Now that Germany’s current-account surplus has reached a record €270 billion ($285 billion), or close to 8.7% of GDP, the ongoing debate about its economic model has intensified. Eurozone politicians and Donald Trump’s administration in the United States are each blaming the other for the economic imbalance; and all are blaming the euro. Trump’s administration, for its part, ...
This workshop brings together high profile junior researchers from leading universities in Europe and the US, who present recent work on the nexus of firms and productivity in developing economies. The workshop is jointly organized by researchers from the DIW and the University of Munich (LMU). Attendance by invitation!
Do increased instruction hours improve the performance of all students? Using PISA scores of students in ninth grade, we analyse the effect of a German education reform that increased weekly instruction hours by two hours (6.5 percent) over almost five years. In the additional time, students are taught new learning content. On average, the reform improves student performance. However, treatment effects ...
Aufgrund der Festlegung des gesetzlichen Mindestlohns als Stundenlohn müssen valide Informationen, zu Bruttostundenlöhnen aus den Angaben zu Monatsentgelten und wöchentlichen Arbeitszeiten, berechnet werden. Dieser Beitrag vergleicht methodisch sowie empirisch das Sozio-oekonomische Panel und die Verdienst(struktur)erhebung. Demnach bestehen grundlegende konzeptionelle Unterschiede, in der Stichprobenziehung ...
This paper analyzes the effect of agglomeration economies on firms’ total factor productivity. We propose the use of a control function approach to overcome the econometric issue inherent to the two-stage approach commonly used in the literature. Estimations are conducted separately for four industry groups, defined by technological intensity, to allow for non-uniform effects of agglomeration economies ...
First study using official company records — more knowledge-based capital increases productivity — some sectors are already investing more in knowledge-based capital than in machines and buildings — economic policy must take a holistic approach towards investments Every year in Germany, around 200 billion euros are invested in knowledge-based capital, such as research and development ...
Despite increasing access to university education, students from disadvantaged or non-academic family backgrounds are still underrepresented in universities. In this regard, the economics literature has focused on the role of financial constraints as a cause of these observed differences in educational choices. Our knowledge of potential effects of other constraints regarding university education is ...