DIW Weekly Report

Ganzes Heft

Real Estate Taxation Reform: Tax Land Values, Abolish Privileges

Real estate is taxed at comparatively low rates in Germany, with primarily the affluent benefiting from numerous existing tax privileges. This Weekly Report describes the current state of real estate taxation in Germany and outlines reform proposals that could increase tax revenue, improve the efficiency of the tax system, and reduce wealth and income inequality. In the case of property tax, value-based ...

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Climate Neutrality Requires Coordinated Measures for High Quality Recycling

For Europe to reach climate neutrality by mid-century, it needs to move toward a circular economy. Waste avoidance, reuse, and recycling save primary resources and avoid emissions in the production of basic materials like steel, cement, and plastics. Without exploring circular economy potentials, switching production to climate-neutral processes alone would result in significant costs and tremendous ...

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The Case of Deutsche Telekom: How Stock Market Crashes Can Persistantly Affect Household Investment Decisions

Since decades, only one fourth of German households invest in shares. One exception was during the three IPOs from 1996 to 2000 of the Deutsche Telekom, which gave Germans a taste to enter the stock market. However, the fall in the share price shortly after the second IPO, followed by corruption scandals of the company, put an end to their enthusiasm. The present study based on SOEP data shows that ...

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German Economy: Uncertainty Remains despite Rebound: DIW Economic Outlook Summer 2021

By lifting lockdown measures as coronavirus case numbers are rising and the vaccine rollout is proceeding slowly, the German economy is being sent on a stop-go course. Re-opening measures will probably be followed by renewed closures, at least regionally, in order to keep the spread of COVID-19 under control. Nevertheless, industry is robust overall, primarily due to good foreign business. In the service ...

Global Economy: Advanced Economies Facing a Strong Upturn: DIW Economic Outlook Summer 2021

Global recovery is progressing more slowly than was indicated in 2020 due to high coronavirus rates and related economic restrictions in Europe and Japan. Recently, a disparate picture has been forming: In the advanced economies, declining infection rates and continued progress in vaccination campaigns will presumably lead to a revival that will be especially noticeable in the retail and service sectors ...

German Economy with Delayed Recovery; Industry in a Tight Spot: Editorial

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ECB Policy Facilitating Corporate Financing in the Green Bond Market

The green bond market has grown strongly in recent years, especially in the euro area. With regard to the European Union’s climate targets, it is likely that the demand for green bonds—bonds that specifically support sustainable projects— will continue to increase in the future. The European Central Bank (ECB) is buying green bonds as well and is planning to reorient its strategy towards more sustainability. ...

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Mobile Phone Network Expansion in Sparsely Populated Regions in Germany: Roaming Benefits Consumers

As part of the 2019 frequency allocation process for mobile communications, the Federal Network Agency required network providers to achieve a certain level of mobile network coverage for the population. Cooperation between different network providers was also permitted for the first time, although it was not specified what forms of cooperation are permitted. Using a model, this report shows that providers ...

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Income Inequality in Germany Stagnating over the Long Term, But Decreasing Slightly during the Coronavirus Pandemic

Both wages and needs-adjusted household income increased by ten percent between 2013 and 2018, benefiting all income groups. Wage inequality has been declining for many years and has now again reached the level of the early 2000s. At the same time, the low-wage sector shrank by two percentage points. Household income inequality, in contrast, has hardly changed for many years and the low-income rate ...

Ganzes Heft

Ganzes Heft

Child Health during the First Coronavirus Lockdown in Germany: Fewer Treatment Cases and Fewer Diagnoses of Infections

During the first coronavirus lockdown in Germany in spring 2020, treatment cases of children in outpatient care declined by up to 20 percent. As this study based on administrative diagnosis data of all statutory health insurance companies in Germany shows, there were significantly fewer physical diseases, such as infections, diagnosed in one to 12-year-old children in the second quarter of 2020 compared ...

Refugees’ Mental Health during the Coronavirus Pandemic: Psychological Distress and Continued Loneliness

Many people are suffering from the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. Refugees, however, belong to one of the underpriviliged groups in many areas of society. They are more likely than average to live in overcrowded living quarters such as community housing and are thus exposed to a higher risk of infection. At the same time, even before the pandemic, they were more likely than average to experience ...