DIW Economic Bulletin

Ganzes Heft

Digital Copying: No Decrease in Supply: Six Questions to Anselm Mattes

Copyright and Innovation: Fit for Digitization?

It is contentious to what extent the existing copyright system contributes to the positive development of the regulated sectors of society. The present report shows that substantially more musical works and movies have been released in recent years than before the diffusion of digital copying technology. At the same time, the average quality of these works has been stable according to user assessments. ...

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Significant Statistical Uncertainty over Share of High Net Worth Households

The analyses of wealth inequality based on survey data usually suffer from undercoverage of the upper percentiles of the very wealthy. Yet given this group’s substantial share of total net worth, it is of particular relevance. As no tax data are available in Germany, the largest fortunes can only be simulated using “rich lists.” For example, combining the Forbes list, with its approximately 50 German ...

Long-Term Home Care Recipients Are Often Women Who Live Alone: Six Questions to Johannes Geyer

Income and Assets of Care Households in Germany

In 2013, some 2.6 million people received long-term care benefits. The number of benefit recipients has risen by 45 percent since 1998. A good 70 percent of benefit recipients, roughly 1.7 million people, are cared for at home and nearly 30 percent in a nursing facility. There are also a significant number of individuals who are dependent on care but not to such an extent that they are entitled to ...

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ECB Bond Purchases: No Panacea for Deflation: Seven Questions to Kerstin Bernoth and Philipp König

Unchartered Territory: Large-Scale Asset Purchases by the European Central Bank

The European Central Bank (ECB) decided at its Council meeting in January to implement a comprehensive program to purchase bonds, including euro area government bonds. The purchases are intended to anchor the rate of inflation and inflation expectations at below but close to two percent again. Given the lack of experience with this unconventional monetary policy instrument, the ECB is venturing into ...

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Perceptions of Personal Security in Social Media and Search Engines: A Realistic Reflection of Actual Crime Rates?

The most common method of measuring subjective fear of crime in the general population has traditionally been through surveys. With the spread of digital technologies, however, data from social media and search engines could now help researchers learn more about people’s subjective perceptions of certain types of crime. The present article will show that although the analysis of data from social media ...

Regional Crime Rates and Fear of Crime: Distinct North-South Divide - Unified Measurement Methods Needed: Six Questions to Martin Kroh

Regional Crime Rates and Fear of Crime: WISIND Findings

Many people are afraid of falling prey to crime. The present report investigates the extent to which this fear is in line with the actual regional crime rates. This analysis is based on data from a comprehensive database on the fear of crime, combined with police crime statistics (specifically, adjusted crime statistics which factor in the "dark figure" of unreported crime). No evidence was found to ...

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German Economy: Solid Dynamics - Weak Investments: Seven Questions to Ferdinand Fichtner

Upswing in a Subdued Global Economy: DIW Economic Outlook

The German economy continues to recover, and will grow by 2.2 percent in 2015 and by 1.9 percent in 2016. The unemployment rate will further decline, to 6.4 percent this year and 6.1percent in 2016. Inflation, which averages 0.5 percent this year, will be substantially dampened by the slump in oil prices; in 2016 as well, inflation will remain low, at 1.2 percent. The global economy continues in its ...

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Continued and Broad-Based Support for Research and Development of Power Storage Needed: Seven Questions to Wolf-Peter Schill

Power Storage: An Important Option for the German Energy Transition

The German energy transition makes it necessary to increase flexibility in the electricity system. Different forms of power storage may play a part in this, yet there is competition with other options on the production or demand side. In the short term, the further expansion of electricity generation from fluctuating renewables will be possible in Germany without additional power storage facilities. ...