In April 2022, the “Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft – DFG” (German Research Foundation) approved funding for a German-Austrian research project in the D-A-CH Lead Agency Process on the topic “The right to adequate remuneration for solo-entrepreneurs”. The project leaders are Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Monika Schlachter and Dr. Thomas Klein (both working at the IAAEU), in cooperation with Dr. Karin Lukas from the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights in Vienna.

The project aims to take a closer look at the situation of the solo-entrepreneurs, who, due to their weak negotiating position, are unable to negotiate appropriate terms of contract with their contractual partners in order to protect themselves from labour exploitation and to achieve an adequate standard of living. For this purpose, international and European human rights law standards, in relation to the rights of solo-entrepreneurs and their implementation in Austrian and German law, will be analysed, and possible tensions between international obligations and EU Law will be highlighted. The project focuses on four objectives:

1. Identifying the international and European human rights obligations of states to protect the solo-entrepreneurs and possible approaches to prevent their exploitation
2. Analyzing the implementation of international human rights obligations to protect the solo-entrepreneurs at national level in Austria and Germany
3. Assessing the implementation of international human rights obligations in line with EU Law
4. Developing targeted legal recommendations to improve the situation of solo-entrepreneurs in accordance with international human rights and EU law

The project is scheduled to last two years and is expected to start in March 2023.

Contact
Dr. Thomas Klein
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0651 / 201 - 4746

The Directors of the IAAEU, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Monika Schlachter and Prof. Dr. Laszlo Goerke, together with Prof. Dr. Lars Hornuf were able to secure a third-party funded project from the German Research Foundation (DFG) (DFG) in August 2017. The project deals with crowdsourcing as a new form of labour organisation and studies specifically the regulatory requirements and welfare effects of crowdsourcing. The research project is scheduled to run for 3 years with a funding of €460,000. These resources will be used primarily to fund three research positions with the duties of investigating economic and legal aspects of crowdfunding. The economic portion of the research project will be lead in large by Prof. Dr. Lars Hornuf, who, beginning on the 1st of October 2017, will be assuming a professorship at the University of Bremen.

Contact
Dr. Thomas Klein
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(+49) 651/ 201 - 4746

The workplace is in the grips of a profound shift which is changing the demands on workers concerning their flexibility, mobility and resilience. Through the implementation of information and communication technologies, the organisational procedures and job allocation of many businesses are being restructured. The consequences of shifting technological, organisational and personnel political circumstances for employees has been the subject of comparatively little research. Within the framework of a cooperative research project betweenn Prof. Dr. Conny Antoni, Prof. Dr. Laszlo Goerke, Prof. Dr. Uwe Jirjahn and Prof. Dr. Normann Lorenz, the effects of a changing workplace on the health of employees will be analysed. Trier University is promoting this research project as part of the Research Initiative of the Rhineland-Palatinate in 2016. The grant is for 30,000€ over the course of one year (2016).

Together with Dr. Christa Hainz (ifo Institute) and Prof. Dr. Lars Klöhn (HU Berlin), Jun.-Prof. Dr. Lars Hornuf (IAAEU and University of Trier) will examine the ramifications of the Retail Investor Protection Law, which was passed in July 2015. The goal of the Federal Ministry of Finance funded project is to conduct an empirical study using quistionnaires, structured expert interviews as well as internal and external databanks. In order to support the founders of start-ups with financing their business ideas, the law makers developed provisions to exempt start-ups from generally applicable disclosure requirements. On the one hand, this is meant to reduce the cost intensive burden on start-ups but should, on the other hand, protect the rights of the investors to be adequately informed over the investment risks. Although the project will not be completed until October of 2016, a number of papers on the topic have already been published. Armin Schwienbacher and Lars Hornuf reported on the topic "Should Securities Regulation Promote Equity Crowdfunding?" in the journal Small Business Economics. Furthermore, Lars Klöhn, Lars Hornuf und Tobias Schilling analyzed the contents, development and practical importance of crowd-investing contracts in the Zeitschrift für Bankrecht und Bankwirtschaft. Furthermore, Lars Hornuf und Matthias Schmitt published a report on crowd-investment failures (2016) in the CESifo DICE Report vor.

Further Informaton:
The full study can be downloaded at the website of the German Federal Ministry of Finance.

Together with Prof. Dr. Gregor Dorfleitner (Regensberg University), Jun. Prof. Dr. Lars Hornuf (IAAEU and Economics, Trier University) acquired an externally funded project which is entitled "FinTech – Markt in Deutschland." The client for this project is the Federal Ministry of Finance in Germany. The project will start in January 2016 and will be completed by summer 2016. The aim of this research project is to define the term "FinTech" under consideration of the empirical market conditions in Germany and the international research literature. Furthermore, the project will try to identity the relevant Fintech institutions in Germany including their activities. Building on the entirety of that which will be defined, the research team will ascertain and analyze the market sizes and volumes. A special focus is placed on Crowdfunding, Crowdinvesting, Crowdlending, Robo Advice, Personal Financial Management and Social Trading. Finally the team will identify technological residues and barriers that hinder the development of the market. Finally, a market forecast for the next 5, 10 and 20 years will be created.