History of ZEW

In 1997, Professor Wolfgang Franz assumed the scientific leadership of the institute from Professor Heinz König, who retired in April 1997.

In 1998, the Council of Science and Humanities evaluated ZEW and recommended its inclusion on the “Blue List”. This was a prerequisite for admission into the Leibniz Association, which was achieved in 2005.

In 2001, ZEW received the Initiative Prize for promoting Mannheim as a cultural and economic hub.

In 2003, following an earlier tenure from 1994 to 1998, Professor Wolfgang Franz was reappointed to the German Council of Economic Experts. He assumed its chair in 2009, serving as one of five Economic Experts until the end of 2013.

In 2004, Thomas Kohl took over as managing director of ZEW from the retiring founding director Ernst O. Schulze.

In memory of the founding president of ZEW, the Heinz König Award for outstanding scientific work, endowed with 5,000 euros, was presented for the first time in 2004. It is aimed at young researchers under the age of 35 who have achieved a demonstrable impact in their field of research and strive for widespread knowledge transfer of their results.

The same year also saw the founding of what is now the ZEW Research Unit “Digital Economy”. This unit investigates how digitalisation affects production, innovation and the world of work as well as how digital markets and platforms operate and what is the importance of the underlying digital infrastructures. In its first year, the unit organised the “Conference on the Economics of Information and Communications Technologies”, which is now a leading scientific event in the field of digital economy.

In 2005, ZEW became a member of the Leibniz Association, one of Germany’s four major non-university research organisations. A recommendation by the German Council of Science and Humanities in 1999 was a prerequisite for admission.

The ZEW Research Group “Growth and Business Cycles” began its work, focusing on the development of national economies and the accuracy of economic forecasts.

In 2008, Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel visited ZEW to give a talk as part of the „First-Hand Information on Economic Policy” lecture series. Speaking before approximately 570 guests, she addressed current economic and financial policy issues and outlined key elements of the stimulus package planned for 2009.

In 2009, the institute was successfully evaluated for the first time by the Leibniz Association. On the basis of the excellent evaluation results, the Senate of the Leibniz Association recommended to the federal and state governments that ZEW should continue to be funded as an institution of supra-regional importance and national scientific policy interest.

In 2010, the international research programme “Strengthening Efficiency and Competitiveness in the European Knowledge Economies” (SEEK) , funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg, started at ZEW. Under SEEK, researchers analysed the most pressing questions of European economic policy in an application-oriented manner. After more than ten years, the research programme ended in March 2021.

In 2012, the ZEW Research Data Centre (ZEW-FDZ) was accredited by the German Data Forum (RatSWD). The ZEW-FDZ offers external researchers access to various microdata for scientific use. The data comes from ZEW surveys such as the Mannheim Innovation Panel (MIP) or the ZEW ICT Survey.

In the same year, the Leibniz ScienceCampus Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation (MaCCI) was founded, where ZEW and the School of Law and Economics of the University of Mannheim work together on scientific projects focused on competition, regulation and innovation.

Also in this year, the ZEW Research Group “Competition and Regulation” commenced its work, investigating economic issues in the field of competition and regulation. A particular focus was on network industries, such as the gas and electricity sectors or rail and air transport.

In 2016, Professor Achim Wambach became president of ZEW. He succeeded Professor Clemens Fuest, who moved to the ifo Institute in Munich.

Shortly before this, Achim Wambach took over the chairmanship of the Monopolies Commission, of which he had been a member since 2014, for a period of four years. As an independent body, the Commission advises the German government, legislative bodies and the public on competition policy, competition law and regulation.

In the same year, ZEW purchased its own building in the Quadrat L 7,1 in Mannheim.

In 2017, Professor Achim Wambach took over the position as Chairman of the Verein für Socialpolitik (VfS), one of the largest German-speaking associations of economists, for two years.

ZEW was involved for the first time as a scientific partner in “YES! – Young Economic Solutions” (formerly Young Economic Summit), a Germany-wide school competition focusing on economic and social challenges. The competition is under the patronage of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. The mentored school teams regularly achieve top positions in the competition.

In 2018, ZEW established the Research Group “Market Design”, which is dedicated to the analysis and optimisation of markets. Following an evaluation of the project establishing this area of study, the German Council of Science and Humanities recommends permanent funding for the research field.

In 2019, Professor Irene Bertschek, head of the ZEW Research Unit “Digital Economy” was appointed as a new member of the Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI). EFI’s task is to provide scientific policy advice to the federal government on issues in the fields of education, research and innovation.

In cooperation with the University of Mannheim, ZEW set up a structured PhD training programme, thereby further strengthening scientific exchange. Doctoral training either takes place in the University of Mannheim’s Center for Doctoral Studies in Economics (CDSE) or in its Center for Doctoral Studies in Business (CDSB).

In 2020, ZEW economist Professor Sebastian Siegloch received a starting grant from the European Research Council (ERC).

In 2021, the Research Group “Health Care Markets and Health Policy” began its work, focusing on the analysis of health care markets and the evaluation of health care policy measures.

In 2022, in a joint initiative by ZEW and the University of Mannheim, Professor Tabea Bucher-Koenen and Professor Carmela Aprea founded the Mannheim Institute for Financial Education (MIFE), which is dedicated to the in-depth study of financial education issues.

In the same year, Professor Irene Bertschek, head of the Research Unit “Digital Economy”, was appointed as a member of the German Chancellor’s newly established Future Council.

In 2023, ZEW once again passed the Leibniz Association's evaluation procedure with an excellent rating.

In 2024, Managing Director Thomas Kohl retired. Claudia von Schuttenbach took up the position as his successor. Thomas Kohl had joined ZEW in 1992 and had been its managing director for 20 years.

In October 2024, ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach was appointed to the German Ethics Council. The Council addresses the questions of ethics, society, science, medicine and law, and the consequences of research and development for the individual and society.

In 2025, ZEW researchers analysed, in cooperation with the daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, the financial impacts that the parties’ programmes for the federal election would have on household finance. The study met with great response by media outlets and policymakers.

Professor Irene Bertschek assumed the chair of the Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI) of the German government. She has been a member of the commission since 2019.

As part of the “First-Hand Information on Economic Policy” event series, ZEW was welcoming no fewer than two Nobel laureates in economics to Mannheim. Professor Joshua Angrist (MIT) explored during a talk whether attending elite educational institutions leads to greater economic success. Professor Paul Milgrom (Stanford University) shed light on market mechanisms in online advertising and the role of market design.

At the end of the year, Professor Tabea Bucher-Koenen, head of ZEW’s Research Unit “Pensions and Sustainable Financial Markets”, was appointed to the German federal government’s Pensions Commission. The commission was tasked with developing proposals for a future-proof and intergenerationally fair pension system.

In 2026, Professor Hanna Hottenrott, head of the ZEW Research Unit “Economics of Innovation and Industrial Dynamics”, was appointed as a member of the Scientific Commission of the German Science and Humanities Council. The body advises the federal and state governments on key issues relating to science and research as well as to higher education development.

In the same year, the ZEW Co-Design cooperation platform for evidence-based collaboration between academia and practice was launched. It systematically links excellent economic research with specific issues raised by businesses, institutions and the public sector, developing solutions relevant to economic policy on this basis.

Also in 2026, MatchingTools GmbH was founded as a spin-off from ZEW. The start-up develops solutions for a more efficient, transparent and fair allocation of places that reduce the workload of administrations. The first product on offer is the software solution KitaMatch, designed for the allocation of daycare places.

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) bestowed an honorary doctorate on ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach, PhD to honour his outstanding scientific contributions to market design and competition policy.

ZEW is celebrating its 35th anniversary with many in-house activities throughout the year and a ceremony in November.