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The coronavirus crisis has not only severely affected many European countries, but is also putting European cohesion to the test. While the Member States and institutions such as the European Parliament and the European Commission are largely united on the need for a European response to the crisis, there is still disagreement on how the aid measures should be implemented. Who will provide the financial means? Should their allocation be linked to reform conditions? And what will happen after the crisis?

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We are currently experiencing the fourth industrial revolution, as the radical breakthrough of artificial intelligence (AI) has taken digitalisation to a new level. Intelligent systems are connecting with each other in real time, they are capable of dealing with everyday situations and even develop creativity. And this is only the beginning. This was the main message of the talk held by Professor Sabina Jeschke, member of the Management Board for Digitalization and Technology at Deutsche Bahn AG, at ZEW Mannheim as part of the event series “First-Hand Information on Economic Policy”.

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It’s not just a new year, but a new decade. What’s in store for Germany, Europe, and the world? In his first New Year’s Lecture at ZEW Mannheim on Thursday, 23 January, ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach talked about which developments will determine the global economy in the near future – and how the EU can position itself to compete with the other two major economic powers, China and the USA.

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Strengthening the exchange of knowledge and technology between universities, public research institutes, and firms is a key policy priority in Germany. At the same time, indicators on the extent and content of transfer processes between the two sectors are largely missing. How to proceed on this challenge was at the centre of a conference that took place in Berlin on 11 October 2019. Jointly organised by ZEW Mannheim and Stifterverband and supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the event provided an opportunity for intensive exchange to its more than 130 participants. High-ranking representatives of companies, associations, research institutions, and from the world of politics delved into the details of technology and knowledge transfer.

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At a kick-off workshop on 9 May 2019, project partners of ZEW, the University of Mannheim and the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), joined by a stakeholder advisory board consisting of representatives from the government and the German industry, came together to discuss the objectives of a new research project on climate policy. The project “Evaluating Policy Instruments for the Transformation to a Low Carbon Economy: Causal Evidence from Administrative Micro Data” (TRACE) investigates the impact of climate policy regulations on the competitiveness, energy consumption and employment of the German industry. TRACE is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research through its funding priority “Economics of Climate Change”.

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The European sovereign debt crisis has underlined the economic and financial vulnerability of the euro area. In the event of another crisis, public debt can quickly rise to an unsustainable level. Hence, alternatives are needed to mitigate future debt crisis. One possibility would be to introduce a sovereign debt restructuring mechanism (SDRM), a kind of international insolvency procedure. The Lunch Debate on 28 March 2019 in the Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the European Union in Brussels organised by the ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research in cooperation with the research network EconPol Europe, brought together experts who discussed this pressing issue.

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Christmas is just around the corner and the annual hunt for presents has begun. But what does economics say about the sense and nonsense of gift-giving? Should the tradition of gift-giving be abolished from a rational point of view – or is there a good justification for it? This was the subject of discussion of a Christmas lecture by ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach and Professor Axel Ockenfels, economist at the University of Cologne, at the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim.

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How can we design a sustainable tax system that can meet future economic and societal challenges on the national, European and global level? This is one of the questions addressed at the fifth international annual MaTax conference in Mannheim in the beginning of October 2018. The conference was organised by ZEW and the University of Mannheim within the framework of the Leibniz ScienceCampus “Mannheim Taxation” (MaTax).

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The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation jointly organised this year's Beijing Humboldt Forum in the Chinese capital on 15–16 September 2018. Within the framework of the event, ZEW organised a session entitled “Assessing the Economic Impact of Environmental and Innovation Policies in China and Europe”. During the session, ZEW researchers engaged in a discussion with international guests regarding the role of environmental, energy and innovation policies for the economic development of the EU and China.

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A small stretch of land between the Californian cities of San Francisco and San Jose has been setting the pace for digital transformation around the globe. Often referred to as Silicon Valley, this small area is home to the headquarters of the world’s leading tech firms and start-ups and around a quarter of all venture capital worldwide. The question is, what can Germany learn from the example of Silicon Valley and how can we use this knowledge and the resources we already possess to avoid falling (further) behind in this technological race to the top? Finding new strategies and digital solutions for German businesses was the focus of an event organised jointly by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, and the Baden-Württemberg Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour and Housing held at the Baden-Württembergische (BW) Bank in Stuttgart.

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