News

On 30 and 31 October 2009, ZEW hosted the first conference of the Leibniz network “Real Estate Markets and Capital Markets” (ReCapNet). Launched in early 2009, the international research network aims to investigate the consequences of the growing significance of capital market financing on the real estate markets.

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The demands placed on teachers, schools and universities have never been higher; children are supposed to be prepared for the challenges of a global labour market within an extremely short period of time. What is often overlooked here, explains education economist Friedhelm Pfeiffer, is that a child’s development is to a large extent shaped by their family surroundings. Born in 1958, PD Dr. Friedhelm Pfeiffer studied Economics at the Universities of Freiburg, Bern, and Mannheim. After completing his doctorate, he started working at ZEW, where he is acting head of the ZEW Research Department “Labour Markets, Human Resources and Social Policy”. In 2002, he obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Mannheim. His research interests include the effects of optimised investment in education on individual and overall economic returns as well as the causes and consequences of individuals acquiring both cognitive and non-cognitive skills over the course of their lifetime. Pfeiffer is responsible for coordinating projects within the research network “Non-cognitive skills: Acquisition and Economic Consequences”, a research partnership funded by the Pact for Innovation and Research and involving the Universities of Chicago and Konstanz as well as the Centre for the Economics of Education in London and the Socio-economic Panel in Berlin.

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On 7 and 8 July 2009, the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) hosted a conference on the latest developments in the field of macroeconomics. The event, which was attended by around 60 researchers from Europe and North America, was jointly organised by ZEW and the University of Mannheim.

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The members of the German Council of Economic Experts have elected Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Franz, president of the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim, as their new chairman for a period of three years.

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In February 2009, ZEW President Professor Wolfgang Franz had the pleasure of welcoming the CEO of the Deutsche Telekom AG Réne Obermann for a lecture on the topic “The Future of Telecommunication”. Around 180 invited guests attended the event held within the framework of the lecture series “First-Hand Information on Economic Policy”.

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On the 7th of January 2009 the president of the ZEW, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Franz turned 65. This was duly celebrated in the "Rittersaal" (chevalliers' hall) of the Mannheim Castle on the 5th of February. The following day, on the 6th of February, his former scholars and colleagues organised a research colloquium at the Centre for European Economic Research, as an acedemic honour for Wolfgang Franz.

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At the end of last year, ZEW was invited by the Leibniz Association to present the project “Non-Cognitive Skills: Acquisition and Economic Consequences” as part of the event “Exzellenz durch Vernetzung. Kooperationsprojekte der deutschen Wissenschaftsorganisationen mit Hochschulen im Pakt für Forschung und Innovation” (“Excellence through Networking: Cooperative Projects between German Scientific Organisations and Universities through the Pact for Research and Innovation”). The meeting, which attracted representatives from a number of scientific institutions as well as numerous German lawmakers, took place on 12 November in Berlin.

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On 15 October, the Mannheim Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) and the accounting firm Ernst & Young jointly organised a conference on the recent financial crisis. In his opening speech, Professor Anil Kashyap from the University of Chicago provided valuable insights into the causes and consequences of the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States. Based on his calculations, Professor Kashyap expects subprime-related losses to amount to approximately 500 billion US dollars. These estimates are, however, associated with a number of uncertainties. Not without a trace of irony, he pointed out that the US financial sector has a particular talent for turning defaulting subprime loans into securitised credit exposures with the highest AAA credit rating.

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On 30 October 2008, ZEW received a visit from representatives from the renowned Xiamen University in Southern China. The delegation, headed by the president of the university, Professor Zhu Chongshi, was welcomed by Thomas Kohl, ZEW's Director of Business and Administration. Thomas Kohl gave the visitors an overview of the research conducted at the institute. President Zhu, Professor Hong Yongmiao, Director of the Wang Yanan Institute for Studies in Economics (WISE), Professor Wu Chenxu, Dean of the School of Physics and Mechanical & Electronic Engineering, and Professor Li Qingbiao, Vice Dean of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, were greatly impressed by the work being carried out at ZEW.

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On 20 and 21 October 2008, the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) hosted the second joint research conference, which was organised by ZEW and the Deutsche Bundesbank. This year’s conference focused on price development on the residential real estate market and featured discussions on the determinants of real estate market development and their effects on the real economy and on the relationship between real estate prices and bond or stock prices.

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