DIW Weekly Report

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Differences in Full-Time Work Experience Explain almost a Quarter of the Gender Pay Gap in Management Positions

Women still earn less than men on average in Germany. This applies to management positions even more: between 2010 and 2016, there was an average gender pay gap of 30 percent in gross hourly earnings. If gender-specific differences in relevant wage determinants are excluded, a pay gap of 11 percent remains. With seven percentage points, full-time work experience explains the gender pay gap to almost ...

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Successful Climate Protection via Rapid Coal Phaseout in Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia

Power generation from lignite and hard coal was responsible for more than a quarter of German greenhouse gas emissions in 2016. Of all federal states, North Rhine-Westphalia is by far the largest carbon emitter. The Growth, Structural Change and Regional Development Commission (also known as “Coal Commission”) among others are currently debating alternative pathways toward a coal phaseout to achieve ...

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Diesel Fuel and Passenger Cars Receive Preferential Tax Treatment in Europe; Reform of Taxation Needed in Germany

Duties and taxes on cars are an important source of revenue for European governments and the tax systems are also designed with the goal of achieving environmental policy objectives. A systematic and quantitative comparison of passenger car taxation in 30 European countries shows significant differences among them. However, in almost every country, the use of vehicles with diesel engines is taxed less ...

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Signs of New Housing Bubble in Many OECD Countries – Lower Risk in Germany

Ten years after the worldwide financial and economic crisis was triggered by the American real estate market, real estate prices are rising around the globe. Concerns about a new housing bubble are growing. The present report based on OECD data for 20 countries demonstrates that this concern is not unwarranted. In eight countries, including the United Kingdom and the USA, the evolution of real estate ...

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The Greek Private Sector Remains Full of Untapped Potential

Private businesses’ nominal value added in Greece has fallen by 38 percent over the last ten years. Micro firms were hit particularly hard. Despite efforts to stabilize the macroeconomic environment, there are only weak signs of recovery. Future prospects are not much better, as—with the exception of labor market regulations—the conditions for investments and business activities have not been sufficiently ...

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Affordable Electricity Supply via Contracts for Difference for Renewable Energy

The cost of renewable energy technology has plunged in recent years. But the extent to which electricity consumers can benefit from the reduced costs depends on the design of renewable remuneration mechanisms. Calculations of a financing model show that the current sliding premium is leading to increasingly higher risks for investments and in turn, increasing equity requirements. As a result, financing ...

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Natural Gas Supply: No Need for Another Baltic Sea Pipeline

The construction of a second Baltic Sea natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany (Nord Stream 2) is very controversial for political, energy economic, and ecological reasons. The project owner and some European energy companies argue that it is a profitable, private-sector investment project that is necessary to secure natural gas supplies for Germany and Europe. However, DIW Berlin analyses show ...

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Net Neutrality: Prioritization Is Beneficial from an Economic Perspective

The principle of net neutrality was adopted by the European Union as a regulation promoting equality among all data packets in the Internet. Considering net neutrality from a purely economic viewpoint, however, the general possibility to prioritize data packets would likely lead to a more efficient use of existing network capacity. This is particularly applicable given the growth in data traffic and ...

Gigabit Access: Germany Lags behind in International Comparison but Demand Is Low

Broadband internet expansion is a topic of widespread discussion in Germany right now. But the country still has not met its own targets. Almost 100 percent of households are supplied with broadband connections with up to six megabits per second, yet Germany has lots of room to catch up when it comes to gigabit-capable connections—particularly in sparsely populated regions. On the demand side, copper ...

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German Economy: Slowdown in Sight

Compared to last year, the German economy is weakening noticeably. Orders from abroad are decreasing and domestic companies are holding back on investments. However, capacity utilization remains high—also because the government will boost the incomes of private households next year. However, above all, incomes are rising noticeably due to the positive situation in the labor market: the unemployment ...

The Global Economy and the Euro Area: Increased Uncertainty Is Dampening Growth

The political conditions for growth are currently dominated by increased uncertainty; this is particularly weighing on investment activity and slowing down the global economy. DIW Berlin is lowering its forecast slightly for this year and the next to 4.1 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively. However, global expansion appears to remain intact. In developed economies, primarily the good labor market ...