News

From 31 January until 4 March 2011, Nicolas Classen is Visiting Researcher at the ZEW Research Department "Industrial Economics and International Management" within the STRIKE network funded by COST. At ZEW, Classen, a PhD student at Maastricht University, will be conducting research on the topic "Innovation in family-owned businesses" along with the Mannheim Innovation Panel.

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From 1 Febuary 2011 to 31 March 2011, Dr. Reinald Koch is Visiting Researcher at the ZEW Research Department "Corporate Taxation and Public Finance". He is senior research assistant at the Institute for Domestic and International Taxation at the Georg-August-University Göttingen. His research focuses on group taxation in Europe, empirical analysis of tax induced behavioural responses and corporate microsimulation. During his research stay at ZEW, he will investigate the fiscal consequences of a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base for the European Union.

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December 2010 saw the course on “Strengthening Macroeconomic Policies” at ZEW in Mannheim come to an end. Over the course of ten weeks, participants from government institutions in China and Vietnam had attended the course, which included sessions on fiscal and monetary policy, labour and financial markets as well as development strategies. All participants successfully completed the course and attended an official closing ceremony where they received their course certificates and congratulations from ZEW’s Director of Business and Administration, Thomas Kohl, and ZEW President Professor Wolfgang Franz. The training programme, which was run by the ZEW Service Department “Knowledge Transfer & Qualification Programmes” on behalf of InWEnt – Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung, will be held again in the autumn of 2011.

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In 2010 ZEW took part for the very first time in a campaign to share knowledge in economics with students at a school in a socially disadvantaged area of Chicago. Eighth-grade students were introduced to key economic ideas in a series of lessons, which were provided in cooperation with the Universities of Washington and Chicago. One of these lessons was developed by ZEW economists Dr. Susanne Neckermann and Jan Hogrefe and broadcast in the United States in a live internet session. This type of instruction greatly motivates students to become engaged with economic issues, which is a major aim of ZEW.

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In October, the number of people unemployed in Germany dipped below the 3-million mark for the first time in a long while. In the face of a healthy labour market, firms are increasingly calling for more skilled immigrants because they are not enough domestic applicants with sufficient qualifications. Dr. Holger Bonin, head of the Research Department “Labour Markets, Human Resources and Social Policy” at ZEW explains what steps need to be taken to tackle this skills shortage. Dr. Holger Bonin completed his doctorate in economics at the University of Freiburg in 2000. Following research positions at the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) and DIW Berlin (the German Institute for Economic Research), Bonin joined ZEW as head of the Research Department “Labour Markets, Human Resources and Social Policy” in 2007. Bonin’s research interests include issues relating to employment and low-skilled workers, wage flexibility, the economic effects of an ageing population and migration as well as risk tolerance among employees.

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From 15th February 2011, the monthly ZEW Newsletter will also be available in English. Our international readers can stay informed on the same issues discussed in the German-language newsletter through the ZEW Newsletter English Edition, which is sent out once a month via e-mail. As this is a translation of the German edition, the English newsletter will generally be sent out roughly two weeks after the German ZEW Newsletter.

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Since 1998, Prognos AG, Basel, and the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, have conducted a quarterly survey of 300 experts in the field of transport about the development of transport markets. The resulting ZEW/ProgTrans Transport Market Barometer is widely respected in economic publications and among experts in the field, and can be downloaded at http://www.zew.de/transportmarktbarometer. This year has seen the publication of the 50th edition of the ZEW/ProgTrans Transport Market Barometer. Each quarterly survey consists of a brief questionnaire for the participating experts to fill out. As compensation for their efforts, the survey participants get to be the first to see the complete analysis and discussion of the results. Interested experts in the transport and shipping sectors can ask to join the panel of surveyed experts.

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The ICT sector is one of the most innovative sectors in Germany, with 7 per cent of revenue going into innovative projects. Germany is also a leading centre of technology for ICT (information and communication technologies) on the international arena, with 12 per cent of all ICT patents originating in Germany. As a cross-sectional technology, ICT also provides the impetus for innovations in other branches of the economy. This year, around 40 per cent of innovative companies introduced ICT-based innovations. This study underlines the central role played by ICT in Germany’s position as a location for innovation, as well as highlighting the opportunities offered by new innovation trends such as cloud computing, more efficient internet connections and intelligent networks in terms of the development of new business models and services and tackling future issues affecting our society.

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Take a close look at your advent wreath. Was is made out of dried leaves when you bought it or did you opt for a fresh one? You might ask whether this is anyone’s business but your own. Well, apparently the German tax office wants to know. This is because, under German tax law, in the former case the regular value-added tax rate (19 per cent) applies, while in the latter the lower rate (7 per cent) is charged. Given that the tax authorities are fully aware of how resourceful would-be tax avoiders can be, in this case they have decided to take firm precautionary measures. Therefore, according to the Federal Ministry of Finance, dried moss cannot become fresh moss again, even if you add water, at least for tax purposes.

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As in previous years, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Franz, ZEW President and Chairman of the German Council of Economic Experts, presented the main results of the new Annual Report 2010/2011 in Berlin, Brussels, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe.

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