News

The search for a suitable childcare offer is often made difficult by an acute shortage in nursery schools places, complicated registration procedures and non-transparent allocation criteria. This leads to great uncertainty for both parents and their employers over when they can return to work, disadvantages for households with a low educational background and avoidable administrative burdens for nursery staff.

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In recent years German and European policymakers have been devoting considerable attention to the issue of green public procurement. By adding green procurement criteria to public sector calls for tender, policymakers hope to encourage the development of environmentally friendly products and processes. ZEW researchers recently examined this issue. Their empirical analysis indicates that green procurement criteria can create an important incentive effect – but not for all firms.

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ZEW Mannheim will hold its 20th Conference on the Economics of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on 7 and 8 July 2022, this year including a PhD workshop and the presentation of the Heinz König Award on 6 July. The objective of the conference is to discuss recent scientific contributions to the economics of ICT and the economics of ICT industries. Theoretical, empirical and policy-oriented contributions are welcome. 

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At the beginning of 2021, economic experts had still expected significantly higher growth and, above all, a considerably lower inflation rate for Germany. For 2022, they hope to see the economic growth actually forecast for 2021 for Germany and Europe. Although the current inflation forecasts are being raised, the annual rate of price increase is estimated to be declining. This is the result of the business cycle tableaus by ZEW Mannheim and the German daily newspaper, Börsen-Zeitung.

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It has long been known that many large corporations park their billions in profits in offshore tax havens – at the expense of society. The global minimum tax is supposed to solve what has led to worldwide resentment in recent years. The idea is that a uniform rate of 15 per cent will make it more difficult for international corporations to optimise their profits bypassing the domestic tax authorities. Whether the global minimum tax delivers what it promises is discussed by Christopher Ludwig, researcher in the ZEW “Corporate Taxation and Public Finance” Department in the latest episode of the #ZEWPodcast Wirtschaft · Forschung · Debatten’/‘Economy · Research · Debates’. The ZEW tax expert also presents the second pillar of the worldwide tax reforms, i.e. the global distribution of profits, and discusses central points of criticism.

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ZEW Mannheim is pleased to announce the 10th Mannheim Conference on Energy and the Environment on 16 and 17 May 2021. Leading experts as well as researchers at all career levels are invited to present and discuss innovative current research in the fields of energy and environmental economics. We aim for the conference to take place hold the conference on site in Mannheim. If required, we may switch to a hybrid format.

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ZEW Mannheim is pleased to announce a conference on ageing and sustainable finance on 6–8 April 2022. The three-day event provides a stimulating environment for in-depth debates on the effects of demographic change and climate change on financial markets and their various players, on the policy implications of recent research, and on new research questions arising from policy responses. One keynote will be given by Professor Koen Schoors from Ghent University in Belgium. A second keynote is being planned.

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What do individuals know about financial issues and how does this influence their savings and consumption decisions? How can financial education support the development of financial knowledge and skills? These and related questions are complex and multifaceted. They were discussed during the inaugural conference of the Mannheim Institute for Financial Education (MIFE), a joint initiative of ZEW Mannheim and the University of Mannheim. The conference took place online on 29 and 30 November 2021 and was followed by an early career workshop on 1 and 2 December 2021.

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The ZEW Sponsors’ Association for Science and Practice again awarded prizes for outstanding academic performances and economic policy advising projects at ZEW Mannheim in 2020/2021. Both prizes, each endowed with 5,000 euros, are an integral part of the academic year at the institute.

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What impact does digitalisation have on the real estate markets and how can we develop a resilient society? These were two of the key questions addressed at this year’s conference of the Leibniz network “Real Estate Markets and Capital Markets” (ReCapNet) on 18 and 19 November 2021, which was jointly organised by ZEW Mannheim and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and sponsored by the KTH Digitalization Platform. Around 100 researchers participated in the event either online or on site in Stockholm. It featured presentations and discussions of twelve selected research papers as well as a keynote speech by Professor Markus K. Brunnermeier from Princeton University.

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