This thesis consists of four highly related chapters examining China’s rise in the aluminium industry. The first chapter addresses the conditions that allowed China, which first entered the market in the 1950s, to rise to world leadership in aluminium production. Although China was a latecomer, its re-entry into the market after the oil crises in the 1970s was a success and led to its ascent as the world’s largest aluminium producer by 2001. With an estimated production of 40.4 million tonnes in 2022, China represented almost 60% of the global output. Chapter 1 examines the factors underlying this success, such as the decline of international aluminium cartels, the introduction of innovative technology, the US granting China the MFN tariff status, Chinese-specific factors, and supportive government policies. Chapter 2 develops a mathematical model to analyze firms’ decisions in the short term. It examines how an incumbent with outdated technology and a new entrant with access to a new type of technology make strategic decisions, including the incumbent’s decision whether to deter entry, the production choice of firms, the optimal technology adoption rate of the newcomer, and cartel formation. Chapter 3 focuses on the adoption of new technology by firms upon market entry in four scenarios: firstly, a free market Cournot competition; secondly, a situation in which the government determines technology adoption rates; thirdly, a scenario in which the government controls both technology and production; and finally, a scenario where the government dictates technology adoption rates, production levels, and also the number of market participants. Chapter 4 applies the Spencer and Brander (1983) framework to examine strategic industrial policy. The model assumes that there are two exporting firms in two different countries that sell a product to a third country. We examine how the domestic firm is influenced by government intervention, such as the provision of a fixed-cost subsidy to improve its competitiveness relative to the foreign company. Chapter 4 initially investigates a scenario where only one government offers a fixed-cost subsidy, followed by an analysis of the case when both governments simultaneously provide financial help. Taken together, these chapters provide a comprehensive analysis of the strategic, technological, and political factors contributing to China’s leadership in the global aluminium industry. Chapter 1: The Rise of China as a Latecomer in the Global Aluminium Industry This chapter examines China’s remarkable transformation into a global leader in the aluminium industry, a sector in which the country accounted for approximately 58.9% of worldwide production in 2022. We examine how China, a latecomer to the aluminium industry that started off with labor-intensive technology in 1953, grew into the largest aluminium producer with some of the most advanced smelters in the world. This analysis identifies and discusses several opportunities that Chinese aluminium producers took advantage of. The first set of opportunities happened during the 1970s oil crises, which softened international competition and allowed China to acquire innovative smelting technology from Japan. The second set of opportunities started at about the same time when China opened its economy in 1978. The substantial demand for aluminium in China is influenced by both external and internal factors. Externally, the US granted China’s MFN tariff status in 1980 and China entered the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. Both events contributed to a surge in Chinese aluminium consumption. Internally, China’s investment-led growth model boosted further its aluminium demand. Additional factors specific to China, such as low labor costs and the abundance of coal as an energy source, offer Chinese firms competitive advantages against international players. Furthermore, another window of opportunity is due to Chinese governmental policies, including phasing out old technology, providing subsidies, and gradually opening the economy to enhance domestic competition before expanding globally. By describing these elements, the study provides insights into the dynamic interplay of external circumstances and internal strategies that contributed to the success of the Chinese aluminium industry. Chapter 2: Technological Change and Strategic Choices for Incumbent and New Entrant This chapter introduces an oligopoly model that includes two actors: an incumbent and a potential entrant, that compete in the same market. We assume that two participants are located in different parts of the market: the incumbent is situated in area 1, whereas the potential entrant may venture into the other region, area 2. The incumbent exists in stage zero, where it can decide whether to deter the newcomer’s entry. A new type of technology exists in period one, when the newcomer may enter the market. In the short term, the incumbent is trapped with the outdated technology, while the new entrant may choose to partially or completely adopt the latest technology. Our results suggest the following: Firstly, the incumbent only tries to deter the new entrant if a condition for entry cost is met. Secondly, the new entrant is only interested in forming a cartel with the incumbent if a function of the ratio of the variable to new technology’s fixed-cost parameters is sufficiently high. Thirdly, if the newcomer asks to form a cartel, the incumbent will always accept this request. Finally, we can obtain the optimal new technology adoption rate for the newcomer. Chapter 3: Technological Adoption and Welfare in Cournot Oligopoly This study examines the difference between the optimal technology adoption rates chosen by firms in a homogeneous Cournot oligopoly and that preferred by a benevolent government upon firms’ market entry. To address the question of whether the technology choices of firms and government are similar, we analyze several different scenarios, which differ in the extent of government intervention in the market. Our results suggest a relationship between the number of firms in the market and the impact of government intervention on technology adoption rates. Especially in situations with a low number of firms that are interested in entering the market, greater government influence tends to lead to higher technology adoption rates of firms. Conversely, in scenarios with a higher number of firms and a government that lacks control over the number of market players, the technology adoption rate of firms will be highest when the government plays no role. Chapter 4: International Technological Innovation and Industrial Strategies Supporting domestic firms when they first enter the market may be seen as a favorable policy choice by governments around the world thanks to their ability to enhance the competitive advantage of domestic firms in non-cooperative competition against foreign enterprises (infant industry protection argument). This advantage may allow domestic firms to increase their market share and generate higher profits, thereby improving domestic welfare. This chapter utilizes the Spencer and Brander (1983) framework as a theoretical foundation to elucidate the effects of fixed-cost subsidies on firms’ production levels, technological innovations, and social welfare. The analysis examines two firms in different countries, each producing a homogeneous product that is sold in a third, separate country. We first examine the Cournot-Nash equilibrium in the absence of government intervention, followed by analyzing a scenario where just one government provides a financial subsidy for its domestic firm, and finally, we consider a situation where both governments simultaneously provide financial assistance for their respective firms. Our results suggest that governments aim to maximize social welfare by providing fixed-cost subsidies to their respective firms, finding themselves in a Chicken game scenario. Regarding technology innovation, subsidies lead to an increased technological adoption rate for recipient firms, regardless of whether one or both firms in a market receive support, compared to the situation without subsidies. The technology adoption rate of the recipient firm is higher than of its rival when only the recipient firm benefits from the fixed-cost subsidy. The lowest technology adoption rate of a firm occurs when the firm does not receive a fixed-cost subsidy, but its competitor does. Furthermore, global welfare will benefit the most in case when both exporting countries grant fixed-cost subsidies, and this welfare level is higher when only one country subsidizes than when no subsidies are provided by any country.

This meta-scientific dissertation comprises three research articles that investigated the reproducibility of psychological research. Specifically, they focused on the reproducibility of eye-tracking research on the one hand, and studying preregistration (i.e., the practice of publishing a study protocol before data collection or analysis) as one method to increase reproducibility on the other hand. In Article I, it was demonstrated that eye-tracking data quality is influenced by both the utilized eye-tracker and the specific task it is measuring. That is, distinct strengths and weaknesses were identified in three devices (Tobii Pro X3-120, GP3 HD, EyeLink 1000+) in an extensive test battery. Consequently, both the device and specific task should be considered when designing new studies. Meanwhile, Article II focused on the current perception of preregistration in the psychological research community and future directions for improving this practice. The survey showed that many researchers intended to preregister their research in the future and had overall positive attitudes toward preregistration. However, various obstacles were identified currently hindering preregistration, which should be addressed to increase its adoption. These findings were supplemented by Article III, which took a closer look at one preregistration-specific tool: the PRP-QUANT Template. In a simulation trial and a survey, the template demonstrated high usability and emerged as a valuable resource to support researchers in using preregistration. Future revisions of the template could help to further facilitate this open science practice. In this dissertation, the findings of the three articles are summarized and discussed regarding their implications and potential future steps that could be implemented to improve the reproducibility of psychological research.

Representation Learning techniques play a crucial role in a wide variety of Deep Learning applications. From Language Generation to Link Prediction on Graphs, learned numerical vector representations often build the foundation for numerous downstream tasks. In Natural Language Processing, word embeddings are contextualized and depend on their current context. This useful property reflects how words can have different meanings based on their neighboring words. In Knowledge Graph Embedding (KGE) approaches, static vector representations are still the dominant approach. While this is sufficient for applications where the underlying Knowledge Graph (KG) mainly stores static information, it becomes a disadvantage when dynamic entity behavior needs to be modelled. To address this issue, KGE approaches would need to model dynamic entities by incorporating situational and sequential context into the vector representations of entities. Analogous to contextualised word embeddings, this would allow entity embeddings to change depending on their history and current situational factors. Therefore, this thesis provides a description of how to transform static KGE approaches to contextualised dynamic approaches and how the specific characteristics of different dynamic scenarios are need to be taken into consideration. As a starting point, we conduct empirical studies that attempt to integrate sequential and situational context into static KG embeddings and investigate the limitations of the different approaches. In a second step, the identified limitations serve as guidance for developing a framework that enables KG embeddings to become truly dynamic, taking into account both the current situation and the past interactions of an entity. The two main contributions in this step are the introduction of the temporally contextualized Knowledge Graph formalism and the corresponding RETRA framework which realizes the contextualisation of entity embeddings. Finally, we demonstrate how situational contextualisation can be realized even in static environments, where all object entities are passive at all times. For this, we introduce a novel task that requires the combination of multiple context modalities and their integration with a KG based view on entity behavior.

Differential equations yield solutions that necessarily contain a certain amount of regularity and are based on local interactions. There are various natural phenomena that are not well described by local models. An important class of models that describe long-range interactions are the so-called nonlocal models, which are the subject of this work. The nonlocal operators considered here are integral operators with a finite range of interaction and the resulting models can be applied to anomalous diffusion, mechanics and multiscale problems. While the range of applications is vast, the applicability of nonlocal models can face problems such as the high computational and algorithmic complexity of fundamental tasks. One of them is the assembly of finite element discretizations of truncated, nonlocal operators. The first contribution of this thesis is therefore an openly accessible, documented Python code which allows to compute finite element approximations for nonlocal convection-diffusion problems with truncated interaction horizon. Another difficulty in the solution of nonlocal problems is that the discrete systems may be ill-conditioned which complicates the application of iterative solvers. Thus, the second contribution of this work is the construction and study of a domain decomposition type solver that is inspired by substructuring methods for differential equations. The numerical results are based on the abstract framework of nonlocal subdivisions which is introduced here and which can serve as a guideline for general nonlocal domain decomposition methods.

Die chinesische und westliche Forschung, die sich mit der Beziehung zwischen chinesischer Kultur und katholischer Kirche befasst, konzentriert sich in der Regel auf die katholische Kirche in China vor dem Verbot des Christentums. Die einzigartige Perspektive dieser Arbeit besteht darin, die Veränderungen in der Beziehung zwischen den beiden vom Ende der Ming-Dynastie bis zur ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts zu untersuchen. Vor dem Verbot nährten die katholischen Missionare den konfuzianischen Gelehrten und verbanden die katholische Lehre mit dem Konfuzianismus, um ihren Einfluss in der Oberschicht der chinesischen Gesellschaft auszuüben. Nach dem Verbot achteten die katholischen Missionare nicht so sehr auf ihre Beziehung zur chinesischen Kultur wie ihre Vorgänger im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert. Einige Missionare sowie chinesische Katholiken wollten die Situation ändern und förderten gemeinsam die Gründung der Fu-Jen-Universität, die großen Wert auf die chinesische Kultur legte und die Beziehung zwischen der Katholischen Kirche und der chinesischen Kultur Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts widerspiegeln konnte. Die Professoren der Abteilung Chinesisch und Geschichte leisteten den größten Beitrag zur Forschung der chinesischen Kultur an der Universität. Im Vergleich zu anderen wichtigen Universitäten in Peking, wo die chinesische Literatur im Fachbereich Chinesisch eine zentrale Stellung einnahm, legte die Fu-Jen-Universität mehr Wert auf die chinesische Sprache und Schriftzeichen. Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts erlangten Frauen unter dem Einfluss der globalen feministischen Bewegung das Recht auf Hochschulbildung. Bis 1920 waren jedoch die katholischen Universitäten in Bezug auf die Hochschulbildung von Frauen Jahrzehnte hinter den protestantischen und nichtkirchlichen Universitäten zurückgefallen. Die Fu-Jen-Universität verbesserte diese Situation, indem sie nicht nur eine große Anzahl von Studentinnen annahm, sondern ihnen eine Vielzahl von Fächern einschließlich Chinesisch und Geschichte anbot. Im Allgemeinen konnte die Universität als Verbindung zwischen dem Katholizismus und der chinesischen Kultur in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts angesehen werden. Sie spielte eine wichtige Rolle nicht nur bei der Erforschung und Verbreitung der chinesischen Kultur, sondern auch bei der Ausweitung des Einflusses der katholischen Kirche zu dieser Zeit.

Sozialunternehmen haben mindestens zwei Ziele: die Erfüllung ihrer sozialen bzw. ökologischen Mission und finanzielle Ziele. Zwischen diesen Zielen können Spannungen entstehen. Wenn sie sich in diesem Spannungsfeld wiederholt zugunsten der finanziellen Ziele entscheiden, kommt es zum Mission Drift. Die Priorisierung der finanziellen Ziele überlagert dabei die soziale Mission. Auch wenn das Phänomen in der Praxis mehrfach beobachtet und in Einzelfallanalysen beschrieben wurde, gibt es bislang wenig Forschung zu Mission Drift. Der Fokus der vorliegenden Arbeit liegt darauf, diese Forschungslücke zu schließen und eigene Erkenntnisse für die Auslöser und Treiber des Mission Drifts von Sozialunternehmen zu ermitteln. Ein Augenmerk liegt auf den verhaltensökonomischen Theorien und der Mixed-Gamble-Logik. Dieser Logik zufolge liegt bei Entscheidungen immer eine Gleichzeitigkeit von Gewinnen und Verlusten vor, sodass Entscheidungsträger die Furcht vor Verlusten gegenüber der Aussicht auf Gewinne abwägen müssen. Das Modell wird genutzt, um eine neue theoretische Betrachtungsweise auf die Abwägung zwischen sozialen und finanziellen Zielen bzw. Mission Drift zu erhalten. Mit einem Conjoint Experiment werden Daten über das Entscheidungsverhalten von Sozialunternehmern generiert. Im Zentrum steht die Abwägung zwischen sozialen und finanziellen Zielen in verschiedenen Szenarien (Krisen- und Wachstumssituationen). Mithilfe einer eigens erstellten Stichprobe von 1.222 Sozialunternehmen aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz wurden 187 Teilnehmende für die Studie gewonnen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit zeigen, dass eine Krisensituation Auslöser für Mission Drift von Sozialunternehmen sein kann, weil in diesem Szenario den finanziellen Zielen die größte Bedeutung zugemessen wird. Für eine Wachstumssituation konnten hingegen keine solche Belege gefunden werden. Hinzu kommen weitere Einflussfaktoren, welche die finanzielle Orientierung verstärken können, nämlich die Gründeridentitäten der Sozialunternehmer, eine hohe Innovativität der Unternehmen und bestimmte Stakeholder. Die Arbeit schließt mit einer ausführlichen Diskussion der Ergebnisse. Es werden Empfehlungen gegeben, wie Sozialunternehmen ihren Zielen bestmöglich treu bleiben können. Außerdem werden die Limitationen der Studie und Wege für zukünftige Forschung im Bereich Mission Drift aufgezeigt.

Information in der vorvertraglichen Phase – das heißt, Informationspflichten sowie Rechtsfolgen von Informationserteilung und -nichterteilung – in Bezug auf Kaufvertrag und Wahl des optionalen Instruments hat im Vorschlag der Europäischen Kommission für ein Gemeinsames Europäisches Kaufrecht (GEK; KOM(2011) 635) vielfältige Regelungen erfahren. Die vorliegende Arbeit betrachtet diese Regelungen auch in ihrem Verhältnis zu den Textstufen des Europäischen Privatrechts – Modellregeln und verbraucherschützende EU-Richtlinien – und misst sie an ökonomischen Rahmenbedingungen, die die Effizienz von Transaktionen gebieten und Grenzen des Nutzens von (Pflicht-)Informationen aufzeigen. Vom Grundsatz der Vertragsfreiheit ausgehend ist jeder Partei das Risiko zugewiesen, unzureichend informiert zu sein, während die Gegenseite nur punktuell zur Information verpflichtet ist. Zwischen Unternehmern bleibt es auch nach dem GEK hierbei, doch zwischen Unternehmer und Verbraucher wird dieses Verhältnis umgekehrt. Dort gelten, mit Differenzierung nach Vertragsschlusssituationen, umfassende Kataloge von Informationspflichten hinsichtlich des Kaufvertrags. Als Konzept ist dies grundsätzlich sinnvoll; die Pflichten dienen dem Verbraucherschutz, insbesondere der Informiertheit und Transparenz vor der Entscheidung über den Vertragsschluss. Teilweise gehen die Pflichten aber zu weit. Die Beeinträchtigung der Vertragsfreiheit des Unternehmers durch die Pflichten und die Folgen ihrer Verletzung lässt sich nicht vollständig mit dem Ziel des Verbraucherschutzes rechtfertigen. Durch das Übermaß an Information fördern die angeordneten Pflichten den Verbraucherschutz nur eingeschränkt; sie genügen nicht verhaltensökonomischen Maßstäben. Es empfiehlt sich daher, zwischen Unternehmern und Verbrauchern bestimmte verpflichtende Informationsinhalte ganz zu streichen, auf im konkreten Fall nicht erforderliche Information zu verzichten, erst nach Vertragsschluss relevante Informationen auf diese Zeit zu verschieben und die verbleibenden vorvertraglichen Pflichtinformationen in einer für den Verbraucher besser zu verarbeitenden Weise zu präsentieren. Von den einem Verbraucher zu erteilenden Informationen sollte stets verlangt werden, dass sie klar und verständlich sind; die Beweislast für ihre ordnungsgemäße Erteilung sollte generell dem Unternehmer obliegen. Neben die ausdrücklich angeordneten Informationspflichten treten ungeachtet der Verbraucher- oder Unternehmereigenschaft sowie der Käufer- oder Verkäuferrolle stark einzelfallabhängige Informationspflichten nach Treu und Glauben, die im Recht der Willensmängel niedergelegt sind. Hier ist der Grundsatz verwirklicht, dass mangelnde Information zunächst das eigene Risiko jeder Partei ist; berechtigtes Vertrauen und freie Willensbildung werden geschützt. Diese Pflichten berücksichtigen auch das Ziel der Effizienz und achten die Vertragsfreiheit. Das Vertrauen auf jegliche erteilten Informationen wird zudem dadurch geschützt, dass sie den Vertragsinhalt – allerdings in Verbraucherverträgen nicht umfassend genug – mitbestimmen können und dass ihre Unrichtigkeit sanktioniert wird. Die Verletzung jeglicher Arten von Informationspflichten kann insbesondere einen Schadensersatzanspruch sowie – über das Recht der Willensmängel – die Möglichkeit zur Lösung vom Vertrag nach sich ziehen. Das Zusammenspiel der unterschiedlichen Mechanismen führt allerdings zu Friktionen sowie zu Lücken in den Rechtsfolgen von Informationspflichtverletzungen. Daher empfiehlt sich die Schaffung eines Schadensersatzanspruchs für jede treuwidrig unterlassene Informationserteilung; hierdurch wird das Gebot von Treu und Glauben auch außerhalb des Rechts der Willensmängel zu einer eigentlichen einzelfallabhängigen Informationspflicht aufgewertet.

Bericht über die Ereignisse und Entwicklungen der UB Trier 2022.

Data fusions are becoming increasingly relevant in official statistics. The aim of a data fusion is to combine two or more data sources using statistical methods in order to be able to analyse different characteristics that were not jointly observed in one data source. Record linkage of official data sources using unique identifiers is often not possible due to methodological and legal restrictions. Appropriate data fusion methods are therefore of central importance in order to use the diverse data sources of official statistics more effectively and to be able to jointly analyse different characteristics. However, the literature lacks comprehensive evaluations of which fusion approaches provide promising results for which data constellations. Therefore, the central aim of this thesis is to evaluate a concrete plethora of possible fusion algorithms, which includes classical imputation approaches as well as statistical and machine learning methods, in selected data constellations. To specify and identify these data contexts, data and imputation-related scenario types of a data fusion are introduced: Explicit scenarios, implicit scenarios and imputation scenarios. From these three scenario types, fusion scenarios that are particularly relevant for official statistics are selected as the basis for the simulations and evaluations. The explicit scenarios are the fulfilment or violation of the Conditional Independence Assumption (CIA) and varying sample sizes of the data to be matched. Both aspects are likely to have a direct, that is, explicit, effect on the performance of different fusion methods. The summed sample size of the data sources to be fused and the scale level of the variable to be imputed are considered as implicit scenarios. Both aspects suggest or exclude the applicability of certain fusion methods due to the nature of the data. The univariate or simultaneous, multivariate imputation solution and the imputation of artificially generated or previously observed values in the case of metric characteristics serve as imputation scenarios. With regard to the concrete plethora of possible fusion algorithms, three classical imputation approaches are considered: Distance Hot Deck (DHD), the Regression Model (RM) and Predictive Mean Matching (PMM). With Decision Trees (DT) and Random Forest (RF), two prominent tree-based methods from the field of statistical learning are discussed in the context of data fusion. However, such prediction methods aim to predict individual values as accurately as possible, which can clash with the primary objective of data fusion, namely the reproduction of joint distributions. In addition, DT and RF only comprise univariate imputation solutions and, in the case of metric variables, artificially generated values are imputed instead of real observed values. Therefore, Predictive Value Matching (PVM) is introduced as a new, statistical learning-based nearest neighbour method, which could overcome the distributional disadvantages of DT and RF, offers a univariate and multivariate imputation solution and, in addition, imputes real and previously observed values for metric characteristics. All prediction methods can form the basis of the new PVM approach. In this thesis, PVM based on Decision Trees (PVM-DT) and Random Forest (PVM-RF) is considered. The underlying fusion methods are investigated in comprehensive simulations and evaluations. The evaluation of the various data fusion techniques focusses on the selected fusion scenarios. The basis for this is formed by two concrete and current use cases of data fusion in official statistics, the fusion of EU-SILC and the Household Budget Survey on the one hand and of the Tax Statistics and the Microcensus on the other. Both use cases show significant differences with regard to different fusion scenarios and thus serve the purpose of covering a variety of data constellations. Simulation designs are developed from both use cases, whereby the explicit scenarios in particular are incorporated into the simulations. The results show that PVM-RF in particular is a promising and universal fusion approach under compliance with the CIA. This is because PVM-RF provides satisfactory results for both categorical and metric variables to be imputed and also offers a univariate and multivariate imputation solution, regardless of the scale level. PMM also represents an adequate fusion method, but only in relation to metric characteristics. The results also imply that the application of statistical learning methods is both an opportunity and a risk. In the case of CIA violation, potential correlation-related exaggeration effects of DT and RF, and in some cases also of RM, can be useful. In contrast, the other methods induce poor results if the CIA is violated. However, if the CIA is fulfilled, there is a risk that the prediction methods RM, DT and RF will overestimate correlations. The size ratios of the studies to be fused in turn have a rather minor influence on the performance of fusion methods. This is an important indication that the larger dataset does not necessarily have to serve as a donor study, as was previously the case. The results of the simulations and evaluations provide concrete implications as to which data fusion methods should be used and considered under the selected data and imputation constellations. Science in general and official statistics in particular benefit from these implications. This is because they provide important indications for future data fusion projects in order to assess which specific data fusion method could provide adequate results along the data constellations analysed in this thesis. Furthermore, with PVM this thesis offers a promising methodological innovation for future data fusions and for imputation problems in general.

This thesis contains four parts that are all connected by their contributions to the Efficient Market Hypothesis and decision-making literature. Chapter two investigates how national stock market indices reacted to the news of national lockdown restrictions in the period from January to May 2020. The results show that lockdown restrictions led to different reactions in a sample of OECD and BRICS countries: there was a general negative effect resulting from the increase in lockdown restrictions, but the study finds strong evidence for underreaction during the lockdown announcement, followed by some overreaction that is corrected subsequently. This under-/overreaction pattern, however, is observed mostly during the first half of our time series, pointing to learning effects. Relaxation of the lockdown restrictions, on the other hand, had a positive effect on markets only during the second half of our sample, while for the first half of the sample, the effect was negative. The third chapter investigates the gender differences in stock selection preferences on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. By utilizing trading data from the Taiwan Stock Exchange over a span of six years, it becomes possible to analyze trading behavior while minimizing the self-selection bias that is typically present in brokerage data. To study gender differences, this study uses firm-level data. The percentage of male traders in a company is the dependent variable, while the company’s industry and fundamental/technical aspects serve as independent variables. The results show that the percentage of women trading a company rises with a company’s age, market capitalization, a company’s systematic risk, and return. Men trade more frequently and show a preference for dividend-paying stocks and for industries with which they are more familiar. The fourth chapter investigated the relationship between regret and malicious and benign envy. The relationship is analyzed in two different studies. In experiment 1, subjects had to fill out psychological scales that measured regret, the two types of envy, core self-evaluation and the big 5 personality traits. In experiment 2, felt regret is measured in a hypothetical scenario, and the subject’s felt regret was regressed on the other variables mentioned above. The two experiments revealed that there is a positive direct relationship between regret and benign envy. The relationship between regret and malicious envy, on the other hand, is mostly an artifact of core self-evaluation and personality influencing both malicious envy and regret. The relationship can be explained by the common action tendency of self-improvement for regret and benign envy. Chapter five discusses the differences in green finance regulation and implementation between the EU and China. China introduced the Green Silk Road, while the EU adopted the Green Deal and started working with its own green taxonomy. The first difference comes from the definition of green finance, particularly with regard to coal-fired power plants. Especially the responsibility of nation-states’ emissions abroad. China is promoting fossil fuel projects abroad through its Belt and Road Initiative, but the EU’s Green Deal does not permit such actions. Furthermore, there are policies in both the EU and China that create contradictory incentives for economic actors. On the one hand, the EU and China are improving the framework conditions for green financing while, on the other hand, still allowing the promotion of conventional fuels. The role of central banks is also different between the EU and China. China’s central bank is actively working towards aligning the financial sector with green finance. A possible new role of the EU central bank or the priority financing of green sectors through political decision-making is still being debated.