Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
↪ FRIBIS - Freiburg Institute for Basic Income Studies ↪ FRIBIS

Marcel Franke

Research Assistant and Ph.D. Candidate                                                                                             
Mail: marcel.franke@vwl.uni-freiburg.de
Tel.: +49 – (0)761 – 203-2320
Room: 03011 Rempartstraße 16
Consultation by arrangement

Dissertation Project:

Markets are a powerful tool for providing economic efficiency. Therefore, organizing economic interactions via markets increases a society’s total wealth. However, markets are not profound for generating fair results. Indeed, markets tend to produce highly unequal results, including absolute poverty which may be socially unacceptable. Universal basic income (UBI) stems from the idea of humanitarianism and elimination of absolute poverty. It enforces the economic liberty to be provided with the necessary goods without active participation in the economy, no matter the reason.
While the ability to refrain from the labor market may stand in contrast to the politics of economic growth, it does not necessarily violate Pareto-efficiency. Rather, UBI clashes with market-liberal strands in its demand for financing. The perspective that ‘there is no such thing as a free lunch’ structures the economic realm via scarcity. Thus, the economic perspective focuses on the tradeoff of benefits via a UBI and its costs. ‘Costs’ mean taxation in a governmental redistribution program, such as UBI, revealing the essential point of stress between markets and UBI. Taxation is forcefully taking away the property of citizens, while markets require a strong government enforcing and guaranteeing the preconditions of personal rights, property rights, and economic security.
While this area of conflict contains plenty of questions for research, I follow the straightforward approach of Pareto-efficiency.

Teaching Experience:

  • Supervision of thesis for Bachelor and Master since SS 17
  • WS 17/18 to 22/23 main tutorial in Economics of Social Justice
  • WS 20/21 to 22/23 supervision of students in the seminar „Grundprobleme des bedingungslosen Grundeinkommens“
  • SS 19 to 22 main tutorial in Public Sector Economics
  • SS 19 to 22 organisation of the Seminar “Basic Income and Social Justice”
  • SS 17 to 22 supervision of student groups in the seminar “Basic Income and Social Justice”
  • WS 18/19 partly main tutorial in Economic Policy and Public Choice
  • WS 17/18 tutorial and 18/19 tutorials in Economic Policy and Public Choice
  • SS 17 to 18 tutorial in Einführung in die Wirtschaftspolitik
  • SS 17 to 18 tutorial in Constitutional Economics
  • WS 14/15 to 16/17 tutorials in Management of Information Systems

Research Interests:

  • Universal basic income
  • Political philosophy: Notably Constitutional Economics and Economics of Social Justice
  • Regulatory policy

Research Groups and Projects:

  • Member of the Basic Income Research Group (BIRG)
  • Synergies from an Integrated Renewable Energy Supply and Storage System in the Upper Rhine Region: An Interdisciplinary Analysis (RES_TMO)
  • FRIBIS Team “Basic Income for Peacebuilding”

Publications:

  • Franke, M. (2022). Envy and Blame in the UBI Discussion. Basic Income Studies, aop, 1–33. doi: 10.1515/bis-2021-0035
  • Franke, M., & Jäger, T. (2022). Nash Bargaining with a Social Preference. In B. Neumärker, & J. Schulz (Hrsg.), Financial Issues of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) (Bd. 1). Lit Verlag Berlin, 71–106.
  • Franke, M., & Neumärker, B. (February 2022). A Climate Alliance through Transfer: Transfer Design in an Economic Conflict Model. World, 3, 112–125. doi:10.3390/world3010006

Working paper:

  • Davies, C., Franke, M., Kuang, L., & Neumärker, B. (2022). A Contractarian View on Homann’s Ethical Approach: the Vision of `New Ordoliberalism´. Constitutional Economic Network Papers, 1-23.
  • Franke, M. (2022). Transfer in a Conflict Model as a Reason for (Unconditional) Basic Income. FRIBIS Discussion Paper, 3, 1–22.
  • Franke, M. (2021). Eine Verhandlung zur Selektion der konstitutionenökonomischen Lösung. Constitutional Economic Network Papers, 1–40.

Presentations: