On May 3, 2023, the inaugural lecture by Dr. Nikolas Wölfing, Professor of Economics, took place in the auditorium of the HWG LU. The President of the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society, Prof. Dr. Gunther Piller, and the Dean of the Department, Prof. Dr. Eveline Häusler, were delighted to welcome the family as well as numerous colleagues and students.
The topic of emissions trading has shaped Professor Wölfing's academic work since his doctorate at the University Panthéon-Sorbonne Paris. This was followed by publications and expert opinions on energy economic issues such as electricity market design and the evaluation of tax concessions in the area of energy taxes. He has also addressed geopolitical aspects in his work on energy economics. Of particular importance from a current perspective is a contribution to the IAEE Energy Forum, 2015, on "Geopolitics is back on the agenda: Turmoil in Ukraine and its Impact on Risk Perceptions Among Energy Experts."
Before being appointed to the Professorship of Economics at the Department of Management, Controlling, HealthCare in February 2022, Dr. Wölfing held a junior professorship at the Faculty of Business Administration, Area Accounting & Taxation, Institute for Sustainable Energy Studies at the University of Mannheim. As such, he worked at the interface between sustainability and corporate accounting, which is of great importance for the strategic development of the Department in the direction of sustainability management. Previously, he worked at ZEW in Mannheim in the field of environmental and resource economics. It is an enrichment for the work at the HWG LU that the cooperation with ZEW continues.
In her welcoming address, Dean Prof. Dr. Eveline Häusler pointed out the professional impulses Prof. Dr. Wölfing has already set in the first semesters. "In particular, I am thinking of the further development of statistical methods in connection with data science in our degree programs and the accreditation of degree programs in the field of sustainability, which is currently in preparation. Each of these topics is also associated with diverse potential for application-oriented research," says Eveline Häusler.
The President and Dean expressed their best wishes for many years of productive work in education, research and transfer at the Department and the University.
In his lecture, Prof. Dr. Nikolas Wölfing used the example of climate change to demonstrate the need to incorporate the use of limited natural resources into microeconomic calculations. To this end, he presented emissions trading as a market-based instrument and explained how it works. Using the price development of emissions certificates as an example, he was able to vividly illustrate the challenges of market design. With a view to future generations and with reference to the fact that society has benefited from a peace and demographic dividend in recent decades, among other things, he called on the audience to actively contribute to the ecological transformation of the economy and society.
As the discussions at the subsequent drinks reception at Prof. Dr. Wölfing's invitation made clear, his inaugural lecture not only succeeded in igniting the audience's enthusiasm for energy and environmental economics, but also in introducing him as a committed colleague.
Professional contact:
Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society
Department of Management, Controlling, HealthCare
Prof. Dr. Nikolas Wölfing
Professorship of Economics
Tel. 0621/5203-209
E-Mail: Nikolas.Woelfing@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de
