At just 4.4 percent, the contribution made by nuclear power to meeting the world’s primary energy requirements is marginal and on the decline. The current nuclear power fleet is outdated with around 200 plants due to be phased out over the next ten years compared to as few as 46 new nuclear...

The ongoing corona pandemic is causing a major shock to the global economy. In the coming months, many countries are expected to suffer severe economic downturns. Sealing off entire regions disrupts supply chains, resulting in production losses and falls in consumption. The global economy is...

The spread of the coronavirus worldwide is exerting considerable pressure on the economy. Compounded by the lack of quality data, model uncertainty, and uncertainty over government responses, economic forecasts are subject to even greater uncertainty than usual. It is difficult to predict how...

Women continue to be underrepresented in STEM occupations (science, technology, engineering, and math). Based on a survey among secondary school students in Vienna, we show, for instance, that girls’ career aspirations, interests, and self-assessed skills in STEM fields are related to gender...

By the end of 2020, the European Central Bank (ECB) will present the results of its monetary policy strategy review. What changes are to be expected and what changes are needed? This report covers two areas of the strategy review. First, alternatives to the current definition of price stability...

The European sovereign debt crisis illustrated how the stability of the entire financial system suffers when banks and sovereigns become too intertwined. However, there has been seemingly little success in reducing the bank-sovereign nexus in the decade since the crisis. As this Weekly Report...

The high international capital positions of offshore financial centers (OFCs) have led to increasing research in the area. However, many unanswered questions remain, as OFC activities are secretive by nature and data is sparse. It is, for example, not even clear whether the financial industry...

The coronavirus pandemic has affected the Gulf countries in a particular way. In addition to the direct consequences of the pandemic, the spread of the coronavirus has led to a collapse in demand for the Gulf countries’ most important source of revenue: oil. Its price, which had fallen...

As the German constitution aims for equal living conditions, a huge number of political measures to enhance the conditions in the new states were undertaken after unification (known as the "Aufbau Ost"). In the new states, expenditure per capita rose significantly over the average expenditure of...