1. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 21-095 // 2021

    An Iterative Deferred Acceptance Mechanism for Decentralized, Fast and Fair Childcare Assignment

    We design and implement an iterative, program-proposing deferred acceptance mechanism with ties (IDAT) and apply it to childcare assignment in two German cities. The mechanism can accommodate complementarities…

  2. M&A Report // 2021

    October/November 2021

    • ZEW-ZEPHYR M&A Index Stabilises as Negative Trend May Come to an End
    • Oil Industry Consolidating at Rapid Pace as Number of M&A Deals Hits All-Time Low
    • Pandemic Slows M&A Announcements in the German Real…
  3. Contributions to Edited Volumes and Conference Proceedings // 2021

    The Role of Buyer Competence

    Chapter of e-book edited by Oriana Bandiera, Erica Bosio  and Giancarlo Spagnolo

  4. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 21-094 // 2021

    Long-Term Health Insurance: Theory Meets Evidence

    To insure policyholders against contemporaneous health expenditure shocks and future reclassification risk, long-term health insurance constitutes an alternative to community-rated short-term contracts with an…

  5. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 21-093 // 2021

    Procuring Survival

    Public spending (i.e., “G”) enables governments to fulfill their fiscal policies. This paper takes a micro perspective and quantifies the impact of procurement spending — a specific component of G — on firm…

  6. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 21-092 // 2021

    Nonlinear Prices, Homogeneous Goods, Search

    We analyze competition on nonlinear prices in homogeneous goods markets with consumer search. In equilibrium firms offer two-part tariffs consisting of a linear price and lump-sum fee. The equilibrium production…

  7. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 21-091 // 2021

    Information Acquisition and Diffusion in Markets

    Consumers can acquire information through their own search efforts or through their social network. Information diffusion via word-of-mouth communication leads to some consumers free-riding on their “friends”…

  8. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 21-090 // 2021

    Truly Costly Search and Word-Of-Mouth Communication

    In markets with search frictions, consumers can acquire information about goods either through costly search or from friends via word-of-mouth (WOM) communication. How do sellers’ market power react to a very…

  9. ZEW Discussion Paper No. 21-089 // 2021

    Uncertain Product Availability in Search Markets

    In many markets buyers are poorly informed about which firms sell the product (product availability) and prices, and therefore have to spend time to obtain this information. In contrast, sellers typically have a…