrate that speculating on temperature futures can not only generate high overall returns, but also perform well on a risk-adjusted basis.

We present four models for predicting temperatures that can be used for pricing weather derivatives. Three of the models have been suggested in prior literature, and we suggest another model which uses splines to remove trend and seasonality effects from temperature time series in a flexible way. Using historical temperature data from 35 weather stations across the United States, we test the performance of the models by evaluating virtual heating degree days (HDD) and cooling degree days (CDD) contracts. We find that all models perform better when predicting HDD indices than predicting CDD indices. However, all models based on a daily simulation approach significantly underestimate the variance of the errors.