Is it common for central banks to intervene in foreign exchange markets in order to influence exchange rates? And if so, is it effective? From a German perspective, these questions seem surprising, since the European Central Bank (ECB) does not intervene in foreign exchange markets—rather, it lets the exchange rates float freely. The situation is very different in the emerging countries: according ...
Mr. Menkhoff, foreign exchange market interventions (FX interventions) can be used to influence international exchange rates. Where and how frequently are FX interventions implemented? At present, these interventions take place predominantly in emerging and developing countries. In the countries that use them, an intervention takes place almost one out of every three days. [...]
Kazakhstan envisions a transition towards a green economy in the next decades which poses an immense challenge as the country heavily depends on (hydro-)carbon resources, for both its economy and its energy system. In this context, there is a lack of comprehensive and transparent planning tools to assess possible sustainable development pathways in regard to their technical, economic, and environmental ...
Welcome and Introduction: Jürgen Schupp (Director SOEP)Comments: Markus M. Grabka (SOEP) Abstract:This study examines the state of the middle classes in the U.S. and 11 countries in Western Europe and how their economic wellbeing has changed since 1991. Among Western Europe’s largest economies, the report finds that the shares of adults living in middle-income households increased in...
Faster urbanization plays a key role in the Chinese economic transformation. However, at the Lewis turning point, the hukou institution constitutes a serious risk to the process, as it restricts the access of migrants to public services offered by cities. To attract further migration, firms started to accept a premium on top of the wage. Thus, the social discrimination introduced by the hukou system ...
While previous studies show that the ethnic composition of place of residence and immigrants’ socio-cultural and structural integration correlate, the theoretical linkage and the direction of the hypothesized effect remain debated. In order to explain the relationship, we test classical social capital claims about a mediation effect via social embeddedness and a direct effect via...
This paper investigates the redistributive impact of private and public childcare provision and education on children's resources in Germany between 2009 and 2013. It takes account of the multidimensionality of children's needs and access to economic resources by applying an extended income approach. Combining survey data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) with administrative data from the German ...
