ZEW Discussion Papers

During recent years the question of legal standing of consumer associations in the course of private cartel damage claims has increasingly attracted attention within the European Commission (EC). The European…

Intangible assets constitute a major input and value-driver for multinational firms. Often, the related intellectual property does not have a clear geographical location and firms use this flexibility to…

The financial and economic crisis has stressed the need for a better understanding of destabilizing effects, in particular arising from the financial sector, and how these may spill over to economic activity. In…

Emissions trading is key to climate policy in an increasing number of countries. Besides the emission trading system of the European Union (EU ETS), several similar systems in China, California, Australia, and…

Since trade is becoming more of a task-related phenomenon due to the increase in offshoring activities by firms, the pattern of effects across workers is changing as well. In particular, the skill-based…

The German electricity market changes elementarily these days. Renewable energy replaces such from conventional sources. At the same time, more and more electricity is produced in northern Germany and needs to…

Spillovers of technological activity are a highly discussed issue in several subfields of scholarly research in economics. In studies on firm-level productivity, for instance, spill-overs are typically modeled…

Private enforcement of competition law is on the rise worldwide and a major item on the EU competition policy agenda. The relevant provisions in the EU and the US confer a right to damages to "any individual"…

Knowledge creation is a key driver of growth in modern economies. The creation of knowledge is often comparable to the accumulation of tangible capital: In the current period, investments are made in order to…