Regulation and activities of phytosulfokine receptor PSKR1 in Arabidopsis thaliana

In Arabidopsis thaliana, the sulfated peptide growth factor phytosulfokine (PSK) is perceived by two plasma membrane-bound leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases. The PSK signal is mainly conveyed by PSKR1 and therefore this study focusses on the functional analysis of PSKR1. In particular, the activation mechanism, binding to calmodulin (CaM) and substrate phosphorylation were characterized. Mapping of PSKR1 autophosphorylation revealed that phosphosites are present in different regions of the cytoplasmic protein part including the juxtamembrane (JM) domain, all kinase subdomains and the C-terminus (CT). A functional analysis by point mutation showed that phosphorylation of amino acids in the activation segment is essential for PSKR1 activity. Amino acids, whose mutations strongly impacted kinase activity, are highly conserved in PSKR1 orthologues from higher plants. A homology model of the cytoplasmic part of PSKR1 shows a typical bilobal kinase structure and revealed that phosphorylated amino acids are positioned in catalytically essential structural elements. Phosphorylation of the JM domain impacted substrate phosphorylation in vitro and led in planta to PSK response in the root but not in the shoot. Binding of CaM to PSKR1 is dependent on calcium and reduced by autophosphorylation of PSKR1. The role of Ca2+ /CaM binding is unclear, but is not regulation of PSKR1 kinase activity. A functional PSKR1 kinase is essential to promote cell expansion. PSKR1 binds directly to the proton pumps Arabidopsis H+ -ATPases 1 and 2 (AHA1 and 2) in the plasma membrane. The autoinhibitory CT of AHA2 is phosphorylated by PSKR1 in vitro at activating positions. In planta, PSK induces an enhanced proton efflux in roots of Arabidopsis seedlings, whereas in the PSK-insensitive double receptor mutant no acidification takes place. This leads to the conclusion that AHAs are a substrate of PSKRs

Carbon-related border tax adjustment: mitigating climate change or restricting international trade?

Border tax adjustments in the form of carbon taxes on products from countries with lax environmental production standards or in the form of a required participation in an emissions allowances' trading system have become a heavily debated issue under WTO law. Such an adjustment might be permissible if energy taxes as indirect taxes are applied on inputs during the production process. Compliance with the Most Favoured Nation principle has less practical importance than the not-yet settled likeness discussion under the National Treatment principle. Consequently, since the compatibility of carbon-related border tax adjustment measures is partly contested, potential justifications such as the conservation of exhaustible national resources or the protection of health (Art. XX GATT) become relevant. The application of the necessity and proportionality test requires that carbon measures are tailored so as to substantially contribute to the achievement of environmental objectives and do not create any arbitrary or unjustified discriminatio

Investors care about risk, but can't cope with volatility

Following the classical portfolio theory all an investor has to do for an optimal investment is to determine his risk attitude. This allows him to find his point on the capital market line by combining a risk-free asset with the market portfolio. We investigate the following research questions in an experimental set-up: Do private investors see a relationship between risk attitude and the amount invested risky at all and do they adjust their investments if provided with different risk levels of the risky asset? To answer these questions we ask subjects in a between subject design to allocate a certain amount between a risky and a risk-free asset. Risky assets differ between conditions, but can be transformed into each other by combining them with the risk-free asset. We find that mainly investors risk attitude, but also their risk perception, and the investment horizon are strong predictors for risk taking. Indeed, investors do not appear to be naïve, but they do something sensitive. Nevertheless, we observe a strong framing effect: investors choose almost the same allocation to the risky asset independently of changes in its risk-return profile thus ending up with significantly different volatilities. Feedback does not mitigate the framing effect. The effect is somewhat smaller for investors with a high financial literacy. Overall, people seem to use two mental accounts, one for the risk-free and one for the risky investment with the risk attitude determining the percentage allocation to the risky asset and not the chosen portfolio volatility

How much risk can I handle? The role of experience sampling and graphical displays on one's investment risk appetite and comprehension

Financial professionals have a great deal of discretion concerning how to relay information about the risk of financial products to their clients. This paper examines how different risk presentation modes influence how well investors understand the risk-return profile of financial products and how much risk they are willing to accept. We analyze four different ways of communicating risk: (i) numerical descriptions, (ii) experience sampling, (iii) graphical displays, and (iv) a combination of these formats in a ‘risk tool simulation’. Participants receive information about a risky and a risk free fund and make an allocation in an experimental investment portfolio. We find that risky allocations are elevated in both the risk tool simulation and experience sampling conditions. Greater risky allocations are mediated by decreased risk perception, increased confidence in the risky fund, and a lower estimation of the probability of a loss. Despite these indicators of optimism about the risky fund, participants in the risk tool simulation underestimate the probability of a high gain and are more accurate on comprehension questions on the expected return and the probability of a loss. We find no evidence of greater dissatisfaction with returns in these conditions and observe a willingness to take on similar levels of risk in subsequent allocations. Our paper has important implications for the current debate about regulating the communications between financial advisors and their clients

The role of experience sampling and graphical displays on one's investment risk appetite and comprehension

Financial professionals have a great deal of discretion concerning how to relay information about the risk of financial products to their clients. This paper examines how different risk presentation modes influence how well investors understand the risk-return profile of financial products and how much risk they are willing to accept. We analyze four different ways of communicating risk: (i) numerical descriptions, (ii) experience sampling, (iii) graphical displays, and (iv) a combination of these formats in a ‘risk simulation’. Participants receive information about a risky and a risk free fund and make an allocation between the two in an experimental investment portfolio. We find that risky allocations are elevated in both the risk simulation and experience sampling conditions. Greater risky allocations are associated with decreased risk perception, increased confidence in the risky fund, and a lower estimation of the probability of a loss. Despite these favorable perceptions the risky fund, participants in the risk simulation underestimate the probability of a high gain and are more accurate on comprehension questions regarding the expected return and the probability of a loss. We find no evidence of greater dissatisfaction with returns in these conditions and observe a willingness to take on similar levels of risk in subsequent allocations. Our paper has important implications for the current debate surrounding how financial advisors assess the suitability of investment products for their clients

The influence of information presentation, psychological mechanisms, and personal characteristics on households' financial decision making

The thesis addresses several research questions, which can be formulated as follows: 1.Which demographical, behavioral and psychological factors determine the financial well being of households(Chapter 2)? 2. What is the best way to present information about the risk of investment products to private investors (Chapter 3)? 3. Does simplifying information by aggregating performance information over asset returns influence risk taking (Chapter 4)? 4. Do private investors see a relationship between risk attitude and the amount invested risky at all and do they adjust their investments if provided with different risk levels of the risky asset (Chapter 5)? Chapter 2 of the thesis investigates which demographical, behavioral and psychological characteristics determine how households get along with their income; more precisely, it is investigated who is in financial difficulties, how these difficulties are handled and who is able to get out of them. The financial situation, defined as how much of the income is left at the end of the month, a household faces influences several other upcoming financial decisions; households in a bad financial situation reduce their stock market participation, are more likely to be financially constrained in the future, whereas households with in a good financial situation are more likely to make good credit and investment decisions. Indeed, it is a lot more than economic factors influencing private households’ day to day financial decision making. Even if factors like income, wealth and outstanding credit are strong predictors of how well households get along, I find an important influence of financial literacy and cognitive abilities as well as psychological factors like the propensity to plan on the current financial situation as well as on the ability to handle and solve financial difficulties once they occur. In chapter 3 (joint work with Emily Haisley and Martin Weber) we investigate the question of how risk presentation format influences investing. This question is important as financial professionals have a great deal of discretion concerning how to relay this information about the risk of financial products to their clients. We examine how different risk presentation modes influence how well investors understand the risk-return profile of financial products and how much risk they are willing to accept. We analyze four different ways of communicating risk: (i) numerical descriptions, (ii) experience sampling, (iii) graphical displays and (iv) a combination of these formats in a ‘risk simulation’. Participants receive information about a risky and a risk-free fund and make an allocation between the two in an experimental investment portfolio. We find that risky allocations are elevated in both the risk simulation and experience sampling conditions. Greater risky allocations are associated with decreased risk perception, increased confidence in the risky fund and a lower estimation of the probability of a loss. Despite these favorable perceptions the risky fund, participants in the risk simulation underestimate the probability of a high gain and are more accurate on comprehension questions regarding the expected return and the probability of a loss. We find no evidence of greater dissatisfaction with returns in these conditions and observe a willingness to take on similar levels of risk in subsequent allocations. The results have important implications for the current debate surrounding how financial advisors assess the suitability of investment products for their clients. Chapter 4 (joint work with Martin Weber) deals with information aggregation as one way to simplify complexity in asset allocation decisions. Former research has shown that the degree of information aggregation has an influence on decision making resulting in a higher risk taking. Information in the financial context can be aggregated over asset returns, e.g., on an account balance sheet, where investors can look at each asset or their portfolio as a whole. In this paper we analyze the underlying mechanisms which cause higher risk taking in the case of aggregated information. Additionally, we explore the ex post decision evaluation of participants who take on more risk and also explore the effects of different risk presentation formats. We conducted three experiments, in which we ask subjects to allocate an endowment between a risky and a risk-free fund and use three treatments to test the effects of information aggregation. In line with former studies we find a higher level of risk taking for a higher degree of information aggregation over different investment amounts, different cultural background and different risky assets. The higher risk taking is accompanied by lower risk perception, more accurate estimation of the probability of a loss and by participants’ feeling more informed. Additionally, a higher degree of information aggregations result in consistent subsequent allocation decisions and a higher decision satisfaction for participants receiving a loss (outcome below the expected value). In other words, people take into account that a well considered ex ante decision might ex post have a negative outcome. In Chapter 5 (joint work with Christian Ehm and Martin Weber), we analyze investors ability to deal with risk in investment decisions. Following the classical portfolio theory all an investor has to do for an optimal investment is to determine his risk attitude. This allows him to find his point on the capital market line by combining a risk-free asset with the market portfolio. We investigate the following research questions in an experimental set-up: do private investors see a relationship between risk attitude and the amount invested risky at all and do they adjust their investments if provided with different risk levels of the risky asset? To answer these questions we ask subjects in a between subject design to allocate a certain amount between a risky and a risk-free asset. Risky assets differed between conditions, but could be transferred into each other by combining them with the risk-free asset. We find that mainly investors’ risk attitude, but also their risk perception and the investment horizon are good predictors for risk taking. Indeed, investors do not appear to be naïve, but they do something sensible. Nevertheless, we observe a strong framing effect: investors choose almost the same allocation to the risky asset independently of changes in its risk-return-profile thus ending up with significantly different volatilities. Feedback does not mitigate the framing effect. The effect is somewhat smaller for investors with a high financial literacy. Overall, people seem to use two mental accounts – one for the risk-free and one for the risky investment with the risk attitude determining the percentage allocation, and not the overall volatility of the investment

UN Guiding Principles and BSCI’s Code of Conduct: United Efforts to Improve Working Conditions in Supply Chains. (Interview)

In light of the revised BSCI Code of Conduct, Prof. Dr. Christine Kaufmann, Professor for international and constitutional law at the University of Zurich, highlights how the revised code intersects with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the importance of collective efforts to solve complexities in international supply chains

Extraterritorialität im Bereich Wirtschaft und Menschenrechte: Extraterritoriale Rechtsanwendung und Gerichtsbarkeit in der Schweiz bei Menschenrechtsverletzungen durch transnationale Unternehmen

Schweizer Unternehmen können an Menschenrechtsbeeinträchtigungen im Ausland beteiligt sein. Entweder direkt durch Aktivitäten im Ausland oder in der Schweiz mit Auswirkungen im Ausland oder indirekt, wie beispielsweise durch Tochtergesellschaften, Minderheitsbeteiligungen oder Vertragspartner. In der international geführten Diskussion über Menschenrechtsverletzungen durch privatwirtschaftliche Aktivitäten ist die Frage nach der extraterritorialen Wirkung staatlicher Schutzpflichten zentral. Die neue Studie des SKMR zeigt auf, wo die Schweiz derzeit Regulierungen mit extraterritorialen Wirkungen kennt, wie sie im internationalen Vergleich steht und welchen Spielraum sie bei der Umsetzung der UN-Leitprinzipien zu Wirtschaft und Menschenrechten hat. Die Schweiz erfüllt die gegenwärtig vorhandenen, völkerrechtlich verpflichtenden Vorgaben. Gleichzeitig lässt sich auf internationaler Ebene eine fortlaufende Dynamik und Weiterentwicklung der völkerrechtlichen Rahmenvorgaben beobachten. So sind namentlich die UNO-Leitprinzipien aus dem Jahr 2011 zwar nicht rechtsverbindlich und dem sogenannten „soft law“ zuzurechnen. Trotzdem ist davon auszugehen, dass die Frage der Verantwortung von Schweizer Unternehmen bei Menschenrechtsverletzungen durch wirtschaftliche Aktivitäten im Ausland zunehmend wichtiger wird. Auch in den kommenden Staatenberichtsverfahren der Schweiz in der UNO dürfte die Frage der Extraterritorialität einen wichtigen Diskussionspunkt darstellen. Die Schweiz hat sich in der Entwicklung der internationalen soft law-Instrumente engagiert und die Notwendigkeit eines so genannten „smart mix“ aus rechtlich unverbindlichen Massnahmen und ergänzenden gesetzlichen Vorschriften betont (vgl. Bundesrat,  CSR Positionspapier , 1. April 2015, pdf, 48 S.). Dies erhöht die Erwartung an die Schweiz, in diesem Bereich wenn nötig regulativ tätig zu werden. Die Studie macht deutlich, dass eine generelle und abschliessende Regulierung der Extraterritorialität zu kurz greift. Besser ist eine Mischung unterschiedlicher Regulierungsmassnahmen, welche den verschiedenen Formen von Menschenrechtsbeeinträchtigungen durch Aktivitäten von Schweizer Unternehmen im Ausland Rechnung tragen kann. Nur so lassen sich rechtliche Konflikte und unerwünschte Konsequenzen für Schweizer Unternehmen vermeiden