Department Profiles
Research Profiles of the IWH Departments All doctoral students are allocated to one of the four research departments (Financial Markets – Laws, Regulations and Factor Markets –…
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IWH-DPE Call for Applications – Fall 2022 Intake
Vacancy IWH-DPE Call for Applications – Fall 2022 Intake We encourage outstanding students with a master degree in economics or related fields, such as mathematics, statistics,…
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IWH-DPE Call for Applications – Fall 2024 Intake
Vacancy The Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) is one of Germany’s leading economic research institutes. The IWH focuses on research in macroeconomics, financial…
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IWH-DPE Call for Applications – Fall 2020 Intake
Vacancy The Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) is one of Germany’s leading economic research institutes. The IWH focuses on research in macroeconomics, financial…
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Internships
Internship at Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) Interested in gaining an authentic insight in the interesting daily business and the variable tasks of an institute for…
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IWH-DPE Call for Applications – Fall 2020 Intake
Vacancy The Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) is one of Germany’s leading economic research institutes. The IWH focuses on research in macroeconomics, financial…
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Long-run Competitive Spillovers of the Credit Crunch
William McShane
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 10,
2023
Abstract
Competition in the U.S. appears to have declined. One contributing factor may have been heterogeneity in the availability of credit during the financial crisis. I examine the impact of product market peer credit constraints on long-run competitive outcomes and behavior among non-financial firms. I use measures of lender exposure to the financial crisis to create a plausibly exogenous instrument for product market credit availability. I find that credit constraints of product market peers positively predict growth in sales, market share, profitability, and markups. This is consistent with the notion that firms gained at the expense of their credit constrained peers. The relationship is robust to accounting for other sources of inter-firm spillovers, namely credit access of technology network and supply chain peers. Further, I find evidence of strategic investment, i.e. the idea that firms increase investment in response to peer credit constraints to commit to deter entry mobility. This behavior may explain why temporary heterogeneity in the availability of credit appears to have resulted in a persistent redistribution of output across firms.
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Evidence-based Support for Adaptation Policies in Emerging Economies
Maximilian Banning, Anett Großmann, Katja Heinisch, Frank Hohmann, Christian Lutz, Christoph Schult
IWH Studies,
No. 2,
2023
Abstract
In recent years, the impacts of climate change become increasingly evident, both in magnitude and frequency. The design and implementation of adequate climate adaptation policies play an important role in the macroeconomic policy discourse to assess the impact of climate change on regional and sectoral economic growth. We propose different modelling approaches to quantify the socio-economic impacts of climate change and design specific adaptations in three emerging market economies (Kazakhstan, Georgia and Vietnam) which belong to the areas that are heavily exposed to climate change. A Dynamic General Equilibrium (DGE) model has been used for Vietnam and economy-energy-emission (E3) models for the other two countries. Our modelling results show how different climate hazards impact the economy up to the year 2050. Adaptation measures in particular in the agricultural sector have positive implications for the gross domestic product (GDP). However, some adaptation measures can even increase greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the focus on GDP as the main indicator to evaluate policy measures can produce welfare-reducing policy decisions.
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Minimum Wages, Productivity, and Reallocation
Mirja Hälbig, Matthias Mertens, Steffen Müller
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 8,
2023
Abstract
We study the productivity effect of the German national minimum wage combining administrative firm datasets. We analyze firm- and market-level effects, considering output price changes, factor substitution, firm entry and exit, labor reallocation, and short- versus long-run effects. We document higher firm productivity even net of output price increases. Productivity gains are persistent in manufacturing and service sectors. The minimum wage also increased manufacturing productivity at the aggregate level. Neither firm entry and exit nor other forms of employment reallocation between firms contributed to these gains. Instead, aggregate productivity gains from the minimum wage solely stem from within-firm productivity improvements.
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European Firm Concentration and Aggregate Productivity
Tommaso Bighelli, Filippo di Mauro, Marc Melitz, Matthias Mertens
Journal of the European Economic Association,
No. 2,
2023
Abstract
This paper derives a European Herfindahl–Hirschman concentration index from 15 micro-aggregated country datasets. In the last decade, European concentration rose due to a reallocation of economic activity toward large and concentrated industries. Over the same period, productivity gains from an increasing allocative efficiency of the European market accounted for 50% of European productivity growth while markups stayed constant. Using country-industry variation, we show that changes in concentration are positively associated with changes in productivity and allocative efficiency. This holds across most sectors and countries and supports the notion that rising concentration in Europe reflects a more efficient market environment rather than weak competition and rising market power.
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