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[German Version] ( Jul 15, 1848, Paris – Aug 19, 1923, Céligny near Geneva), economist and sociologist, son of a French mother and an Italian father. Pareto had a brilliant understanding of how to bring sociological insights into economics, and ideas from economics into sociology, and how to apply notions from each within the other discipline. In addition, following L. Walras, he further…

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[German Version] In comparison with the pre-industrial world in the middle of the 18th century, the con¶ centration of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere has increased greatly. As a result, some of the earth's heat radiation can no longer escape into space; instead – as in a greenhouse – it is reflected back to earth, leading to an increase in the mean temperature of the earth's surface. The most important greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide (CO2), which is produced primarily by the burning of fossil fue

[German Version] I. Concept – II. Legal Aspects –…

[German Version] Consumers demand goods and services (Service sector) in order to satisfy their needs. They express their preferences through their demand for different goods. If consumer selection takes place in a free economic system – as is the case in a market economy – then producers are stimulated by consumer demand to produce the desired goods: the consumer is sovereign. This should also be true for goods and services not produced by the market but …

[German Version] In principle goods and services are provided, paid for, and cleared in markets (Market/Markets) according to prevailing rules. In recent years, however, goods and services provided in the shadow of the legal markets have played an increasingly important role. According to one current definition, the shadow economy comprises all those activities that create value in terms of the national accounts…

[German Version] (Jun 14, 1838, Heilbronn – Jun 27, 1917, Harzburg), economist. Schmoller taught at Halle (1864–1872), Straßburg (Strasbourg; 1872–1882), and Berlin (1882–1913). He engaged in basic interdisciplinary research, analyzing relationships between economics (Economy) and the related social sciences and integrating them into economics. Methodologically he derived many of …

[German Version] Income is consumed by individuals, saved, or paid in taxes. The state also spends a po…

[German Version] in general means permanence or durability. In an environmental context (Environment/Ecology), the terms sustainability and sustainable development are generally used synonymously, although different meanings lie below the surface: sustainability characterizes a present state (static population size), whereas sustainable development refers to a process (dynamic flow). The most generally accepted definition of sustainable development appears in the Brundtland report: it is “ . . . development that meets the needs of the…

[German Version] originates in two ways in the process of production. Producers obtain income through the sale of goods and services at market prices. Households earn income through the application of the factors of production, labor, capital, and property. The sum of all income produced in a period comprises the national income. The source aspect of income contrasts with its usage …

[German Version] is the period of time that individuals can spend as pensioners after their active participation in gainful work. Economically, retirement can be viewed from two perspectives. On the one hand, it represents a major achievement of modern industrial societies that today the elderly (Old age: II) can enjoy a longer retirement than retirees could 40 years ago. The average remaining lifetime of 65-year-old…

[German Version] (Dec 16, 1834, Evreux, Normandy – Jan 5, 1910, Clarens, Canton of Vaud), French economist. Walras was born the son of Antoine August Walras, a teacher and amateur economist, and Louise Aline de Sainte Beuve, th…

[German Version] A credit establishes an in personam relationship between a credit-giver (creditor) and a credit-receiver (debtor). The creditor lends the debtor an amount of money fixed by contract. In return, the debtor takes on the obligation to repay the entire amount to the creditor at the end of the term of the credit. As a fee for the credit, a specified interest rate (Interest) is agreed upon which the debtor must pay the creditor within a defined period for t…

[German Version] By social reform, we mean the reform of the existing social security system in general. The need for such a reform in the Federal Republic of Germany is clear for several reasons. Expenditures related to social policy, more than half of all government spending, consumes the lion’s share of all public spending. In the year 2000, the statutory social security system alone cost 416 billion euros. At present the total “social budget,” which includes government spending …

[German Version] is determined in business economics by the excess of returns over a period of time, after deduction of costs incurred during the same period by the business in pursuit of profit (Corporation, Economy). Profit is the driving force of business commitment; it raises the income of the entrepreneur above the secure level of income achievable in the market. The prerequisite for profit is that the business idea succeeds in the market. In terms of national economy, profit can be defined as the ne…

[German Version] are autonomous decision-making and trading entities in the economy that bring together several legally independent and dependent corporations and businesses at home and abroad. Such concerns are founded, for example, on the basis of a large share of capital, on voting rights, on personal union in the administration or the board of directors. In a merger, by contrast, the uniting corporations and businesses lose their economic independence.…

[English Version] soll i.allg. Dauerhaftigkeit bedeuten. Im Umweltkontext (Umwelt/Ökologie) werden die Begriffe N., Sustainability, nachhaltige Entwicklung, Sustainable Development etc. in der Regel synonym verwendet, obgleich sich auch in den angesprochenen Begriffen unterschiedliche Bedeutungen verbergen: N. beschreibt einen momentanen Zustand (Bestandsgröße), wohingegen sich im Begriff nachhaltige Entwicklung ein Prozeß ausdrückt (Stromgröße). Die am weitesten verbreitete Definition einer nachh…

[English Version] . Der U. ermittelt sich aus betriebswirtschaftlicher Sicht als Überschuß der Erträge einer Periode abzüglich der Kosten, die in der gleichen Periode in der Unternehmung (Unternehmen, Wirtschaft) zur Ertragserzielung anfallen. Der Gewinn ist die Triebkraft unternehmerischer Engagements: Er steigert das Einkommen der Unternehmer über die sicheren, am Markt erzielbaren Einkommen hinaus. Voraussetzung dazu ist, daß sich die Geschäftsidee am Markt durchsetzt. Volkswirtschaftlich kann der U. als Saldogröße des gesamtwirtschaftlichen Produktionsk…

[English Version] . Grundsätzlich werden Leistungen auf Märkten nach herrschenden Regeln ausgeführt, bezahlt und abgerechnet. In den letzten Jahren nehmen jedoch Leistungen, die im Schatten der legalen Märkte erbracht werden, einen immer größeren Stellenwert ein. …

[English Version] . Unter S. versteht man die Reform des bestehenden sozialen Sicherungssystems i. allg. Eine Reformnotwendigkeit wird in der Bundesrepublik aus mehreren Gründen gesehen: Die Sozialpolitik stellt mit mehr als der Hälfte aller staatl. Ausgaben den Löwenanteil der Ausgabenpolitik dar. Allein das gesetzliche Sozialversicherungssystem (Sozialversicherung) weist i.J. 2000 ein Volumen von 416 Mrd. Euro auf. Das gesamte »Sozialbudget«, in dem zusätzlich noch Ausgaben des Staates, die aus …