Publications

Die Frage dieser Arbeit wird sein, wie eine striktere (bzw. strengere), aber nicht zwingend optimale Umweltpolitik sich auf Wachstum und Arbeitslosigkeit auswirkt. Eine striktere Umweltpolitik zeichnet sich durch eine geringere Umweltverschmutzung aus, da die Unternehmen zu umweltfreundlicherem Verhalten angeregt werden.
Die Arbeit hat folgenden Aufbau: Im zweiten Kapitel werde ich das Untersuchungsfeld der Umweltverschmutzung eingrenzen. In einem ersten Schritt werde ich erklären, warum eine Beschränkung auf das Gebiet des Klimawandels sinnvoll ist. Danach stelle ich dar, welche Umweltinstrumente überhaupt für die Bekämpfung des Klimawandels geeignet sind.
Im dritten Kapitel geht es um die Frage, welchen Einfluss eine striktere Umweltpolitik auf das Wachstum der Volkswirtschaft hat. Dazu werde ich einerseits darstellen, welchen Einfluss die Umweltpolitik hier generell hat, und andererseits, welche Wirkungen die einzelnen Umweltinstrumente im Speziellen haben. Am Schluss des dritten Kapitels werde ich die theoretisch gefundenen Ergebnisse dann anhand empirischer Untersuchungen überprüfen.
Im folgenden vierten Kapitel geht es dann um die Auswirkungen der Umweltpolitik auf die Arbeitslosigkeit. Hier werde ich recht ausführlich ein Modell von Bovenberg und de Mooij besprechen, welches alle für die Fragestellung relevanten Effekte gut darstellt. Auch hier werden die gefundenen Ergebnisse anhand von empirischen Arbeiten überprüft.
Im fünften Kapitel werde ich mich dann speziell den Besonderheiten der Zertifikate widmen, die sich als ein geeignetes Instrument zur Bekämpfung des Klimawandels herausstellen werden. Wie in der gesamten Arbeit, wird im fünften Kapitel von Situationen abgesehen, in denen Marktmacht auf dem Zertifikatsmarkt auftritt. Dies kann man so begründen, dass die Zertifikatsmärkte meistens so gestaltet werden, dass Marktmacht von vornherein vermieden wird. Auf dem geplanten Markt für Emissionszertifikate der EU werden beispielsweise 10000 Unternehmen am geplanten Zertifikatshandel teilnehmen. Die Tatsache, dass die Unternehmen aus verschiedenen Branchen und verschiedenen Ländern kommen , sollte das Problem der Marktmacht begrenzen. Bei der Analyse der Zertifikate konzentriere ich mich auf die Unternehmenszertifikate. Nicht betrachten werde ich dagegen, die zwischen den Ländern gehandelten Zertifikate nach dem Kyoto Protokoll. Grund dafür ist, dass man momentan noch nicht absehen kann, wann, und ob das Kyoto Protokoll in Kraft tritt. Dagegen ist der Typ der Unternehmenszertifikate in der Realität entweder schon implementiert (zum Beispiel im Rahmen des amerikanischen ATP), oder wird (wie in der EU) in Kürze eingeführt werden.

The first public share issue in the PRC took place in 1994. By the early 21st century, in the space of less than two decades, the Chinese stock market has become the largest one in Asia, with the exception of Japan. Along with this rapid enlargement of the market, the Chinese stock trading regulation system has experienced a process of continuous improvement. A national centralized stock trading regulatory system has been set up, and many securities laws and regulations have been published.
In the first part of this thesis, a brief introduction will be provided in order to give the reader an overview of the current state of the Chinese stock market and its regulatory system. In particular, some concepts which only exist in the Chinese stock market will be clarified. After that, the three main themes of this thesis will be presented.
The first intention is to introduce the history of the development of Chinese stock trading regulations and their enforcement measures. This is mainly, but not only, dealt with in Chapter two where the whole history is divided into three periods and the most distinctive features in each period are introduced respectively. Apart from that, the development of some specific regulations is covered in the other chapters.
The second goal is to present a detailed picture of the stock trading regulatory system in its current form. This is covered in the next two chapters. Detailed regulations will be discussed in Chapter three, which considers several different areas in stock trading. Key incidents in the development of the regulations are also introduced in this chapter. After that, the practical enforcement of the regulations is discussed in Chapter four.
Although the Chinese stock market has made great strides, we need to keep in mind that it is still a primitive market, and these achievements are still embedded within the framework of a transition economy. So my third aim, presented in Chapter five, is to point out some problems with the Chinese stock trading regulatory system and suggest some potential solutions. Instead of covering all the problems that the system has, this chapter will concentrate on where the difference between the Chinese stock market and more sophisticated stock markets lies, in the hope of helping the former to better prepare for the rigors of exposure to the international financial markets.

The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) has attracted much attention since the idea was first suggested by German Finance Minister, Mr. Waigel, in late 1995. Naturally, there is not an unanimous view on the Pact: for some it is an unnecessary restriction; for others the Pact is necessary but requires further development and strengthening; finally there are those who consider that the SGP sets wrong objectives and, thus, while fiscal rules are necessary, must be replaced by some other arrangements. The discussion on the rationale of fiscal rules in a monetary union goes beyond this work. That is, the analysis in this work will be built upon the general consensus on the necessity of fiscal restrictions in the context of a multinational unification with the common currency. In the focus of the work stands the design of the Pact. Unanimously adopted in December 1996, the rules of the SGP caused substantial doubts already several years later. The first violations of the Pact took place already in the third year of its operation. The most astonishing is the fact that the country, which was the initiator of the Pact, has violated it among the first ones and called its credibility into question. This has led to intensive debates on the numeral rules of the Pact and its implementation which is said to be inadequate. Whence, the purpose of this work is to trace the operation of the SGP starting with its introduction and up to today, with the objective to find out what have caused the breach of the rules. The work attempts to answer the question, whether the SGP has properly fulfilled its role, that is, whether it proved to be an efficient mechanism for enforcing fiscal discipline.
Aiming to provide a thorough and impartial answer to the posed question, the approach of detailed investigation of diverse studies and points of view is chosen in this work. When assessing the recent developments in the euro-area, the publications of the European Commission are chosen as probably most independent source of information. However, also the data stemming from the Commission is confronted with other views and studies. It is important to note that the results of the following investigation do not claim to give a precise answer to a question, but rather are a useful lead for further studies and debates.
The work is organised as follows. In order to lay a good foundation for an assessment of the events around the SGP, the origin and the incentives to adopt the Pact are recalled in chapter 2. The description of the final version of the SGP in chapter 3 gives an insight into its structure, procedures and objectives. Having gained fundamental understanding on the backgrounds of the SGP, one can proceed to the assessment of the operation of the Pact. How have member states implemented the SGP and performed in its context? Had the new fiscal framework any influence on their budgetary choices? Have the enforcement mechanisms of the Pact properly functioned? Investigation of these questions, presented in chapter 4, reveals a number of shortcomings both in the rules of the Pact and in its implementation. However, the experience gained during the operation of the SGP has showed the possible directions for its further strengthening. The debate on the budgetary surveillance framework and its development are assessed in chapter 5. The issues concerning the conduct of fiscal policy in EMU are discussed in chapter 6. Chapter 7 introduces two courses of further possible development of the Pact: the first one, chosen by the EU institutions, and the other one, suggested by diverse academicians and policy-makers; with the objective to assess merits and disadvantages of both. Final considerations and conclusions are presented in chapter 8, supplemented by several recommendations on further treatment of the subject, which are based on the investigation carried out in the work.