ZEW Discussion Papers

The aging of populations in the demographic change in many industrialized countries will lead to increasing costs of professional support and care for frail elderly. In order to lower the resulting financial…

Skill gaps often arise already immediately after birth and increase during childhood long before formal education starts. Thus, early family environment can explain a crucial part of skill heterogeneity among…

In the context of a substantial welfare reform in 2005, a new employment program has been introduced in Germany, the so-called Temporary Extra Jobs. These jobs provide temporary work opportunities in the public…

Many new firms do not survive the first years in business. Even though, the financial risk for the parties that have a financial stake in the business (i.e. owners, lending institutions and other creditors, such…

Access to external financing is of high importance to companies for the financing of fixed investments. Investment in fixed assets occurs in irregular intervals and requires relatively large amounts of…

Declining labour shares in a large number of countries, particularly in continental Europe, have renewed the academic and political debate about the factors which explain these downward trends. While the share…

The run-up to the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) of the EU has been dominated by tension between a big aspiration and a big concern. The aspiration was that a common currency would reinvigorate the single…

This paper attempts to shed light on the pricing behaviour of firms or sellers in market places with price competition. In particular, it aims at testing the mechanism that lies at the heart of one of the most…

Labor market integration of immigrants provides a difficulty in many countries. As a consequence, immigrants are substantially overrepresented in welfare systems. Despite forming a substantial share of all…