ZEW Discussion Papers

Recent literature has increasingly focused on deciphering the modern productivity puzzle, with particular attention given to the link between digital technologies and firm-level productivity. So far, much of…

Online brokers and robo advisors frequently use investment simulation tools to visualize portfolio choices and illustrate investment scenarios to their clients. I conduct a survey experiment to study whether…

Default settings strongly increase pension enrollment, especially when savings incentives are high and choices are complex. We show that the effect is weaker when incentives are low, options are simple, and…

Competitive public research funding is an important policy instrument to foster scientific progress. The effective design of such funding schemes and whether they generate knowledge spillovers to industrial…

We conduct a data-based policy evaluation of the first large-scale, EU-wide excess profit tax, implemented during the 2022 European energy crisis to tax the windfall profits of inframarginal electricity…

Companies across industries seek to assess the costs of complying with environmental regulations and meeting voluntary emission targets. This paper develops a carbon abatement cost model for firms operating a…

This paper explores whether the U.S. Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) increased the declaration of trade secrets. Leveraging cross-sectoral variation in the importance of trade secrets prior to the DTSA,…

This paper examines whether multinational enterprises (MNEs) adapt to international anti–tax avoidance regulation by intensifying domestic profit shifting activities. We compile a novel dataset by mapping MNE…

A reform in the German state of Hesse selectively shifted the responsibility for overseeing and enforcing a balanced budget rule at the municipal level. Oversight was transferred from politically affiliated…