Latest Press Releases

Professor Achim Wambach, president of ZEW Mannheim, is leaving the German Monopolies Commission after two terms of office. He was a member of the commission from July 2014 to June 2022 and its chairman from March 2016 to September 2020. The federal government appointed Professor Tomaso Duso as his successor. Wambach was particularly involved in the further development and critical monitoring of competition among online platforms, in the areas of energy and health, as well as on the topic of distortions of competition in international trade, including in China.

Read more

In Germany, as in many other industrialised countries, occupations with predominantly manual routine tasks are generally on the decline. However, this structural change does not affect all regional labour markets to the same extent. How do regional differences affect employees individually and what role do layoffs and job mobility play in this context?

Read more

French President Emmanuel Macron has lost the absolute majority in parliament with his Ensemble coalition. Important reforms thus become bargaining chips. Professor Holger Stichnoth, head of the Research Group “Inequality and Public Policy” at ZEW Mannheim, has commented on this matter:

Read more

Investors’ confidence in cryptocurrencies is currently being severely tested. The sell-offs on the markets are huge. In the midst of this financial turmoil, the digital token, TerraUSD, collapsed in mid-May this year. The crash caused a sensation because, in theory, it should not have happened, as TerraUSD is a stablecoin. This means that each unit of this digital currency, which is independent of states, banks or companies, should always be worth exactly one US dollar. The stablecoin losing its peg from the dollar was not an isolated case. Even the market leader among stablecoins, Tether, was temporarily quoted below the target price of one US dollar.

Read more

Together, the European Parliament’s Committees on Economic and Monetary Affairs and on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety have objected to the classification of nuclear power and gas as sustainable investments. Dr. Karolin Kirschenmann, deputy head of the Research Department “Pensions and Sustainable Financial Markets” at ZEW Mannheim, has commented on this matter:

Read more

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany climbed 6.3 points to a current value of minus 28.0 points in the June 2022 survey. The assessment of the economic situation in Germany improved by 8.9 points in the current survey, leaving the corresponding indicator at minus 27.6 points.

Read more

Minimum standards can be effective in motivating homeowners to replace gas and oil heating systems. This is the result of a recent study by ZEW Mannheim and the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER) Dresden.

Read more

The ECB will discontinue its net asset purchase programmes at the end of June. A new study by ZEW Mannheim with the support of the Brigitte Strube Stiftung has examined how the bond purchases have been allocated across the various euro countries.

Read more

The ECB Governing Council has decided to end asset purchases at the end of June, clearing the way for a first interest rate hike in July. Professor Friedrich Heinemann, head of the Research Department “Corporate Taxation and Public Finance” at ZEW Mannheim, has commented on this matter:

Read more

The war in Ukraine poses major challenges for German firms. High energy prices, as well as restricted access to intermediate inputs and products impacts business activities, especially in the manufacturing industry. Larger firms in the information economy and manufacturing industry are preparing for the increasing threat of cyberattacks and have taken precautionary measures. These are the findings of a representative survey by ZEW Mannheim between 17 March and 14 April 2022 among approximately 700 firms in the manufacturing industry and information economy, including the ICT sector, media service providers and knowledge-intensive service providers.

Read more