Antibiotics have contributed to a tremendous increase in human well-being, saving many millions of lives. However, antibiotics become obsolete the more they are used as selection pressure promotes the development of resistant bacteria. The World Health Organization has proclaimed antibiotic resistance as a major global threat to public health. Today, 700,000 deaths per year are due to...
The purpose of the project is to measure the digitalisation of the German economy and to track its development over time. The results will serve as an evidence-based framework for decision makers in policy and business. The project comprises several topics. DIW Berlin focuses on the analysis of the productivity effects of digitization.
In sectors of general interests, the economic activity of the state decreased over decades as a consequence of privatisation and liberalisation. Recently, local governments began to remunicipalise in the energy and water sector, thereby creating a new and modern generation of state-owned firms. These firms, however, differ in organisation and production environment from the state monopolists...
Current Project| Firms and Markets, Energy, Transportation, Environment
The project examines the transmission channels between public investment and private investment activity in Germany, estimating the aggregate relationship with econometric models, focusing on the specific effects of individual investment categories (e.g., R & D investment) and areas of responsibility (e.g., Defense, Education, Environment). In view of possible barriers to investment, another...
Current Project| Forecasting and Economic Policy, Firms and Markets
Promoting consumers’ rights, prosperity, and wellbeing are core values of the European Union. A wide array of laws, institutions, and regulations – which can be generally termed as consumer policies – aim at protecting consumers by ensuring adequate and truthful information in the marketplace as well as preventing firms from engaging in unfair and competition-impairing practices....