Anniversary Celebration in Mannheim – 25 Years of Excellent Research and Policy Advice at ZEW

The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), a member institution of the Leibniz Association, is celebrating its 25th birthday today! "ZEW has been conducting research at the highest level for 25 years. Alongside this, it also aims to advise, assist and shape economic policy. This combination of excellence and the institute's public orientation is something very special," said Baden-Württemberg Minister for Science Theresia Bauer at the anniversary celebration in Mannheim. Around 300 guests, including friends, patrons and partners of the institute both past and present took up the invitation issued by ZEW's Board of Directors to celebrate a quarter of a century of excellent research and policy advice at ZEW.

Founded as part of a joint initiative between the government of Baden-Württemberg, the economy of Baden-Württemberg and the University of Mannheim in 1990, ZEW opened its doors in 1991. A small group of employees under the leadership of Directors Professor Heinz König and Ernst-O. Schulze reported for duty with the mission of making a contribution to the establishment of empirical economic research in Germany.

Today there are around 190 members of staff in nine different research units, supported by around 100 research assistants working on putting ZEW's original mission statement into action. They are carrying out top-level research of practical relevance, training promising young researchers, providing scientifically based economic policy recommendations and making research findings available to the general public beyond the scientific community. "In the past, ZEW has always been involved in social and economic debates. The true value of the Centre for European Economic Research can be seen in the way in which its expertise is respected not just among the scientific community, but among the general public as well," said Minister Bauer, who also occupies the post of Head of ZEW's Supervisory Board.

"Over the years ZEW has built up a strong position"

In his opening address, ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach pointed out that, from the very beginning, ZEW has always carried with it an international and above all European outlook. "The very name of our institution obliges us to conduct research into issues affecting both Europe and the whole world. This task is more important than ever in light of pressing problems such as Brexit, the as yet still unsolved debt crisis in the Eurozone or the influx of refugees arriving in Europe," explained Wambach.

"Over the years ZEW has built up a strong position when it comes to competing for research grants both at EU level and within Germany," said Director of Business and Administration Thomas Kohl. In the fiscal year 2016, the institute has a total budget of around 21 million euros at its disposal. Around 46 percent of this money comes from third-party funds for which institutions have to compete, with EU institutions being particularly well-represented as contractees.

Alongside Baden-Württemberg Minister of Science Bauer and ZEW President Wambach, both Dr. Alexander Selent, Chair of the ZEW Sponsors' Association for Science and Practice, and Professor Ernst-Ludwig von Thadden, President of the University of Mannheim, acknowledged their many years of trustworthy cooperation with ZEW in their welcoming speeches.

Ceremony with lectures on the downturn in productivity growth

As befits a research institution of ZEW's distinction, the second part of the event was dedicated to the central economic issue of the worldwide downturn in productivity growth. A number of specialist lectures given by the heads of the research units at ZEW as well as a closing discussion dealt with the issue of productivity seen from the perspectives of growth, competition and digitalisation.

The closing address was given by former ZEW President Professor Wolfgang Franz, who headed the institute from 1997 until 2013. In his speech he recalled important moments in ZEW's history and forged a connection between these moments and the current and future challenges the institute will have to overcome.

The event concluded with the Director of Business and Administration Thomas Kohl thanking the long-standing friends of ZEW, the staff, members of the institute's committees, research associates and the Sponsors' Association as well as both the government of Baden-Württemberg and the federal government on behalf of the Board of Directors. As he thanked his former colleagues, the ZEW alumni, Kohl also took the opportunity to point out something particularly special about the commemorative publication put together for ZEW's anniversary. The greater part of the publication consists of 25 individual contributions written by ZEW alumni, namely people who feel strongly connected to ZEW and have fond memories of the institute. In their individual testimonies they vividly describe what makes ZEW so special to this day, as well as their hopes for the future of "their" institute.

For further information please contact:

Gunter Grittmann, Phone: +49(0)621 1235-132, E-mail: grittmann@zew.de