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SOEP Annual Report 2022

Proximity to Refugee Accommodations Does not Affect Locals’ Attitudes toward Refugees: Evidence from Germany

With the so-called 'long summer of migration' of 2015, there was an urgent need to accommodate many refugees in Germany. This situation was framed as a 'refugee reception crisis', and it revealed diametrically opposed stances within German society. Within this debate, anti-refugee sentiment is often explained with the placement of nearby refugee reception facilities. Conclusive evidence of this claim ...

The Impacts of Global Risk and US Monetary Policy on US Dollar Exchange Rates and Excess Currency Returns

We examine the causal relationship between US monetary policy shocks, exchange rates and currency excess returns for a sample of eight advanced countries over the period 1980M1 to 2022M11. We find that the dynamics of the US dollar exchange rate is the main driver of currency excess returns. The exchange rate is significantly affected by US monetary policy shocks, where the persistence of this shock ...

Achieving net zero: Company transition plans as a tool for forward looking strategy development and reporting?

As an essential element of forward-looking reporting, company transition plans can play an important role in achieving net zero goals. Existing net zero pledges and plans by companies stongly differ in composition and depth and often lack forward-looking pathways to achieve the goal, which makes it hard for stakeholders from the financial sector to systematically assess and consider them in their...

What is the Right Geographic Market Definition?

What is the “right” geographic definition of relevant markets? We study how unexpected and exogenous increases in excise duties in petroleum products were passed-through to retail prices in the Athens region and examine how the degree of the pass-through varies across different geographic relevant markets. Using various definitions of the relevant geographic market, we find that the most...

Mindesteffizienzstandards für Nichtwohngebäude – Wie können sie ihre Wirkung entfalten?

Aktuell wird die Europäische Gebäuderichtline novelliert. Es scheint dabei wahrscheinlich, dass die EU-Kommission die Staaten mit der Einführung von energetischen Mindesteffizienzstandards (Minimum Energy Performance Standards, MEPS) für Nichtwohngebäude beauftragen wird. Dieses Instrument sieht vor, dass zu einem definierten Zeitpunkt (z.B. bis 2030) ein bestimmter Anteil der Bestandsgebäude, die...

Wärmewende für Berlin - Wie wird die Stadt bis 2045 klimaneutral?

Das Land Berlin hat sich verpflichtet, die Ziele des Pariser Klimaschutzabkommens einzuhalten und Klimaneutralität bis 2045 zu erreichen. Neben dem Land haben sich auch die wichtigsten Energieversorger in der Stadt, Vattenfall und Gasag, Klimaziele gesteckt. Das bedeutet, dass die Berliner Wärmeversorgung in den nächsten knapp 15 Jahren von Erdgas auf erneuerbare Quellen umgestellt werden muss.  ...

The EU 2040 target - How can it make climate policies more effective?

In the recently published communication on the EU 2040 Climate Target, the European Commission outlines the final "stepping stone" on the way to EU climate neutrality by 2050. It not only entails reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% until the year 2040 but also outlines transformative developments in key sectors. In our next Berlin Seminar, we will discuss the proposed European strategy...

Forward to the Past: Short-Term Effects of the Rent Freeze in Berlin

In 2020, Berlin introduced a rigorous rent-control policy responding to soaring prices by capping rents: the Mietendeckel (rent freeze). The German Constitutional Court revoked the policy only one year later. Although successful in lowering rents during its duration, the consequences for Berlin’s rental market and close-by markets are per se not clear. This article evaluates the short-term causal supply-side ...

No Evidence for Transactional Effects between Religiosity and Self-Esteem in a Secular Country

This research tests the unique predictions of three different theoretical perspectives on the self-esteem benefits of religiosity: the religiosity-as-a-personal-relationship-with-a-higher-power perspective, the religiosity-as-a-resource perspective, and the religiosity-as-social-value perspective. To do so, we used random-intercept cross-lagged panel models and examined the between- and within-person ...