Topic Consumers

Social sustainability labels: promises and reality in the example of Fairtrade-coffee

By Pio Baake, Jana Friedrichsen, and Helene Naegele Fairtrade certification is intended to improve both the income and living conditions of producers, thereby creating more fairness in international trade. However, theoretical considerations and empirical studies show that this goal is only achieved to a limited extent, at least for coffee: Faitrade certification leads at best to small increases in ...

Airbnb and Rental Prices: Evidence from Berlin

Retrospective evaluation support study: the Guidelines on Regional State Aid for 2014-2020

In January 2019, the European Commission (“Commission”) launched the evaluation of its State aid rules that were adopted as part of the State aid Modernisation. The evaluation aims to verify if the rules delivered the desired results to European citizens and businesses at a minimum cost and if they are still fit for purpose. Within this process, the Commission entrusted a consortium of...

The 10th Berlin IO Day

The Berlin IO Day is a one-day workshop sponsored by the Berlin Centre for Consumer Policies (BCCP) and supported by the Berlin's leading academic institutions, including DIW Berlin, ESMT Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, and WZB which takes place twice a year, in the Fall and in the Spring. The aim is to create an international forum for high quality...

BCCP Conference and Policy Forum 2018

The tremendous growth of digital transactions has profoundly affected the way we interact, opening vast opportunities to improve our lives. Consumers have benefited from an unprecedented proliferation of new services and products. At the same time, consumers often must process large amounts of imperfect information regarding the products they purchase and services they use. Even more, for many...

Consumers' Costly Responses to Product-Harm Crises

BAMS is a joint seminar by the DIW Berlin, the Hertie School of Governance, the HU Berlin and the WZB.

Disability Benefits, Consumption Insurance, and Household Labor Supply

BAMS is a joint seminar by the DIW Berlin, the Hertie School of Governance, the HU Berlin and the WZB.

Household electricity prices: major savings possible by switching tariffs

Retail electricity prices develop very differently depending on the provider and the tariff – Basic tariffs from default providers increased significantly between 2007 and 2014 while the most affordable tariffs offered in the market remained mostly constant – Providers passed the cost savings from falling wholesale prices on to households to varying degrees The average electricity prices ...

EU Roaming Regulation: theoretical model suggests a positive assessment

Since June 15, 2017, mobile network operators in the European Economic Area may not impose surcharges for making telephone calls, sending text messages, or using data services in other EEA countries. The regulation was designed to create a digital domestic market without adversely affecting consumers. The regulation raises the expectation of changes in mobile network operators’ tariff structures. ...

Financial Education in Schools: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Studies

We study the literature on school financial education programs for children and youth via aquantitative meta-analysis of 37 (quasi-) experiments. We find that financial education treatmenthas, on average, a significant and sizeable impact on financial knowledge (+0.25 SD), similar toeducational interventions in other domains. Additionally, we document small but still significanteffects on financial ...