Geopolitical frictions and high levels of uncertainty in US policy are driving countries to reduce dependence on the US dollar and implement new policies to promote their own currencies for settling cross-border trade. This Weekly Report analyzes the reactions of firms to such measures, focusing on China’s efforts to promote the renminbi globally. Leveraging detailed French customs data, the findings ...
Attitudes toward fiscal policy differ: fiscal conservatism and fiscal liberalism vary in their willingness to tolerate budget deficits. We challenge the view that such attitudes reflect national preferences. Instead, we offer an economic explanation based on a two-country Heterogeneous Agent New Keynesian model, bringing its implicit political economy dimension to the forefront. We compute the welfare ...
The public’s perceived sense of safety influences many domains in significant ways: It impacts individual behavior, life quality, consumption behavior, and even political views as well as government action. Using data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and the German Federal Government’s 2024 Gleichwertigkeitsbericht (Equivalence Report), the development as well as the regional and social distribution ...
Competition authorities increasingly rely on economic screening tools to identify markets where firms deviate from competitive norms. Traditional screening methods assume that collusion occurs through secret agreements. However, recent research highlights that firms can use public announcements to coordinate decisions, reducing competition while avoiding detection. We propose a novel approach to screening ...
As the baby boomer generation enters retirement, the payas- you-go pension system in Germany is under an increasing amount of pressure. Relevant changes, in particular higher contribution rates or lower pension levels, are causing tension between generations: Either the financial burden on the younger generations is increased or the risk of insufficient pensions and old-age poverty for the elderly ...
Many governments consider new nuclear power plants to promote decarbonization. On the one hand, dispatchable nuclear plants can complement fluctuating generation from wind and PV. On the other hand, escalating construction costs and times raise economic concerns. This paper investigates the economic threshold at which nuclear plants are an efficient decarbonization option. Building on an extensive ...
This dissertation comprises four chapters that contribute to the literature on labor economics, with a particular focus on labor market challenges associated with population aging. As demographic change leads to growing labor shortages, two key strategies have emerged to mitigate its effects: increasing immigration and promoting higher labor force participation among older workers. The first two chapters ...
