Deployment subsidies for nascent technologies have moved to the forefront of climate action, industrial policy, and geoeconomics. To limit the substantial fiscal costs of such programs, policymakers routinely employ subsidy schedules that are nonlinear in the quantity agents deploy. However,...

This paper studies how employment subsidies for start-ups shape their performance. We exploit an unexpected policy reform in Belgium that permanently exempted start-ups hiring their first employee from payroll taxes for that employee. Using firm-level administrative data and a...

The resurgence of subsidies and industrial policies has raised concerns about their potential inefficiency and alignment with multilateral principles. Critics warn that such policies may divert resources to less efficient firms and provoke retaliatory measures from other countries, leading to a...

I develop and estimate a life-cycle discrete-choice model of fertility and female labor supply to study the optimal design of a range of child-related policies. First, I examine two German reforms that introduced wage-contingent parental leave payments and expanded access to low-cost public...

Using Chinese firm-level trade data combined with global anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations, we uncover a previously overlooked cost of industrial policy under WTO agreements. At every stage of AD/CVD investigation, subsidies significantly raise the probability of...

This study evaluates the impact of Malta's 2014 childcare reform, a universal Free Childcare Scheme for children aged 3 months to 3 years, on female employment. Using a difference-in-differences (DD) framework and matched DD models, I find that the reform may have increased the probability of...

This study examines the economic and environmental impacts of fossil fuel subsidies in the European Union (EU) during the energy crisis triggered by the 2022 Ukraine war, focusing on their implications for corporate performance and sustainability. Using a panel dataset of 100 publicly listed...

Many governments still help to keep fossil fuels cheap - sometimes by directly paying part of the supply cost (explicit subsidies), and at other times by not including the hidden costs of pollution and health problems they cause in their price (implicit subsidies). But what is the true cost to...

In many countries, subsidies towards higher education and financial aid to students from poorer backgrounds have reduced socio-economic status (SES) gaps in undergraduate study. The increasing importance of graduate studies that are typically more expensive may, however, provide a new avenue for...

The level of government support significantly influences the performance of European railways. However, prior analyses have largely focused on the sector as a whole, neglecting the distribution of public budget contributions between the upstream infrastructure manager and downstream service...

This working paper assesses the economic impact of EIF-supported equity investments in the Lower Mid-Market (LMM) segment across Europe between 2007 and 2023. Using advanced causal inference techniques, the study compares over 1,700 investee firms with a matched control group to isolate the...

Ob Investoren/-innen Photovoltaikanlagen (PV-Anlagen) einführen, hängt stark davon ab, ob es sich für sie lohnt. Hierbei spielen Subventionen eine starke Rolle. Das deutsche Förderprogramm basiert aktuell auf Einspeisetarifen: Eigentümer/innen bekommen für 20 Jahre einen festen Preis...

Am 13. Februar 2025 wurde der zweite Zwischenbericht zur begleitenden Evaluierung des Investitionsgesetzes Kohleregionen (InvKG) und des STARK-Bundesprogramms von den Wirtschaftsforschungsinstituten IWH und RWI veröffentlicht. Die Evaluierung, die im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für...

The global aviation sector underwent an unprecedented shock due to the COVID-19 pandemic, severely disrupting the passenger flows, flight operations, and revenues of Polish airports. In response, the government launched protective measures under the Anti-Crisis Shield and the COVID-19...

Finland offers a subsidy to employers for hiring individuals with low employment prospects. In 2015, changes to the subsidy's funding caused some regions to unexpectedly suspend new subsidy grants. I examine wages and employment in these regions using a differences-in-differences setting, with...

In the digital economy, corporate digital technology innovation is considered pivotal for reshaping industrial competitiveness and establishing national strategic advantages. Using data from China's A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2023, this study examines the influence of government...

The paper aims to recognize the mechanism by which production-linked payments stimulate the inputs of production factors in agriculture and the mechanism for transforming subsidies into remuneration for production factors. The study is theoretical, and the research methods used are economic...

This paper studies the firm-level impact of the world’s largest targeted capital import subsidy program implemented in China. Drawing on rich manufacturing firm survey data, product-level trade transactions, and a comprehensive list of capital goods eligible for subsidies, we exploit variation...

This article compares the environmental and welfare effects of three policies in a polluting managerial duopoly with homogeneous goods: an emissions tax, an abatement subsidy and a policy mix of those two instruments.The article analyzes an emissions reduction policy selection in a managerial...

Using data from China's A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2023, we employ the entropy weight method to create an enterprise-level new quality productive forces (NQPF) index to assess the impact of government subsidies on enterprises' NQPF. Our findings indicate that government subsidies can...