1. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 24-038 // 2024

    The Fiscal Architecture of the EU Cohesion Policy

    In its current setup, the European Union is often characterised as slow, decision-impeding, inefficient and therefore not really ready for enlargement. The pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and the…

  2. Non-Refereed Journal // 2024

    Alleinerziehende in der Betreuungsplatzvergabe: Status quo und Handlungsempfehlungen

    Alleinerziehende Eltern und ihre Kinder profitieren besonders von frühkindlichen Bildungs- und Betreuungsangeboten. Dennoch erhalten in Deutschland knapp ein Drittel der Alleinerziehenden mit Betreuungsbedarf…

  3. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 24-035 // 2024

    Do Politicians Affect Firm Outcomes? Evidence from Connections to the German Federal Parliament

    We study how connections to German federal parliamentarians affect firm dynamics by constructing a novel dataset to measure connections between politicians and the universe of firms. To identify the causal…

  4. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 24-036 // 2024

    Framing Effects in Consumer Expectations Surveys

    In a randomized experiment embedded in a survey, I test the effects of variations in question wording and format on consumer response behavior and the corresponding inflation expectations. To this end, survey…

  5. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 24-034 // 2024

    Enhancing Objectivity and Decision Relevance: A Better Framework for Evaluating Cohesion Policies

    By international comparison as well as compared to other EU policies, the EU‘s Cohesion Policy (CP) evaluation system is far developed and institutionalized. This paper analyses the remaining gaps and…

  6. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 24-031 // 2024

    Cluster Policy, Innovation, and Firm Productivity. An Econometric Assessment of the Flemish Spearhead Cluster Program

    The Flemish government launched its Spearhead Cluster (SHC) policy in 2017. The aim is to boost strategic sectors by setting up cluster initiatives which coordinate collaborative R&D initiatives. In this paper,…

  7. ZEW Annual Report // 2024

    2023

    The Middle East conflict, two years of war in Ukraine, four years of stagnation – the increasingly uncertain situation took its toll on the economy and society in 2023. At the same time, Germany and Europe are…

  8. M&A Report // 2024

    May 2024

    • ZEW M&A Index Remains Low in Early 2024
    • Mergers and Acquisitions in Climate Solutions Manufacturing
    • Cross-Border M&A Activities with Russia Continue despite Ukraine War
    • Why Do Companies Engage in M&A?
  9. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 24-033 // 2024

    Consumer Search and Firm Strategy With Multi-Attribute Products

    I analyze a model of directed search in which a consumer inspects a finite number of products sharing attributes with each others. The consumer discovers her valuation for the attributes of the inspected…

  10. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 24-032 // 2024

    Search on a Grid: Directed Consumer Search With Correlated Products

    The consumer search literature mostly considers independently distributed products. In contrast, I study a model of directed search with infinitely many products whose valuations are correlated through shared…