News

The research award “Zukunft der Arbeitswelt” (“The Future of the Working World”) will be conferred for the eighth time by the Volksbank Weinheim Foundation in cooperation with ZEW. With the award, the Volksbank Weinheim Stiftung and ZEW aim to honour young economists from the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region. The prizes will be awarded to the best doctoral thesis, endowed with 3,000 euros, and the best master’s thesis, endowed with 2,000 euros. The recipients will have the opportunity to complete a research stay at ZEW. The deadline for submissions is 31 October 2020.

Our weekly view on the current week in Mannheim: ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany.

Digitalisation is changing the way we work; there are more and more tasks that can be automated. In the new episode of the #ZEWPodcast, moderator Carola Hesch talks to ZEW economist Professor Melanie Arntz, who sheds light on which tasks will still require human labour and how the ongoing transformation will change qualification profiles for workers. There is good news for those who are worried about the end of human labour: “The bottom line is that we’re not going to run out of work.” While the first two editions were published in German, there are plans to produce English editions of the podcast as well.

Professor Bernhard Ganglmair took up a professorship of economics with a focus on innovation and competition at the University of Mannheim in mid-July 2020. The appointment of the economist, who has been head of ZEW’s “Competition and Innovation” Junior Research Group since January 2019, will further strengthen the intensive exchange between ZEW Mannheim and the University of Mannheim.

The conference on the Economics of Information and Communication Technologies at ZEW Mannheim has long been considered one of the most important international scientific events in the field of digital economy. The event, which took place for the 18th time, was organised by the ZEW Research Department “Digital Economy” on 2 July 2020 – with one major innovation: Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the event was held virtually for the first time ever and had a reduced programme. With almost 300 international researchers it was extremely successful.

ZEW Mannheim is pleased to announce the Leibniz Network’s twelfth interdisciplinary conference on Real Estate Markets and Capital Markets (ReCapNet). The event will take place online in mid-November 2020 and is open to all researchers interested in the interactions between real estate markets and capital markets. This year's keynote will be given by Edward Glaeser from Harvard University, (in) Cambridge, USA.

How are inequalities changing as a consequence of the coronavirus crisis? What are the big challenges that await us in the world of tomorrow? What can be done to tackle inequalities in the future? Five renowned scholars gave their perspectives on these crucial questions in a special policy session of the ZEW research seminar series, held online on 19 June 2020 with almost 300 participants from all parts of the world.

There was great excitement surrounding the virtual regional final of the YES! – Young Economic Summit: Who would make it to the grand national final? In the end, two teams prevailed – the Albert-Magnus-Gymnasium Stuttgart mentored by economists from ZEW Mannheim, and the European School RheinMain from Bad Vilbel mentored by SAFE Frankfurt. In addition, the Lise-Meitner-Gymnasium from Maxdorf, also mentored by ZEW, received a wildcard for the federal final in September. ZEW President Achim Wambach, who was live on air, emphasised how “great it is that so many teams, so many teachers and researchers continued despite the difficult circumstances.”

Driven by the motto “Together for Europe’s recovery”, the focus of the German presidency of the Council of the EU in the next six months will be on overcoming the coronavirus crisis. ZEW expert on Europe, Professor Friedrich Heinemann, and moderator Carola Hesch have discussed the challenges this will bring for the German government in the new #ZEWPodcast “Wirtschaft • Forschung • Debatten”/“Economy • Research • Debates”. He makes it unmistakably clear that “swift success is important here. Otherwise the European money will not flow until the crisis is over.” While the first edition was published in German, there are plans to produce English editions of the podcast as well.