ZEW Discussion Papers

A robust Research & Innovation (R&I) ecosystem is essential for progress, economic resilience, and addressing complex challenges. At the heart of this ecosystem, knowledge fuels innovation and further discovery.…

We investigate whether family ownership is associated with a preference for patents or trade secrets. Using a sample of S&P 500 firms, we show that family ownership is negatively associated with patenting and…

China’s special economic zones (SEZs) have been established to foster business growth and innovation by improving the institutional context of specific sub-regional areas. We examine the effect of SEZs on the…

This study estimates the causal impact of Airbnb expansion on local housing prices by exploiting the 2017 total solar eclipse as a natural experiment. The eclipse’s path of totality created a exogenous temporary…

Public procurement requirements and voluntary standards are increasingly used to foster environmental product innovations. However, quantitative evidence on their individual and joint effects is absent, and…

Maternity unit closures are increasingly common in areas with low birth rates, resulting in diminished competition between units. We examine how competition affects the quality and amenities of the remaining…

We study firm responses to local policies through a survey experiment, providing randomized information on the competitiveness of business tax rates and highway access in their headquarters’ municipality. Firms…

Educational tracking—separating students into tracks or schools by ability — is commonplace, but access and preferences for top programs often depend on socioeconomic status (SES), reinforcing inequality. We…

Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) have become a key antipoverty policy in Latin America in the last 25 years. The ultimate goal of this kind of programs is to break the intergenerational transmission of poverty…