27.09.2018 • 18/2018
Joint Economic Forecast Autumn 2018: Upturn Loses Momentum
Berlin, 27 September – Germany’s leading economics research institutes have downwardly revised their forecasts for 2018 and 2019. They now expect economic output to increase by 1.7 percent in 2018, and not 2.2 percent as forecast in spring. They also scaled back their 2019 forecast slightly from 2.0 to 1.9 percent. These are the results of the Joint Economic Forecast for autumn 2018 that will be presented in Berlin on Thursday.
Oliver Holtemöller
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31.07.2018 • 16/2018
Fairness pays off
When companies arbitrarily cut their wages, the motivation and productivity of the employees decrease – this is clear. Less obvious, however: employees also become less productive even if it is their colleagues who are treated unfairly and not them. This was confirmed by a research group led by Sabrina Jeworrek at the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association.
Sabrina Jeworrek
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22.06.2018 • 15/2018
Presseeinladung zum Workshop: „Abgehängte Regionen – Probleme und Gegenstrategien“ am 28. Juni 2018 in Halle (Saale)
Knapp drei Jahrzehnte nach der deutschen Vereinigung unterscheiden sich die Lebensverhältnisse innerhalb Deutschlands stark, auch zwischen Stadt und Land. Wie Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft darauf reagieren sollten, diskutiert eine Veranstaltung der Expertenplattform „Demographischer Wandel in Sachsen-Anhalt“ in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH).
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The Political Economy of Financial Systems: Evidence from Suffrage Reforms in the Last Two Centuries
Hans Degryse, Thomas Lambert, Armin Schwienbacher
Economic Journal,
No. 611,
2018
Abstract
Voting rights were initially limited to wealthy elites providing political support for stock markets. The franchise expansion induces the median voter to provide political support for banking development, as this new electorate has lower financial holdings and benefits less from the riskiness and financial returns from stock markets. Our panel data evidence covering the years 1830–1999 shows that tighter restrictions on the voting franchise induce greater stock market development, whereas a broader voting franchise is more conducive to the banking sector, consistent with Perotti and von Thadden (2006). The results are robust to controlling for other institutional arrangements and endogeneity.
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The Efficiency of Local Public-service Production: The Effect of Political Institutions
Peter Bönisch, Peter Haug
FinanzArchiv,
No. 2,
2018
Abstract
Reforms replacing municipal cooperations by centralized municipalities often aim at increasing municipal efficiency. Empirical evidence supporting this aim, however, is ambiguous. Our paper analyzes the effect of institutions on municipal efficiency. In particular, we distinguish two archetypal institutional settings, a centralized and a confederal one, and argue that bureaucrats in a centralized setting are able to increase the fiscal residual. Our empirical test case is the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt. We test the effect of the institutional setup using the bootstrap approach suggested by Simar and Wilson (2007), concluding that a decentralized institutional setting improves the efficiency of municipal production.
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28.05.2018 • 13/2018
Einladung zum Workshop „Europäische Wirtschaft stärken – Forschungsergebnisse aus dem Leibniz-Forschungsverbund ‚Krisen einer globalisierten Welt‘“
Im Rahmen des Leibniz-Forschungsverbunds „Krisen einer globalisierten Welt“ organisiert das Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) gemeinsam mit dem ZEW, Zentrum für europäische Wirtschaftsforschung sowie dem Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi) einen Workshop, der sich den Fragen zur Zukunft des internationalen Handels und der europäischen Integration widmet.
Oliver Holtemöller
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25.05.2018 • 12/2018
The resistance of employers against works councils
Germany votes. However, this time it’s not about the politicians – instead it’s about the works councils. It’s certainly worthwhile: Many studies have shown that works councils all in all have a positive impact on productivity, wages and profits. Despite this, employers are sometimes very resistant to the idea of staff involvement in company decision-making. A common argument is that such participation limits managerial freedom and that employers are willing to sacrifice the benefits of staff participation in return for greater room for manoeuvre. Steffen Müller from the Halle Institute for Economic Research Halle (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association now provides an alternative economic justification for employer resistance: Employer associations are dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, and in these works councils – in contrast to large firms – often produce no positive economic benefits.
Steffen Müller
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02.05.2018 • 10/2018
IWH Policy Talk „Think global – Internationalisierung als Hochschulpolitik.“ Karamba Diaby, MdB, zu Gast am IWH
Das Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) lädt am Dienstag, dem 8. Mai 2018, um 17:00 Uhr zu einem IWH Policy Talk zum Thema „Think global – Internationalisierung als Hochschulpolitik“ mit Karamba Diaby, Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestags, in den Konferenzsaal des Instituts ein.
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19.04.2018 • 8/2018
Ostdeutsche Produktion expandiert wieder langsamer als in Deutschland insgesamt – Implikationen der Gemeinschaftsdiagnose Frühjahr 2018 und amtlicher Daten für die ost-deutsche Wirtschaft im Jahr 2017
Für das Jahr 2018 prognostiziert das Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) einen Anstieg des ostdeutschen Bruttoinlandsprodukts mit Berlin um 1,8% (Gemeinschaftsdiagnose für Deutschland insgesamt 2,2%). Im Jahr 2019 dürfte der Abstand zur gesamtdeutschen Zuwachsrate wieder etwas geringer werden (Ostdeutschland: 1,8%, Deutschland insgesamt: 2,0%).
Oliver Holtemöller
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19.04.2018 • 7/2018
Joint Economic Forecast Spring 2018: Germany’s Economic Experts Raise Forecast Slightly
Berlin, 19 April – Germany’s leading economic experts raised their forecasts for 2018 and 2019 slightly in their Spring Joint Economic Forecast released on Thursday in Berlin. They now expect economic growth of 2.2 percent for this year and 2.0 percent for 2019, versus 2.0 percent and 1.8 percent respectively in their autumn forecast. “The German economy is still booming, but the air is getting thinner as unused capacities are shrinking“, notes Timo Wollmershaeuser, ifo Head of Economic Forecasting. Commenting on the new German government’s economic policy, he adds: “It is precisely when the government’s coffers are full that fiscal policy should reflect the implications of its actions for overall economic stability and the sustainability of public finances. The extension of statutory pension benefits outlined in the coalition agreement runs counter to the idea of sustainability.”
Oliver Holtemöller
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