Publikationen des Vorstandsbereichs

The Vast Majority of Employees in Germany Are Satisfied with Their Jobs

The vast majority of workers rate their professional occupations positively; only one in eight is unhappy with his or her job. This has been the case for the past 20 years. There is little difference in the degree of satisfaction between genders, workers in West Germany and East Germany, or among different age groups. Even the level of compensation and the nature of the work itself do not exert any ...

A Critical Retrospective: German Monetary Union

Twenty-five years ago, East Germany adopted the deutschmark as its currency. In terms of East German economic development, monetary union proved to be a disaster. With virtually no warning, East Germany’s few productive factories and businesses were exposed to free market competition; industrial production collapsed in a way unparalleled in history. Nevertheless, for political reasons, introducing ...

There Are Many Analogies between the GDR in 1990 and Greece Today: Four Questions to Marcel Fratzscher

Lessons for Europe from German Monetary Union

Precisely 25 years ago, on July 1, 1990, German monetary union came into force. On the same day, capital controls in Europe were abolished, creating the basis for European monetary union and the euro. These two historical events fundamentally changed Germany and the rest of Europe. Both German and European monetary union were and still are being heavily criticized and debated. Was the design of German ...

Upswing of German Economy Prevails

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 ...

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 ...

Aircraft Noise in Berlin Affects Quality of Life Even Outside the Airport Grounds

Aircraft noise is a particularly problematic source of noise as many airports are located in or near major cities and, as a result, densely populated areas are affected. Data from the Berlin Aging Study II (Berliner Altersstudie II, BASE-II), whose socio-economic module is based on the longitudinal Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study which has been conducted since 1984, allows us to examine the effect ...

Labor Market Participation of Women on the Rise: Five Questions to Karl Brenke

Growing Importance of Women in the German Labor Market

An increasing share of the working-age population is active in the German labor market. In particular, the number of women participating in the labor force has grown. The more highly qualified they are, the greater their participation in the labor market — and the level of qualification among women has increased considerably, now approaching that of men. Regardless of their qualifications, women’s ...