External refereed essays

The System of National Accounts as Compiled by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin): The Quarterly Data and Their Statistical Basis

R&D, Liquidity Constraints, and Corporate Governance

Immigrants, Natives and Social Assistance: Comparable Take-Up under Comparable Circumstances

Are immigrants on welfare because they are more likely to be eligible or because they are more likely to claim benefits for which they are eligible? The answer is politically important, but because most current research on immigration and welfare is based on data from the United States, the answer is difficult due to the complexities of the transfer system which make eligibility determinations difficult. ...

Aggregation and Seasonal Adjustment: Empirical Results for EMU Quarterly National Accounts

Maintenance of an Innovation in Long-Term Panel Studies: The Case of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP)

Vertical Integration and Market Foreclosure with Convex Downstream Costs

In a framework with an upstream monopoly and a downstream duopoly, we analyze the impact of convex costs at the downstream level. In contrast to the case of constant marginal costs, vertical integration does not imply complete market foreclosure. While the nonintegrated downstream firm receives a strictly positive amount of the intermediate good, the downstream allocation is inefficient. However, a ...

On the Speed and Boundaries of Structural Adjustment when Fiscal Policy Is Tight

Governments of transition economies are subject to fiscal constraints (e.g. credit constraints). However, exaggerated fiscal discipline might feed into the structural adjustment process. The government designs and times the privatisation programme, yet may find itself in a fiscal squeeze because restructuring moves costs from firms to the public budget. This paper models this problem in a simple dynamic ...

Efficient Infrastructure Supply for Economic Development in Transition Countries: The Case of Ukraine

Infrastructure restructuring is one of the major elements of structural reforms in transition economies because of its expected large economic and social impact. This article aims to assess the role of infrastructure policy in economic development in transition countries in general and Ukraine in particular. We test the relationship between infrastructure policy and economic growth, though this test ...

Leading Indicators of German Business Cycles: An Assessment of Properties

Eastern Enlargement and EU Labour Markets: Perceptions, Challenges and Opportunities

The Effects of Environmental Fiscal Reform in Germany: A Simulation Study

This paper presents the first comprehensive, model-based impact analysis of the German environmental fiscal reform, addressing the effects on CO2 emissions, economic growth, employment, and personal income distribution. Both an econometric input-output model and a dynamic computable general equilibrium model are applied in order to enhance the credibility of our results. The macroeconomic results are ...

Erfolgsbedingungen empirischer Wirtschaftsforschung und empirisch gestützter wirtschafts- und sozialpolitischer Beratung: ein Memorandum

Das Deutsche Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung - ein Bestandteil der "informationellen Infrastruktur"-

How Unification and Immigration Affected the German Income Distribution

The German economy is not only affected by unification of Germany but by a significant influx of immigrants from abroad and huge migration from East to West Germany around the date of unification. Data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSOEP) allows one to disentangle those effects by decomposition of the Theil I(0)-Index of inequality. In addition, the paper offers insights into the transition ...

Replik: Statistische Infrastruktur im Spannungsfeld öffentlicher Finanzierung und dezentraler Analyse

Labour Market Attachment of People outside the Labour Force: An Explorative Analysis of the Hidden Labour Force in Europe

In addition to employed and unemployed persons, individuals outside the labour force also often enter gainful employment. Generally they are not taken into account in the determinations of a country's labour supply. This is mainly due to the difficulty of identifying this "hidden labour force". Based on the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) in the years 1994, 1995 and 1996, this study takes ...

Die Angebotsabhängigkeit der Nachfrage nach Ausbildungsstellen als Problem bei der Vorrausschätzung der zukünftigen Nachfrage

Was kann die Aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik in Deutschland aus der Evaluationsforschung in anderen europäischen Ländern lernen?

Most evaluation studies for Germany's active labor market policy (ALMP) indicate that subsidized employment programs in the public sector (public works programs, "Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahmen") and publicly funded training programs have, on average, no or even negative effects on individual re-employment probabilities. This paper provides possible explanations for the ineffectiveness of these programs, ...

Perspektiven für mehr Jobs in Deutschland

There is no simple solution to the German unemployment dilemma. Neither too high wages, nor unionized central bargaining, nor the evidence of the effects of the welfare state deliver a simple explanation. The East German experience confirms this view. A solution needs to combine flexibility with economic growth. More flexible product markets could help to generate the higher demand for unskilled labour ...

Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights, North-South Trade, and Biological Diversity

In the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of GATT (1 January 1995) it was agreed to harmonise intellectual property rights (IPR) on an international level and to include the option for patent protection for all life forms such as plants and animals (Article 27 (3) b). Patenting, however, leads to considerable conflicts between international trade and protection of biological ...