News Archive
![Automotive Manufacturing Skills](/sites/default/files/news-2023/Automotive-Skills_720x360.jpg)
Green Skills in Manufacturing
|
Policy Brief
| News
Germany is a strong industrial nation with manufacturing contributing significantly to its economy. The country faces challenges including decarbonization, digitalization, and increased competition, especially in the automotive sector. Germany's automotive industry is vital to its economy, contributing around 9 percent of GDP and employing over 2.5 million people. The industry must adapt to these changes, requiring a skilled workforce with a focus on green technologies. The country has done a remarkable job in greening its manufacturing and green skills are quickly gaining prominence.
![Sub-Sahara-Africa](/sites/default/files/news-2023/Sub-Sahara-Afrika_720x360.png)
A “Green Revolution” for Sub-Saharan Africa?
|
Policy Brief
| News
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks as one of the world’s poorest regions. The causes of this are exceptionally complex, with political instability, lack of security, low levels of education, poor access to infrastructure and lack of integration into global trade networks as the leading explanations, among others. In recent decades, economists and agricultural development experts have been looking for ways to increase agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa.
![Refugees Boat](/sites/default/files/news-2023/Refugees-boat_720_360.jpg)
Immigrant Narratives in German Newspapers
|
EconPol Forum
| News
Narratives about immigrants matter for both natives and immigrants because narratives shape attitudes, political outcomes, and perceptions of discrimination. A recent and growing literature has shown that media narratives influence how people think and act as well as that specific framing of immigration matters for how migrants are perceived. However, no study has examined narratives about immigrants in a systematic way. Germany also features a rich and diverse landscape of regional newspapers, opening up the possibility to link immigrant narratives to specific local conditions.
![News Frims and Taxes](/sites/default/files/news-2023/FirmTaxes_720x360_0.jpg)
Tax Incentives Boost Innovation
|
EconPol Forum
| News
Research funding via the tax system has a positive effect on investment in innovation projects. This is the finding of a metastudy conducted by the ifo Institute that summarizes findings on quantitative evaluation studies in Europe, Japan, Canada, China, Australia, and the United States. In the study, success was most evident in those countries that incentivized research and development expenditure through the tax system, for example by offering tax credits or special depreciation options for material or personnel costs.
![News Euro Coins Gear](/sites/default/files/news-2023/news_euro_coins.jpg)
The Reform of the EU Fiscal Rules
|
EconPol Forum
| News
Experience with European fiscal rules has shown that European rules cannot prevent member states from accumulating high debt levels if they want to. The fact that the ECB increasingly positions itself as a fiscal bailout mechanism implies that the risk of short-term fiscal crises due to a collapse of confidence in capital market declines. But this comes at the cost of further weakening incentives for fiscal discipline. A reform of economic governance should place emphasis on enhancing fiscal discipline and responsibility.