Research Projects

Extended Cost-Benefit Analysis for Hydrogen Production in MENA Countries

In view of the increasing political interest in a European-North African hydrogen program, a methodology for evaluating this program is being developed. The focus is on modeling and quantifying investment risks and their relationship to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Evaluation methods such as cost-benefit analysis and real option analysis are utilized. Additionally, the impact of hydrogen production on the UN SDGs and its integration into local and African power grids is examined. The project is part of Cluster E in the fourth Boysen Research Traning Group, which investigates the potentials, risks, and requirements of hydrogen imports from MENA countries to Europe and compares them with hydrogen production in Germany.

Efficient design of urban air mobility: external costs and transport mode interactions

The future relevance of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) depends on whether, how, and at which scale AAM can be economically realized. To examine this, demand and supply descisions are analyzed using discrete choice models. These market outcomes are then compared with socially optimal solutions using extended cost-benefit analyses or welfare analyses with externalities. Furthermore, the necessity for political interventions is evaluated, and it is examined which instruments lead to efficient and socially just policies. In addition, the validity of the results is examined using robustness analyses (Monte Carlo simulations). The project is part of the Research Training Group GRK 2947 AirMetro and is funded by the DFG.

Transport policy instruments in the era of autonomous vehicles in individual motorized transport

The advent of automated and autonomous transport is a challenge for transport policy. We explore whether a world with autonomous cars challenges the current knowledge on the effectiveness and efficiency of economic and regulation instruments of transport policy. We apply two different approaches: the first is an aggregate economic approach of transport demand we use to study optimal policies while the second is a spatial computable general equilibrium approach to understand spatial and microeconomic issues. The project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as two individual research grants (June 2020 - May 2024).

Willingness to pay for road safety – conceptual study and pilot survey

The consistent assessment of road safety policies involves the monetization of safety benefits. This requires a shadow price for safety or more precisely, the willingness to pay (WTP) to reduce the risk of being killed or injured in a road traffic accident. The aim of this project is to develop a concept for determining the WTP of road users and to test it in a pilot survey. This research was funded by the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt). (finished)

Evaluating measures on climate protection and adaptation to climate change in agglomerations (EMPACCA)

The EMPACCA project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and conducted between 2011 and 2014. The Hamburgisches WeltWirtschafts Institut (HWWI) was the project partner. We used and expanded the regional computable general equilibrium model. (finished)