ZEW Discussion Papers

The iron and steel industry is one of the most carbon emitting and energy consuming sectors in Europe. At the same time this sector is of high economic importance for the European Union. Therefore, while public…

The aim of this paper is to assess the dimension of factors and shocks that drive financial conditions, and in particular financial stress in the euro area. A second aim is to construct summary indices on the…

This paper introduces a methodological innovation into Generational Accounting. By incorporating cyclically-adjusted balances into the forward-looking budget projections underlying the concept we isolate pure…

Endogeneity in network formation hinders the identification of the role that social networks play in generating spillovers, peer effects and other externalities. This paper tackles this problem and investigates…

While a widespread consensus exists among macroeconomists that the German labour market reforms in 2003-2005 have successfully contributed to the decline of the unemployment rate, critics claim that the reforms…

The effectiveness of patents to stimulate R&D is often limited. If innovation is sequential and complementary, patent protection may even stifle technical advance (Bessen and Maskin, 2006). The surge of…

For innovative start-ups, an effective patent system is a crucial factor for success and survival. The importance of patents for start-ups is based on two features. First, patents grant temporary monopoly rights…

Private equity (PE) firms have long time emphasized their role as investors who create value in their portfolio companies. In this paper we analyze a key strategy of PE investors, the so-called buy-and-build…

Start-ups are a vehicle to transfer knowledge and technology within an economy. The way in which this occurs is that founders of start-ups pick up ideas that otherwise would have been neglected and bring them to…