ZEW Discussion Papers

This study examines the evolving landscape of anti-tax avoidance measures in the European Union (EU), focusing on the interplay between the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD), the EU Blacklist Code of Conduct…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is diffusing rapidly in the workplace, yet aggregate productivity gains remain limited. This paper examines the dual diffusion of AI – through both formal, employer-led and informal,…

This paper examines the causal impact of ESG ratings and their divergence on retail investors’ sustainable investment decisions. Using a survey with a framed choice experiment conducted with 2,025 German retail…

Banning money in markets for goods like education or health is a common policy to prevent unfair access by the wealthy. We investigate whether this policy is well-targeted for its intended goal. For this, we…

Rising political polarization generates significant negative externalities for democratic institutions and economic stability, yet scalable interventions to reduce polarization remain scarce. In this paper, I…

The advantages of adaptive experiments have led to their rapid adoption in economics, other fields, as well as among practitioners. However, adaptive experiments pose challenges for causal inference. This note…

How do retirees choose among home equity release products? Despite housing wealth being households’ largest asset, little is known about preferences for different equity release products. We conduct a survey…

We investigate whether firms engage in VAT evasion at the retail stage—typically a point of weakness in VAT systems—in a high-enforcement, low-informality setting. To measure evasion, we exploit a reform of VAT…