(Conducting laboratory experiments on the perception of justice in production games), in cooperation with the Institute for General Economic Research, Department of Economic Policy and Order Theory, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg

The research project deals with the problem that in large areas of social science research, a normative perspective is explicitly dispensed with in the sense of freedom of value judgement, while at the same time scientists are required to derive practical recommendations for action. Thus, according to the thesis, a large number of modern social sciences are increasingly being transformed into data suppliers for a small part of normative political science and economic research programmes.

In a first step, the causes of a norm- and value-free social science will be discussed. In a second step, a normative framework will be developed - based on social constructivist considerations - that is sustainable for modern social science, which takes up the cultural and social ties of ideas of justice and integrates them into social science analysis by means of an endogenous concept of justice.

The aim of the research project is to show that both the problem of value judgement and the problem of a lack of policy advice can be solved by resorting to the consent capacity of the individuals concerned as a normative criterion for evaluating political and social recommendations.

Contributions from a conflict-theoretical and cultural-economic perspective

Gender-specific prevalence, business ethics and business education significance

Within the framework of an interdisciplinary conference, the relationship between the market economy and human rights was discussed from different perspectives. The following overarching questions defined the field: Does a market economy system need a regulatory framework that guarantees human rights? Does a market economy system in itself contribute to respect for human rights? What is the responsibility of the state and companies in enforcing human rights? To what extent does the enforcement of human rights justify state intervention in the "freedom" of a market economy based on competition? On the other hand, to what extent do human rights obligate the market economy?these questions have been intensively discussed at least since the beginning of the 19th century, a time when the idea of human rights was still young and the economic and social situation of large parts of the population in Europe was increasingly aggravated. But even today, in an economically globalised world, the relationship between the market economy and human rights is a major challenge for science, business and politics.

»more information about the project is here

The research project focuses on the question of how social inequality and power relations can be systematically integrated into regulatory economic analysis. This is based on the insight that economic processes are significantly influenced by power processes, i.e. that individuals (consciously and/or unconsciously) exert influence on economic distribution and production results by means of privilege-seeking and discrimination measures with regard to their individual position within society. Equally, however, the negotiation processes in the search for desirable framework conditions for a market economy are also shaped by existing power relations.

In order to arrive at economic and social policy conclusions that are close to reality and can be implemented in practice, a modern regulatory policy - according to the central concern of the dissertation - must systematically take into account the social embeddedness of economic actors, i.e. integrate the social relations and cultural reference points of individuals into the economic analysis. Thus, in addition to the political dimension, the doctoral project explicitly takes into account the importance of norms, institutions, culture, social structures, social inequalities and the limitations of cognitive processes in explaining modern economic orders or economic constitutions.

Following on from these conceptual considerations, further research interest is directed in particular at the factually prevailing notions of justice, which diverge depending on the social situation and must therefore be understood as a key to understanding questions of economic power and conflict. It will be explicitly examined to what extent concepts of participation and inclusion can contribute to a positive explanation and solution of existing power asymmetries and conflict structures.

Keywords:
Economics of order; cultural economics; conflict and power economics; economic ethics; economic sociology; globalisation; notions of justice; social inequality; regulatory policy; economic and social policy; inclusion; James M. Buchanan; Friedrich August von Hayek; Walter Eucken; Amartya K. Sen; Pierre Bourdieu.