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Fiscal Capacity of German Federal States: East-West Gap Narrows, but Rich-Poor Divide Grows

Even now, 35 years after German unification, the economic power and fiscal capacity of the eastern German federal states remain below average. In Germany’s system of fiscal federalism, this leads to substantial financial transfers, a fact that repeatedly triggers political debate. Thereby, the low tax revenue of the economically weak states is also a consequence of the tax system—and by no means a ...

Productivity: East-West Gap Replaced by Urban-Rural Gap

In 1991, the average labor productivity of the then-new federal states (plus West Berlin) only reached nearly half of the total national productivity level. Since then, the average labor productivity of these states has climbed up to nearly 90 percent. However, the ranking of the individual states has barely changed: Hamburg and the southern German states are still at the top, while most eastern German ...

Occupational recognition of refugees: Effects on labor market outcomes, remittances, and life satisfaction (with Selina Gangl and Matthias Collischon)

Many high-income economies strive to integrate recently immigrated refugees and asylum-seekers into their labor markets. We contribute to the discussion of relevant policy tools and use rich survey data that are matched to precise administrative records on refugee immigrants to Germany. We study the impact of occupational recognition decisions on refugee outcomes. Applying a difference-in...

Timing of School Entry and Personality Traits in Adulthood

This paper investigates the long-run consequences of a later school entry for personality traits. For identification, we exploit the statutory cutoff rules for school enrollment in Germany within a regression discontinuity design. We find that relatively older school starters have persistently lower levels of neuroticism in adulthood. This effect is entirely driven by women, which has important...

Narratives on the Distributional Impact of Climate Policy Can Fuel Populism

Populist parties use narratives about social injustice to portray climate policy as elite-driven and socially unjust. This study— based on a survey experiment with some 1,600 participants— examines how three common narratives about the costs associated with climate policy affect populist and climate-populist attitudes. The results show that the narrative highlighting the disproportionate burden on ...

Working group socio-ecological transformation

As part of their research on socio-ecological transformation (SET), researchers from various departments at DIW Berlin are examining the risks, costs, and benefits of this transformation for private households, businesses, and government actors in Germany and Europe. Building on the institute's previous focus areas, DIW Berlin researchers are particularly interested in economic and social science issues ...

Register now for the “2nd Leibniz Open Science Day 2025: Better Science for Better Policies”

SOEP/DIW Berlin (together with ZBW, WZB, and RWI) is pleased to announce that registration is now open for the "2nd Leibniz Open Science Day 2025: Better Science for Better Policies", taking place on 27 October 2025 at the Leibniz-Association, Berlin.  This year’s keynote will be delivered by Prof. Johanna Rickne (Stockholm University). The program is now available and highlights the growing role of ...

Joint Economic Forecast Autumn 2025: Fiscal stimulus masks structural weakness

The German economy is emerging from the trough and is likely to regain some momentum over the next two years. Following stagnation in the first half of the year, the Joint Economic Forecast project group predicts gross domestic product growth of 0.2 percent for the current year in its fall report. In the next two years, an expansionary fiscal policy is likely to accelerate economic growth noticeably ...

Different narratives on the effects of climate policy have a measurable impact on populist attitudes across various population groups

The Impact of Private Hosting on the Integration of Ukrainian Refugees in Germany

Amid the Ukrainian displacement crisis, private hosting of refugees in Europe has surged, yet its impact on integration remains understudied. This research examines the short- to medium-term effects of private hosting on Ukrainian refugee integration in Germany. Using data from one of the largest non-profit platforms that matches private hosts with refugees, we compare the multidimensional integration ...