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eingereicht von Isabella Weber Diplomarbeit Universität Linz 2023

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschreibt detaillierte Studien der Anode|Elektrolyt-Grenzschicht (solid electrolyte interphase, SEI) in Lithium-Ionen- und sekund��ren Magnesiumbatterien. Die Ausbildung und Zusammensetzung der SEI an verschiedenen Modellektroden in vereinfachten, carbonathaltigen Elektrolyten sowie in der ionischen Fl��ssigkeit BMP-TFSI wurde mittels kombinierter elektrochemischer und spektroskopischer Methoden untersucht. Fokus der zyklovoltammetrischen und r��ntgenphotoelektronenspektroskopischen Studien lag dabei auf der Untersuchung von Modellsystemen, welche durch ihre Simplizit��t eine direkte Verbindung zu Surface Science und theoretischen Systemen besitzen. Diese wurden im Verlauf der Studien stufenweise realistischen Batteriesystemen angen��hert, um so ein tiefergreifendes Verst��ndnis der Bildungsprozesse und Zusammensetzung der SEI zu erhalten.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the risk of a prolonged physical supply shortage of natural gas is higher than ever before. While European Union (EU) institutions and member states are discussing the possibility of imposing an embargo or a gradual phase out in this sector, an abrupt shortage may result from a political decision on the supplier's side. This event would be beyond EU control and requires appropriate contingency plans. However, the EU does not have adequate procedures for managing long-term supply interruptions. High gas prices alone will not be able to deliver the necessary level of savings, and they will also create unfair distribution of reserves. EU's preparedness and resilience rests on its ability to adjust gas demand quickly, efficiently and in a fair manner. With gas rationing as the measure of last resort, we propose to develop non-price-based mechanisms, as well as coordinated and voluntary efforts for gas saving on a European level. To increase resilience and unlock gas saving potential across sectors, the following steps are recommended. [...]

We re-examine the Systemic Cycles of Accumulation (SCA) of Arrighi (2010) and Arrighi and Silver (1999) which provide a framework for the analysis of the cyclical patterns of geographical expansion of trade and production and the related shifts of hegemonic power within the world capitalist system. Within the SCA framework, the last stage of a hegemonic cycle is characterized by what is called ���systemic chaos���, however the drivers of these chaotic dynamics have not been explicitly analyzed. This article fills this gap by providing a link between the accumulation process, the spatio-temporal fix, and systemic chaos, in three steps. First, we show that the accumulation process can be mathematically described by what is known as a logistic map. Second, we show that the different stages of the accumulation processes in Arrighi (2010) correspond to different values of the parameter of the logistic map which in our framework captures barriers to accumulation. Third, drawing on well-known properties of the logistic map in dynamic systems, we demonstrate that as this parameter crosses certain thresholds, the accumulation process becomes more complex exhibiting nontrivial and chaotic dynamics. In this way, our approach provides the missing detailed understanding of how systemic chaos is an outcome of the contradictory dynamics of capital accumulation itself while being based on the key insights of the SCA framework of hegemonic cycles.

China has created a distinct economic system. Yet despite a growing literature with valuable contributions on the institutional arrangements under ���capitalism with Chinese characteristics���, the precise economic mechanisms underpinning China���s state���market relations remain undertheorised. In this paper we develop a conceptual framework of what we call China���s state-constituted market economy. We define essential as ���systemically significant from the perspective of the state���. We argue that the Chinese state ���constitutes��� the market economy by creating, participating and steering markets for essentials in order to stabilise and guide the economy as a whole. We draw on China���s statecraft tradition as well as on proposals for financial policy reform in the US to conceptualise the state market-constitution in China.

In the overlapping global emergencies of the pandemic, climate change and geopolitical confronta- tions, supply shocks have become frequent and inflation has returned. This raises the question how sector-specific shocks are related to overall price stability. This paper simulates price shocks in an input-output model to identify sectors which present systemic vulnerabilities for monetary stability in the US. We call these prices systemically significant. We find that in our simulations the pre-pandemic average price volatilities and the price shocks in the COVID-19 and Ukraine war inflation yield an almost identical set of systemically significant prices. The sectors with system- ically significant prices fall into three groups: energy, basic production inputs other than energy, basic necessities, and commercial and financial infrastructure. Specifically, they are “Petroleum and coal products”, “Oil and gas extraction”, “Utilities”, “Chemical products”, “Farms”, “Food and beverage and tobacco products”, “Housing”, and “Wholesale trade”. We argue that in times of overlapping emergencies, economic stabilization needs to go beyond monetary policy and requires institutions and policies that can target these systemically significant sectors.

We re-examine the Systemic Cycles of Accumulation (SCA) of Arrighi (2010) and Arrighi and Silver (1999) which provide a framework for the analysis of the cyclical patterns of geographical expansion of trade and production and the related shifts of hegemonic power within the world capitalist system. Within the SCA framework, the last stage of a hegemonic cycle is characterized by what is called 'systemic chaos', however the drivers of these chaotic dynamics have not been explicitly analyzed. This article fills this gap by providing a link between the accumulation process, the spatio-temporal fix, and systemic chaos, in three steps. First, we show that the accumulation process can be mathematically described by what is known as a logistic map. Second, we show that the different stages of the accumulation processes in Arrighi (2010) correspond to different values of the parameter of the logistic map which in our framework captures barriers to accumulation. Third, drawing on well-known properties of the logistic map in dynamic systems, we demonstrate that as this parameter crosses certain thresholds, the accumulation process becomes more complex exhibiting nontrivial and chaotic dynamics. In this way, our approach provides the missing detailed understanding of how systemic chaos is an outcome of the contradictory dynamics of capital accumulation itself while being based on the key insights of the SCA framework of hegemonic cycles.

We construct a new global commodity-level export dataset to analyze the persistence of export patterns as proxies of productive capabilities across the first and the current waves of global- ization. We find that productive capabilities are path-dependent and historical capabilities are powerful predictors of countries’ incomes today. This is robust to controlling for persistence in geography, institutions, and colonial status, and confirmed by instrumenting past capabilities with asymmetric reductions in travel times following the switch from sailing to steamboats. We also show that the “great specialization” in primary goods and manufacturing goods exporters coincided with a great polarization in global diversification levels.

A rich recent literature reinvestigates the nature of money, but little attention has been paid to the ramifications of the ways in which we theorize money for the theory of international trade. This paper examines the logical relationship between the neutrality of money and self- balancing trade based on Henry Thornton and David Ricardo as two foundational contributions to credit and commodity money theories respectively. I show that both authors theorize trade as self-balancing whenever money is conceptualized as neutral. I distinguish two notions of the neutrality of money: ex ante and ex post neutrality. In Thornton’s Paper Credit money is not neutral ex ante: there can be temporary trade imbalances. But in the long-run money is neutral ex post and international trade boils down to self-balancing barter. In Ricardo money is neutral both ex ante and ex post and international trade is always balanced unless central bank policy undermines monetary neutrality.