As part of the FRIBIS Discussion Papers series, a new paper by Joe Chrisp, Aida Garcia-Lazaro, Nick Pearce has just been published:

Technological chance and growth regimes – Assessing the case for universal basic income in an era declining labour shares.

The starting point of their study is the diagnosis that there has been a substantial decline in labor force participation rates and a rise in inequality in most OECD countries in recent decades. They argue that the decline in labor share and the rise in inequality pose various problems for these countries, whether in terms of distributive justice, economic and social outcomes, such as insufficient aggregate income and demand, or democratic politics.

What role does technological change play in this development – and does this change speak for or against the feasibility of an Unconditional Basic Income? These and other questions are addressed in the paper.

Joe Chrisp: Research Associate, Institute for Policy Research (IPR), University of Bath

Aida Garcia-Lazaro: Research Associate, Institute for Policy Research (IPR), University of Bath, FRIBIS Team Microsimulation

Nick Pearce: Director, Institute for Policy Research (IPR), University of Bath, FRIBIS Team Microsimulation

The founder of the dm drugstores (dm-Drogeriemarkt), Götz W. Werner, died a year ago, on February 8, 2022, at the age of 78. He had become widely known to the public for his advocacy of a Basic Income. This income was to guarantee human dignity and be available to everyone “from the cradle to the grave” with no strings attached. Götz Werner’s commitment to the idea of a Basic Income continues to have a particular impact in Freiburg, where he enabled research on the UBI through a generous grant to the University of Freiburg.

He chose Freiburg as the site of the new institute because this is where a significant part of the development of German ordoliberalism had taken place. His ideal was for a New Ordoliberalism (Neuer Ordoliberalismus) to emerge in Freiburg, closely linked to the concept of the UBI. In addition, his close friend and advisor, Benediktus Hardorp, who had done his PhD in Freiburg. Hardup contributed in particular to Götz Werner’s conviction that the focus on VAT was the right tax approach for the positive development of society. For him, the Freiburg tradition was a sign that this was the right place to develop promising new ideas.

When Götz Werner began advocating the idea of a Basic Income in public in the 1980s, he was already filling large halls and inspiring his audiences. While UBI was considered, for a long time, a mere utopia, it is now being discussed and tested in numerous pilot projects around the world. In Germany, its implementation is being considered again and again, both politically and in civil society.

Toward the end of his life, Götz Werner decided that he would give his intellectual legacy an academic, institutional foundation. With Bernhard Neumärker, Professor of Economic Policy and Constitutional Economic Theory at the University of Freiburg, he found the person to whom he could assign this task. Götz Werner and his wife Beatrice, herself a native of Freiburg, hence established the Götz Werner Chair (GWP), with Bernhard Neumärker as director. Eventually, in addition to the chair and the founding of an interdisciplinary center of excellence, the Freiburg Institute for Basic Income Studies (FRIBIS), was made possible through the financial support of the dm-Werner Foundation. The then rector of the university, Hans-Jochen Schiewer, recognized the socio-political relevance of UBI and gave his support to the initiative. The aim was to make the University of Freiburg a center of academic debate and civil-societal and political discussion on this topic for the future.

Today, FRIBIS consists of numerous staff members and mostly multinational research teams in which academics and actors from civil society work together. The teams are dedicated to specific societal issues that relate to basic income, including gender justice, ecological aspects of production and consumption, financing options and care work. FRIBIS is the world’s largest research center on UBI and therefore attracts leading researchers from all over the world.

The FRIBIS Annual Conference 2022 was entitled “Basic Income and Development” and took place in Freiburg from October 10 to 12 October 2022. In view of the current global crises, the conference posed the question to what extent a basic income could provide viable solutions and generate new perspectives. Would it help to use environmental resources more sustainably, preserve biodiverse habitats and make social communities more resilient? Could it assist people in (post-) conflict regions to establish or secure social peace? Or would it have, as some critics suggest, the opposite effect instead? What are the potentials and risks of a basic income for development practices in the Global South, and how do they relate to concepts of redistribution and justice? These and other questions were addressed at the conference.

Due to the global dimension of the topic, the conference focused on international issues, with the collaboration of scholars and representatives from civil society ensuring a lively exchange.

In addition to three keynote lectures by Sarath Davala, Miram Laker-Oketta and Ugo Gentilini, there were a total of 19 panel sessions in various formats. Thanks to technical support from Meeting Owls, hybrid panels were also offered, allowing participants to discuss the topic with people from all over the world, in Freiburg. Two of the keynotes are now available as films (created by Enno Schmidt) on the FRIBIS-YouTube Channel.

The whole FRIBIS team was very happy with the engagement of the participants and we are already looking forward to the next Annual Conference!

After a brief introduction to the person by Prof. Sonny Mumbunan of the University of Indonesia and an introduction to the topic by Miriam Laker-Oketta, an impromptu audience poll follows, with half of the audience making suggestions as to why a basic income might be beneficial for climate and biodiversity, and the other half raising concerns of a contrary nature. Ms. Laker-Oketta then presents her solid and astonishing research findings, also exposing double standards and out-of-life claims against African countries. Her delight in research and the far-reaching as well as practical nature of her presentation make the lecture an experience and a gain in knowledge. After the lecture, basic income researchers and activists from various countries have their say with questions in the plenary discussion. Here, too, Laker-Oketta’s answers are illuminating and furthering. She fills mere suppositions with concrete empirical values, elicits the open research questions and elatedly leads to the right questions.

(Film, 80 min., Enno Schmidt)

From September 26 to 28, 2022, the 21st Congress of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) will take place in Brisbane (Australia). Numerous members of FRIBIS will participate as speakers at the congress, which will be dedicated to the theme “What can basic income offer in a time of crisis and transformation?”.

The FRIBIS Gender and Universal Basic Income and Gender (UBIG) team will give a dedicated panel session on “Re-envisioning a feminist basic income framework” (27/09/22). Team coordinator Jessica Schulz and team members Toru Yamamori (Doshisha University), Almaz Zelleke (New York University, Shanghai), and Chloe Halpenny (University of Cambridge) will be participating, as well as Clem Davies, who works at the Götz Werner Chair for Economic Policy and Constitutional Economic Theory (GWP).

FRIBIS Director Bernhard Neumärker and Jette Weinel (FRIBIS team Basisgeld) will speak on “The Implications of UBI on Utility Functions and Tax Revenue” (9/27/22). Bernhard Neumärker will also give a talk on “The Net Basic Income: Towards A Resilient Governance and Welfare State Reform during a Crisis” (9/27/22) and participate in the Götz Werner Tribute Panel (9/28/22). The latter panel will also feature talks by FRIBIS Executive Director and GWP staff member Enno Schmidt and GWP Visiting Professor André Presse.

Gudrun Kaufmann, a member of the care team at FRIBIS, will discuss “Narrative Economics as an Approach to Universal Basic Income?” (9/26/22). Simon März, coordinator of the Expedition Basic Income team, will provide “A critical analysis of a proposed extensive UBI pilot study in Germany: is it advisable and how can municipalities finance it” (09/27/22).

The conference is not open to the public, but only to registered conference participants.

On July 6, 2022, Bernhard Neumärker, Director of the Götz Werner Chair for Economic Policy and Constitutional Theory and head of FRIBIS, and Sebastian Kaufmann, Research Center “Nietzsche Commentary” of the Heidelberg Academy Of Sciences and Humanities and member of the FRIBIS team “Participation and UBI“, gave an interdisciplinary tandem lecture on the connection between UBI and sustainability.

In the first part of the lecture, Bernhard Neumärker discussed the connection between Basic Income and social sustainability from an economic perspective. In the second part, Sebastian Kaufmann explored from a cultural studies perspective the interconnections between the narratives surrounding UBI and ecological sustainability. The lecture was given as part of the event series “Alles im Blick? Interdisziplinäre Vortragsreihe Nachhaltigkeit“, in which sustainability is discussed as a shared topic between different disciplines (in German).

You can find the lecture on our YouTube channel.