Topic Economy and Technology

“How does the novelty come into the world?” – constantly high unemployment, globalization effects of economy, the financial crisis, and unsolved sustainability problems nourish the hope for innovation processes as multiple problem solvers.

Still, mere dissemination of new inventions and technologies in society alone is not sufficient. Many problems result only when new products are used. The diffusion process gives rise to further, sometimes basic problems, which so far have hardly been covered by economic sciences. Among them are problems of local, global, and intergenerational distribution as well as aspects of waste management and sustainability. All these problems require the development of new mechanisms of control and allocation of the increasingly scarce resources.

The objective is a new structurization and definition of institutional boundary conditions, for instance, in connection with patent regulations and data protection taking into account implicit economic stimuli and distribution effects.

Economic sciences can contribute significantly to the socially compatible use of present and future technologies. The “Economy and Technology” Topic therefore focuses on an integrated, interdisciplinary analysis of the relevant aspects taking into account changing legal boundary conditions.