The Public Economics Department analyzes how financial, fiscal, and social policies influence economic decisions made by individuals, households, and companies. The department’s key focus is on fiscal and social policy in Germany, with analyses based on microsimulation models and microeconometric methods. Of particular interest are the behavioral patterns of households, companies, and policy makers, as well as the distributional effects of fiscal and social policy. These are assessed not only at national level, but also at local, regional, and EU levels.