Publications of the Research Unit Digital Economy

  1. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 25-071 // 2025

    Using AI Persuasion to Reduce Political Polarization

    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…

  2. Discussion and Working Paper // 2025

    Pro-Productivity Policies in Germany: Same Tools, Different Paths

    This paper examines (the absence of effective) pro-productivity policies in Germany. Peculiarities such as the German reunification, the strong export orientation, the still sizeable manufacturing sector as well…

  3. ZEW-Branchenreport Informationswirtschaft // 2025

    3. Quartal 2025

    • Konjunkturelles Klima hellt sich wieder auf
    • Unternehmen nehmen starke Abhängigkeiten in zentralen Technologiefeldern wahr
  4. Refereed Journal // 2025

    Big Data and Firm-Level Productivity – A Cross-Country Comparison

    Until today, the question of how digitalisation and, in particular, individual digital technologies affect productivity is still the subject of controversial debate. Using administrative firm-level data provided…

  5. ZEW-Branchenreport Informationswirtschaft // 2025

    2. Quartal 2025

    • Getrübte Stimmung in der Informationswirtschaft
    • Unternehmen planen keine Abkehr vom Homeoffice
  6. ZEW Monthly // 2025

    07/2025 – Data

    Data is the fuel of the digital economy, enabling new business models, driving innovation and fundamentally changing decision-making processes. But how can real added value be created from the flood of data –…

  7. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 25-037 // 2025

    “Dance to my Tune!” Discovery Mode and Built-In Recommendation Bias

    We examine the strategic considerations and effects of product placement services in digital content aggregators, focusing in particular on Spotify’s “Discovery Mode”. Discovery Mode introduces bias in users’…

  8. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 25-036 // 2025

    Disclosure Risk for Firms in Combined Firm-Datasets

    Past studies have successfully shown that the level of anonymisation of scientific use files (SUF) is sufficiently high to protect against disclosure attacks that use data from traditional firm databases.…