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12.04.2017 • 19/2017

Joint Economic Forecast Spring 2017: Upturn in Germany strengthens in spite of global economic risks

The German economy is already in the fifth year of a moderate upturn. According to the Gemeinschaftsdiagnose (GD, joint economic forecast) that was prepared by Germany’s five leading economic research institutes on behalf of the Federal Government, capacity utilization is gradually increasing, and aggregate production capacities are now likely to have slightly exceeded their normal utilisation levels. However, cyclical dynamics remain low compared to earlier periods of recoveries, as consumption expenditures, which do not exhibit strong fluctuations, have been the main driving force so far. In addition, net migration increases potential output, counteracting a stronger capacity tightening. “Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to expand by 1.5% (1.8% adjusted for calendar effects) and 1.8% in the next year. Unemployment is expected to fall to 6.1% in 2016, to 5.7% in 2017 and 5.4% in 2018”, says Oliver Holtemöller, Head of the Department Macroeconomics and vice president of the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association. Inflation is expected to increase markedly over the forecast horizon. After an increase in consumer prices of only 0.5% in 2016, the inflation rate is expected to rise to 1.8% in 2017 and 1.7% in 2018. The public budget surplus will reduce only modestly. Public finances are slightly stimulating economic activity in the current year and are cyclically neutral in the year ahead.

Oliver Holtemöller
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15.03.2017 • 13/2017

The German Economy: Employment Boom in Germany, but no Overheating of the Economy

Employment in Germany continues to increase healthily, and private consumption expands due to rising real incomes. Investment in equipment, however, remains modest. Overall, economic demand is expanding at roughly the growth rate of potential Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the output gap is nearly closed. “In 2017, GDP will increase by 1.3% and thus at a lower rate than in the previous year, but this is only due to fewer working days and not to sliding demand,” says Oliver Holtemoeller, Head of the Department Macroeconomics and IWH vice president.

Oliver Holtemöller
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Die mittelfristige wirtschaftliche Entwicklung in Deutschland für die Jahre 2016 bis 2021

Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch, Katja Heinisch, Oliver Holtemöller, Brigitte Loose, Matthias Wieschemeyer, Götz Zeddies
Konjunktur aktuell, No. 4, 2016
Abstract
Nach der Mittelfristprojektion des IWH dürfte das Bruttoinlandsprodukt in Deutschland in den Jahren von 2016 bis 2021 um durchschnittlich 1½% wachsen; das nominale Bruttoinlandsprodukt wird wohl um durchschnittlich 3% zunehmen. Nach einer leichten Überauslastung der Kapazitäten in den Jahren 2016 und 2017 dürfte sich die Produktionslücke mittelfristig schließen. Aufgrund des mittelfristig kaum anziehenden Wachstums im Euroraum und des im Vergleich zum langfristigen Mittel schwachen Welthandels dürften vom Außenhandel in der mittleren Frist kaum Impulse ausgehen; die konjunkturelle Dynamik wird daher nach wie vor maßgeblich von der Inlands¬nachfrage bestimmt. Die Verbraucherpreise ziehen im Prognosezeitraum etwas an.
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Declining Business Dynamism: What We Know and the Way Forward

Ryan A. Decker, John Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, Javier Miranda
American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings, No. 5, 2016
Abstract
A growing body of evidence indicates that the U.S. economy has become less dynamic in recent years. This trend is evident in declining rates of gross job and worker flows as well as declining rates of entrepreneurship and young firm activity, and the trend is pervasive across industries, regions, and firm size classes. We describe the evidence on these changes in the U.S. economy by reviewing existing research. We then describe new empirical facts about the relationship between establishment-level productivity and employment growth, framing our results in terms of canonical models of firm dynamics and suggesting empirically testable potential explanations.
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EFN Report Spring 2016: Economic Outlook for the Euro Area in 2016 and 2017

EFN Reports, No. 2, 2016
Abstract
Global growth will stay rather moderate this year. The peak of the upswing in the US appears to be over. For Japan, after three years of “Abenomics”, a prolonged upswing is still elusive. In China low profitability and high debt levels of many government-owned industrial firms continue to drag growth down. The low prices for commodities heighten uncertainty and volatility on financial markets since they increase the risks of financial crises in economies that are dependent on commodity exports. In the euro area, chances for the recovery to continue are good, as this year, like in 2015, oil prices will probably be markedly lower than they were a year ago, supporting real income of private households and lowering production costs of firms. In this context, our forecast is that euro area GDP will expand by 1.6% in 2016 and by 1.7% in 2017. These rates are higher than the rate of potential growth, but they are arguably low given the expansive monetary policy and the strong stimulus from decreased commodity prices. We do not expect an increase in euro area inflation during 2016, but prices will grow by around 1% in 2017, because the dampening effects of decreasing energy prices slowly fade off and the euro remains rather weak. However, risks for this cautiously optimistic forecast are substantial. New shadows on the financial sector, the uncertainty about whether or not the British will vote in favour of membership in the European Union and the lack of a viable political solution for the refugee crisis are some of the main uncertainties behind these forecasts.
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Die mittelfristige wirtschaftliche Entwicklung in Deutschland für die Jahre 2015 bis 2020

Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch, Katja Heinisch, Oliver Holtemöller, Brigitte Loose, Götz Zeddies
Konjunktur aktuell, No. 5, 2015
Abstract
Nach der Mittelfristprojektion des IWH dürfte das Bruttoinlandsprodukt in Deutschland von 2015 bis 2020 um durchschnittlich 1½% wachsen; das nominale Bruttoinlandsprodukt wird wohl um durchschnittlich 3% zunehmen. Nach einer Unterauslastung der Kapazitäten in den Jahren 2015 und 2016 dürfte sich die Produktionslücke im Jahr 2017 schließen. Aufgrund der Erholung des Euroraums und der Weltwirtschaft dürften vom Außenhandel in der mittleren Frist wieder leichte Impulse ausgehen; die konjunkturelle Dynamik wird aber nach wie vor von der Inlandsnachfrage bestimmt. Die Verbraucherpreise ziehen im Prognosezeitraum leicht an.
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Isolation and Innovation – Two Contradictory Concepts? Explorative Findings from the German Laser Industry

Wilfried Ehrenfeld, T. Pusch, Muhamed Kudic
IWH Discussion Papers, No. 1, 2015
Abstract
We apply a network perspective and study the emergence of core-periphery (CP) structures in innovation networks to shed some light on the relationship between isolation and innovation. It has been frequently argued that a firm’s location in a densely interconnected network area improves its ability to access information and absorb technological knowledge. This, in turn, enables a firm to generate new products and services at a higher rate compared to less integrated competitors. However, the importance of peripheral positions for innovation processes is still a widely neglected issue in literature. Isolation may provide unique conditions that induce innovations which otherwise may never have been invented. Such innovations have the potential to lay the ground for a firm’s pathway towards the network core, where the industry’s established technological knowledge is assumed to be located. The aim of our paper is twofold. Firstly, we propose a new CP indicator and apply it to analyze the emergence of CP patterns in the German laser industry. We employ publicly funded Research and Development (R&D) cooperation project data over a period of more than two decades. Secondly, we explore the paths on which firms move from isolated positions towards the core (and vice versa). Our exploratory results open up a number of new research questions at the intersection between geography, economics and network research.
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EFN Report Winter 2014/15: Economic Outlook for the Euro Area in 2015 and 2016

EFN Reports, No. 1, 2015
Abstract
At the beginning of the year 2015 crude oil is, with little more than 50 dollars per barrel (Brent), about 50% cheaper than in the summer 2014. The oil price hike is a stimulus for the whole world economy, even though the gains of energy users are matched by losses of the suppliers: oil producing countries frequently run high current account surpluses vis-à-vis the rest of the world. It is therefore plausible to assume that, reacting to the redistribution of incomes, the oil user countries will increase their spending by more than what will be lost in spending by producers. Investment activity in the euro area has recently been particularly weak. Remarkably, investment in Greece, Portugal, and Spain, i.e. in countries that had to accept international support during the euro crisis, has strengthened. The setback took place in the so-called core countries, including Germany. Consumption growth was also subdued. Lower oil prices, by increasing real incomes of consumers and lowering production costs for firms, should increase private consumption and, in particular, investment. Moreover, the depreciation of the euro will favour exports. Overall, according to our forecasts, the euro area GDP will grow by 1.3% in 2015 and by 1.6% in 2016. GDP growth is about 0.3 percentage points higher due to the impact of lower oil prices in 2015. However, these forecasts are subject to substantial uncertainty, and we do not see any significant reduction of the unemployment rate during the forecasting horizon. Our inflation forecast for 2015 is 0.3%, with the possibility of a mild deflation not excluded. In 2016 inflation will increase up to 1.1%, still clearly below the 2% ECB’s target. This calls for further monetary expansion, though its effects could be limited in the absence of a complementary fiscal stimulus. The expansionary cyclical policies should be combined with more structural reforms to enhance the competitiveness of the euro area and its growth potential, which in our forecasts remains quite limited. In fact, we expect potential output to grow by only 0.4% both in 2015 and 2016.
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Erweiterung des Investitionskonzepts in der Volkswirtschaftlichen Gesamtrechnung

Axel Lindner, Brigitte Loose
Wirtschaftsdienst, No. 11, 2014
Abstract
Das Statistische Bundesamt hat im Sommer 2014 eine Generalrevision der Volkswirtschaftlichen Gesamtrechnungen (VGR) durchgeführt. Neben der turnusmäßigen Einbeziehung aktueller Datengrundlagen wurde das EU-weit rechtsverbindliche Europäische System Volkswirtschaftlicher Gesamtrechnungen 2010 (ESVG 2010) umgesetzt. Am wichtigsten ist wohl die Erweiterung des Investitionsbegriffs: Aufwendungen für Forschung und Entwicklung (F&E) werden nunmehr als Geistiges Eigentum den sonstigen Anlageinvestitionen zugerechnet und erhöhen auch das Bruttoanlagevermögen. Das ist immer dann der Fall, wenn ein ökonomischer Nutzen dadurch generiert wird, dass Ergebnisse der Forschung und Entwicklung wiederholt im Produktionsprozess eingesetzt oder angewandt werden. Entsprechend der Nutzung werden über den jeweiligen Zeitraum anteilige Abschreibungen auf das Geistige Eigentum vorgenommen. Betroffen sind gleichermaßen erworbene wie auch selbst erstellte F&E-Leistungen. Nach alter Konzeption wurde Forschung und Entwicklung von Marktproduzenten als Vorleistungsgut von der Summe aller Produktionswerte abgezogen; sie ging damit nicht in die Bruttowertschöpfung ein. Als Investitionsgut ist sie nun Teil der Wertschöpfung und wirkt in den Volkswirtschaftlichen Gesamtrechnungen für den Marktproduzenten gewinnerhöhend. Auch F&E von Nicht-Marktproduzenten zählt zu den Bruttoanlageinvestitionen, sie trug aber schon nach dem alten Konzept zur Wertschöpfung bei, denn sie wurde als Konsum des Staates oder von Organisationen ohne Erwerbszweck gebucht. Konsequenz der jetzigen Buchung als Investitionen ist allerdings, dass die F&E-Aufwendungen von Nicht-Marktproduzenten in den Folgejahren zu einer höheren Bruttowertschöpfung als nach der alten Regelung führen: Die Bruttowertschöpfung erhöht sich nun um den Betrag der Abschreibungen auf die durch F&E erzeugten geistigen Güter. Alles in allem führt die Verbuchung von F&E-Leistungen als Investitionen zu einer deutlichen Niveauerhöhung des deutschen Bruttoinlandsprodukts (um 2,5 Prozentpunkte 2013). Der Anteil der Bruttoanlageinvestitionen am BIP (die Investitionsquote) erhöht sich wesentlich auf 19,7% 2013 statt 17,2% vor der Revision.
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Plant-based Bioeconomy in Central Germany - Mapping of Actors, Industries and Places

Wilfried Ehrenfeld, Frieder Kropfhäußer
IWH Discussion Papers, No. 7, 2014
published in: Technology Analysis and Strategic Management
Abstract
The challenges facing the 21st century, presented by a growing global population, range from food security to sustainable energy supplies to the diminishing availability of fossil raw materials. An attempt to solve these problems is made by using the concept of bioeconomy. Plants, in particular, possess an important function in this context - they can be used either as a source of food or, in the form of biomass, for industrial or energy purposes. Linking industrial and agricultural research and production, bioeconomy provides growth potential, in particular in rural areas. The aim of this article is therefore to outline the status of plant-based bioeconomy in three states of Central Germany - Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia - and to compare this to German plant-based bioeconomy. We take an in-depth look at the different sectors and outline the industries involved, the location and age of the enterprises as well as the distribution of important NACE codes. In conclusion, we highlight the significant number of new or small enterprises and the high research and innovation rate of Central Germany. We also stress the future potential of Central German plant-based bioeconomy as well as the importance of a more plant-focusedview of the technology sector.
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