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 European Commission (DG Competition) commissioned an international consortium of DIW Berlin together with E.CA Economics, LEAR, University of East Anglia and Sheppard Mullin with a background study on State aid in the field of environmental protection and energy. The results of the study will support the Commission in the revision of the EU Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection...
Current Project| Firms and Markets, Climate Policy
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....
As part of the evaluation process of the current State aid rules, the European Commission has awarded to the consortium of Lear, DIW Berlin, and Sheppard Mullin, a specific contract to carry out a study of the EU rules for State aid facilitating access to finance for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). These rules comprise the Guidelines on State aid to promote risk finance investments (RFG) and...
Scarce resources, the rising demand for agricultural products and growing land-use competition between the production of energy and food have increased the importance of strategies for food security. In the research project “Global Food Markets: Global Food Security – Challenges for Production and Consumption” both supply and demand-oriented approaches that can realize...
Completed Project| Firms and Markets, Public Economics