ZEW policy briefs

ZEW policy briefs are documents, containing brief and lucid information on ZEW research results of practical significance for business, policy, and administration.

  1. ZEW policy brief No. 25-13 // 2025

    QDMTTs Leave Geographic Disparity Between Increased Pillar Two Costs and Revenues

    For the better part of the last decade, the global minimum tax, or Pillar Two, has dominated international tax policy discussions. Developing out of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project at the…

  2. ZEW policy brief No. 25-12 // 2025

    Missed Potential? The Role of Migrant Entrepreneurs in Shaping Germany’s Future Economy

    Entrepreneurship is essential for innovation and economic growth. Newly founded companies contribute to innovation and technology diffusion and increase pressure on incumbent firms to innovate. In Germany,…

  3. ZEW policy brief No. 25-11 // 2025

    Catalysts for Change: Can Green Bonds Accelerate Europe’s Transition to a Green Economy?

    Nearly two decades of green bond issues have ignited various research questions and fields surrounding the topic. It is therefore time to take stock. Green bonds were launched with the goal of greening the…

  4. ZEW policy brief No. 25-09 // 2025

    Forschungszulage: Ein neues Förderinstrument wächst und gedeiht

    Im Jahr 2020 wurde mit der Forschungszulage eine steuerliche Förderung von Forschung und Entwicklung (FuE) in Unternehmen eingeführt. Sie setzt Anreize für die Erhöhung der FuE-Aufwendungen, da ein Teil dieser…

  5. ZEW policy brief No. 25-08 // 2025

    The Anatomy of Chinese Innovation: Insights on Patent Quality and Ownership

    China’s patenting activity has surged over the past two decades, yet questions remain about the quality and sources of innovation. We develop a new method to measure the importance of a patent for innovation,…

  6. ZEW policy brief No. 25-06 // 2025

    Cheap Energy at What Cost? The Economic Case for Eliminating Fossil Fuel Subsidies

    Many governments still help to keep fossil fuels cheap – sometimes by directly paying part of the supply cost (explicit subsidies), and at other times by not including the hidden costs of pollution and health…

  7. ZEW policy brief No. 25-05 // 2025

    Solar Installations in Private Homes: Upfront Subsidies Preferable to Feed-In Tariffs

    For investors, the decision to install photovoltaic (PV) systems largely depends on whether the investment proves worthwhile. Subsidies play an important role in this context. Currently, the German subsidy…