EconPol Forum

EconPol Forum (formerly CESifo Forum) is a bi-monthly English-language journal to bring economic analysis on topics of worldwide interest along with policy advice to a broad range of policymakers and the public.

In September 2022 the CESifo Forum was restructured into four sections under the new EconPol brand. The first, Policy Debate of the Hour, recognizes the constantly evolving nature of policy challenges, focusing on the most pressing issues of the times. Leading researchers are invited to share their insights and policy conclusions. The Economic Policy and its Impact section assesses economic policies and develops robust evidence for their optimal design and implementation. In the Institutions Across the World section, contributors focus on the key role that institutional design plays in shaping socio-economic outcomes, often by comparing institutions across economic and political systems. Finally, Big Data-Based Economic Insights presents articles that glean economic policy advice from the exploitation of large, complex datasets.

EconPol Forum 3/2024 - EU Policy Priorities: How to Ensure Europeʼs Competitiveness and Future Prosperity?

EU Policy Priorities: How to Ensure Europeʼs Competitiveness and Future Prosperity?

David Pinkus, Jean Pisani-Ferry, Simone Tagliapietra, Reinhilde Veugelers, Georg Zachmann and Jeromin Zettelmeyer, Frédéric Gonand, Pedro Linares, Andreas Löschel, David Newbery, Karen Pittel, Julio Saavedra and Georg Zachmann, Giuseppe Bertola, Georg Duernecker, Fredrik Erixon, Oscar Guinea and Oscar du Roy, Maria Savona, Iain Begg and Daniel Cicak, Roel Beetsma and Marco Buti

Europe ‒ once a leader in industrial development and innovation ‒ has lost its competitiveness. Which place will it take in a new world order? Climate protection and the digital transformation will also influence the next era of prosperity. The EU and its member states now want to build a robust, secure, resilient, and sustainable economy. Meanwhile, the US, China, and some emerging economies have overtaken the EU in many international rankings.

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Forum Icon BIG-DATA-BASED ECONOMIC INSIGHTS

Patience and the North-South Divide in Student Achievement in Italy and the United States

BIG-DATA-BASED ECONOMIC INSIGHTS

Eric A. Hanushek, Lavinia Kinne, Pietro Sancassani and Ludger Woessmann

This article shows how Facebook interests can be used to construct subnational measures of patience (“the relative valuation of present versus future payoffs”). Differences in patience are closely related to regional student performance in Italy and the United States. The results provide new perspectives on long-standing differences between the countries.

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Forum Icon ECONOMIC POLICY AND ITS IMPACT

Focus on Critical Key Technologies: The Race for Leadership in Industry and Technology Policy

ECONOMIC POLICY AND ITS IMPACT

Oliver Falck and Svenja Falk

Measures to promote technological sovereignty vary greatly from country to country and range from the promotion of R&D activities to subsidies for the construction of industrial plants. Systematic forecasting of technology trends would enable policy makers to deal with new technologies at an early stage and adapt policies and institutions.

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EconPol Forum 2/2024 - Rise of Populism: Causes, Consequences and Policy Implications?

Rise of Populism: Causes, Consequences and Policy Implications?

Sergei Guriev, Florian Dorn, David Gstrein and Florian Neumeier, K. Peren Arin, Efstathios Polyzos and Marcel Thum, Eugenio Levi and Steven Stillman, Manuel Funke, Moritz Schularick and Christoph Trebesch, Luisa Dörr, Niklas Potrafke, Felix Rösel and Tuuli Tähtinen, Vincenzo Galasso, Gylfi Zoega, Massimo Morelli

Populism is on the rise. It goes hand in hand with far-left or far-right party slogans and/or strong, personalized political leadership and polarized rhetoric: The presidency of Donald Trump in the US and the campaigns for the Brexit referendum are two prominent examples in recent years. Several EU member states, namely France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Greece, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany, have experienced how quickly populists win voters in national elections. With the presidential election in the US and European elections in 2024, many people fear a further rise in political polarization and populism in the Western world.

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