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The raise of publications on sustainability—a case study in Germany

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Abstract

The number of scientific publications containing the words “sustainability” or “sustainable” has increased tremendously over the last years, but their origins in Germany are not equally distributed in space. The aim of the paper is to find out why sustainability research occurs strongly in some places and not in others. Four potential external influences on the choice of a scientist’s research topic are considered: 1) the interaction with the regional economy, 2) the attitude of the regional population, 3) path dependence in science as well as 4) the organizational circumstances provided by the university. In a mixed-method approach, regression analyses are complemented by qualitative interviews with scientists. The results show that the decision to conduct research on sustainability is in most cases based on a more private level. However, the perceived attitude towards sustainability in the broader public and in the researcher’s local surrounding also seem to be important.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Philipps-Universität Marburg, Deutschhausstr. 10, 35032, Marburg, Germany

    Thomas Brenner & Gesa Pflitsch

Authors
  1. Thomas Brenner
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  2. Gesa Pflitsch
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Correspondence to Thomas Brenner.

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Appendix

Appendix

The universities (official university code in brackets) that are considered in the analyses are U Kassel (1), U Duisburg-Essen (8), U Paderborn (12), U Siegen (13), U Wuppertal (14), Fernuniversität Hagen (15), Charite—Universitätsmedizin Berlin (18), Europa-U Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) (19), Humboldt-Universität Berlin (20), U Rostock (26), U Greifswald (27), U Halle (30), U Magdeburg (31), U Leipzig (36), TU Dresden (37), TU Chemnitz (38), TU Bergakademie Freiberg (39), U Jena (49), U Bamberg (50), U Bayreuth (51), U Oldenburg (52), U Osnabrück (53), U Passau (54), Kath. U Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (55), Bauhaus-U Weimar (58), TU Ilmenau (59), U Erfurt (62), Jacobs University Bremen (Priv. H) (66), Helmut-Schmidt-Universität Hamburg (80), U der Bundeswehr München (81), Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei, Münster (91), Universität Vechta (96), U Lüneburg (99), U Kiel (100), U Lübeck (101), U Hamburg (102), U Göttingen (103), TU Hamburg-Harburg (104), U Bremen (105), U Bochum (108), U Bonn (109), U Düsseldorf (110), U Köln (111), U Münster (112), U Dortmund (113), U Bielefeld (114), Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln (115), U Frankfurt a.M. (116), U Gießen (117), U Marburg (118), U Trier (120), TU Kaiserslautern (121), U Mainz (122), Deutsche Universität für Verwaltungswissenschaften Speyer (123), U Freiburg i.Br. (124), U Heidelberg (125), U Konstanz (126), U Tübingen (127), U Koblenz-Landau (129), U Erlangen-Nürnberg (131), U München (132), U Würzburg (133), U Regensburg (134), U Augsburg (135), U des Saarlandes Saarbrücken (136), FU Berlin (138), TU Braunschweig (143), TU Clausthal (144), U Hannover (145), Zeppelin Universität Friedrichshafen (Priv. H) (146), TH Aachen (148), Priv. wiss. H Witten-Herdecke (149), TU Darmstadt (153), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)—Bereich Hochschule (158), U Stuttgart (159), TU München (163), TU Berlin (169), ESCP Europe Wirtschaftshochschule Berlin (Priv. H) (170), Medizinische H Hannover (173), Tierärztliche H Hannover (174), U Hohenheim (180), U Mannheim (181), U Ulm (182), U Potsdam (350), and Steinbeis-H Berlin (Priv. H) (796).

The complete results of the VAR analyses are given in the Table 8, 9, 10 and 11.

Table 8 Results of the VAR analysis for law, economics and social sciences (p-values in brackets)
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Table 9 Results of the VAR analysis for natural sciences (p-values in brackets)
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Table 10 Results of the VAR analysis for agriculture (p-values in brackets)
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Table 11 Results of the VAR analysis for engineering (p-values in brackets)
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Fig. 4
figure 4

Dendogram for the 22 keywords

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Brenner, T., Pflitsch, G. The raise of publications on sustainability—a case study in Germany. Rev Reg Res 37, 189–225 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10037-017-0119-6

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