There has been a universal statutory minimum wage in Germany for a good four years, but many employees still do not receive it. This is the finding of new calculations based on the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), which have updated noncompliance with the minimum wage for 2017. Even conservative...

Ten years after the 2008 financial crisis, in the euro area investment is still below the pre-crisis level. Public and private investment growth is so weak that capital per worker (capital intensity) has virtually remained constant. An increase in public investment activity could ultimately...

The efficiency of the German economy is powered by its knowledge-intensive industrial and services sectors. Yet the use of knowledge capital to drive innovation and productivity in Germany is rather low compared to other European countries and the United States. Germany is clearly lagging...

The debate on effective climate protection is heating up in Germany and the rest of the world. Nuclear energy is being touted as 'clean' energy. Given the circumstances, the present study analyzed the historical, current, and future costs and risks of nuclear energy. The findings show that...

Housing prices in many countries have increased significantly over the past years, fueling a fear that speculative price bubbles will return. However, it can be difficult for policymakers to recognize when regulatory interventions in the market are necessary to counteract bubbles. This report...

After developing at an increasingly slower pace over the decades, labor productivity in Germany has recently stagnated. This is in contrast to the development of the workforce's qualifications, which have been growing steadily due to rapid academicization. These phenomena can be found in other...

German voters in the 2019 European election showed remarkable regional differences in their voting behavior. The Green Party surged in West German districts, while the AfD further consolidated its successes in East Germany. Investigating structural differences at the district level reveals that...

Residential heating accounts for almost one-fifth of Germany's final energy consumption. This report evaluates an extensive database of heating bills for buildings with two or more apartments, representing more than two-thirds of the total housing stock in Germany. Despite commitments to...

More than one in four patents that major German companies apply for is based on inventions from their research laboratories abroad. In three quarters of the cases, the companies have focused on technologies in which they are very strong at home. Therefore, to a great extent the technological...

The ongoing trade conflicts initiated by the US and the uncertainty surrounding Brexit are negatively affecting the global economy. Global trade and investment activity, and thus in many places industrial output, are the areas most impacted. Consumption, however, is continuing to support the...