Labor markets in low- and middle-income countries are characterized by high levels of informality. A multitude of interventions have been implemented to increase the formalization of firms and workers, including information campaigns, simplified registration procedures, reductions of payroll taxes, and interventions enforcing formalization. We compile a database of 170 impact estimates from 38 academic ...
The new Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung 2/2020 contain seven articles on the topic of development banks and why these are not only of great importance in the corona crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic is hitting, directly and indirectly, economies throughout the world. While the pandemic is far from over, countries are searching for ways to enhance a quick recovery of their economies. Among others, ...
The European Commission (DG Competition) commissioned an international consortium of DIW Berlin together with E.CA Economics, LEAR, University of East Anglia and Sheppard Mullin with a background study on State aid in the field of environmental protection and energy. The results of the study will support the Commission in the revision of the EU Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection...
The deployment of a safe and effective vaccine for Covid-19 will be central to lifting containment measures. In a bid to speed up vaccine deployment, governments are entering into ‘Advance Purchase Agreements’ (APAs) with vaccine companies to secure access to vaccine doses. We document and compare the vaccine procurement strategies of the US and the EU. Most notably, we find that both...
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 that previously were simply too costly to be developed and marketed to customers. These digital interactions create vast amounts of data. While firms are already using...
On 2 June 2020 DG Competition of the European Commission published several support studies on the retrospective evaluation of State aid rules. This “Fitness check” will serve as a basis for future Commission’s decisions about whether to further prolong or update the rules expiring in 2020. The consortium of DIW Berlin, Lear, Sheppard Mullin and UEA Consulting under the leadership ...
This is an online seminar using Webex. You will receive the login data with the invitation to the talk. Abstract: In the last ten years, Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft (GAFAM) acquired more than 400 companies, predominantly in the technological sector. Competition authorities did not scrutinize most of these transactions, as they did not reach the traditional thresholds,...
Already after the financial crisis in 2008/2009 there was a debate on whether elements aiming at sustainable development can be part of the stimulus packages and support the recovery of the economy. Despite the instinct of policy makers to prioritise battle-tested policies during a crisis, significant levels and different types of climate-friendly components were integrated in the 2009 stimulus...
This is an online seminar using Webex. You will receive the login data with the invitation to the talk. Abstract: This paper analyzes the relationship between common ownership – when two firms are partially held by the same investor – and markups. Combining firm-level financial data from Europe with ownership data of publicly listed firms, we structurally estimate production...
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