Publikationen des Vorstandsbereichs

New Government’s Policies Give the Thriving German Economy an Additional Boost

The German economy will grow by 2.4 percent this year, especially due to strong foreign demand. Brisk investment activity continues in this economic climate; stimulus from foreign trade, however, is weakening somewhat. Despite strong consumer demand in the coming quarters, employment and economic output growth are losing momentum. However, stimulus measures from the new federal government will increase ...

New Government Prolongs German Economic Upswing: Editorial

German Right-Wing Party AfD Finds More Support in Rural Areas with Aging Populations

This study examines in which setting the German political party Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD) performed well in the 2017 parliamentary elections. The AfD’s popularity was relatively high in electoral districts with an above-average amount of craft businesses, a disproportionately high amount of older residents and workers in the manufacturing sector, and—applicable mainly ...

Financial Sector: Proportion of Women in Top Decision-Making Bodies Is Increasing More Slowly Than at the Beginning of the Decade—Equal Gender Representation Is Still a Long Way Off

Over the past year, the proportion of women serving on the executive and supervisory boards of the top 100 largest banks in Germany rose slightly to almost nine and 23 percent, respectively. However, growth has come to a halt in the 60 largest insurance companies: on both executive and supervisory boards, the proportion of women has sunk to almost nine and 22 percent, respectively. For over ten years, ...

Top-Decision Making Bodies of Large Businesses: Gender Quota for Supervisory Boards Is Effective—Development Is Almost at a Standstill for Executive Boards

The gender quota for supervisory boards in Germany is effective: by the end of 2017, the proportion of women on the supervisory boards of a good 100 companies that are subject to the quota had risen to 30 percent—three percentage points more than in the previous year. Almost two-thirds of the companies now have supervisory boards with at least 30 percent female members. A European comparison also shows ...

The Consequences of Inequality: A New Measure of Human Development

Marking the 20th anniversary of the Human Development Index (HDI), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has published a revised measure that also accounts for inequality (IHDI). Countries subject to severe social disparities, particularly Central and South American countries, perform worse than under the classic HDI. Even if the revised measure does not yield fundamental changes in ranking, ...

Internationalization of the Chinese Renminbi: An Opportunity for China

China has taken first steps hinting at an internationalization of the Renminbi: The country has begun cautious action for opening up its capital account and allowed currency fluctuations within a certain limit between 2005 and 2008. Promoting Hong Kong as a test center for the Renminbi's internationalization is pointing in the right direction because it at least makes an offshore Renminbi market possible. ...

Inter-ethnic Partnerships: Key Characteristics, and What They Reveal about Successful Integration

Partnerships between immigrants and native-born citizens are commonly viewed as the product of successful social integration, as well as a possible driving force of economic success. Thus, immigrants living in inter-ethnic partnerships have on average a higher level of education, better occupational status, and higher income than those living in intra-ethnic relationships. Data from the German Socio-Economic ...

Five Years after the Reform of the Social and Unemployment Benefits in Germany

Great expectations were connected with the so-called Hartz IV reform which came into effect five years ago. In fact the number of unemployed recipients of Hartz IV benefits drastically went down during the last economic rebound. In earlier economic cycles the number of unemployed recipients of social benefits had stagnated in phases of recovery. But this alone is only a weak sign for success: Firstly, ...

Poor Marks for Germany's Isolationist Policy

The free movement of workers within the European Union does not place a burden on labor markets or social services. This is the conclusion of a recent study on the development and effects of east-to-west migration in the wake of EU enlargement in 2004 and 2007. In this light, Germany's restrictive immigration policy received poor marks. Recent measures-such as Germany's labor migration regulation law, ...