Bonn, Mannheim, Germany, 12.09.2023 – The United Nations aims to provide every person with access to the internet by 2030 in line with Sustainable Development Goals. Yet, about 3 billion people are still totally offline today. New EPoS research on how to bridge the digital divide in Colombia shows that internet literacy plans work best in poor neighborhoods – doubling internet access. This research result is published by the EPoS Economic Research Center of the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim in the discussion paper “Internet (Power) to the People: How to Bridge the Digital Divide”.

Bonn, Mannheim, Germany, 31.08.2023 – Workers with a migration background have particular disadvantages in Germany´s labor market if they live in an ethnic enclave. After being laid off, these people are significantly less likely to find a new job compared to their German colleagues: Over a period of five years after job loss, the probability of employment is on average 5.2 percentage points lower. These research results are published by the EPoS Economic Research Center of the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim in the discussion paper “Job Displacement and Migrant Labor Market Assimilation”.

• Ethnic enclaves impair job prospects
• Data of German IAB Institute examined before and after mass layoffs

Bonn, Mannheim, Germany, 13.07.2023 – Moving to higher job levels is an integral part of climbing the career ladder and accounts for 50 percent of workers’ wage growth in the course of a professional life. The job level encompasses the complexity of tasks, the autonomy in performing it, and the responsibilities associated with it. This novel perspective on what determines wage structures is published in the Discussion Paper “Job levels and Wages” by EPoS economic research center at the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim.

• EPoS research analyzes career paths of workers in the U.S. and Germany.

Bonn, Mannheim, Germany, 05.07.2023 – Across OECD countries, almost half of all grandparents are involved in the childcare of at least one grandchild. Reforming pension systems to keep people in work longer therefore has serious effects on families across generations. New EPoS economic research using Dutch administrative data shows: for every hour that a grandmother works longer, her adult daughter woks less by half an hour.

• 8,402 individuals surveyed in 11 countries by EPoS economic research center
• Shareholders seen as greedy, gambler-like and selfish

• U.S. importers paid 93% of tariffs on Chinese goods
• China’s importers paid 68% of tariffs - different strategies chosen
• Total of 17,000 products reviewed by EPoS study

Bonn, Mannheim, Germany, 13.06.2023 – In the trade conflict between the world's two largest economies, U.S. importers have suffered from heavier price increases compared to their Chinese counterparts: Latest EPoS economic research at Mannheim University in Germany shows that almost 100 percent of U.S. punitive tariffs were borne by American importers. In contrast, only 68 percent of China’s retaliatory tariffs were shouldered by Chinese importers, U.S. exporters paid the other 32 percent. These are findings of the
Discussion Paper “Who Pays for the Tariffs and Why? A Tale of Two Countries” published by EPoS
Collaborative Research Center at the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim.

Mannheim, Germany, 09.05.2023 – Populations are ageing rapidly worldwide: The OECD projects that the number of retirees per worker will rise by 50 percent until 2050. To cope with rising costs, governments aim to reform their public pension schemes. One of the main policy tools is to raise the minimum eligibility age. Yet, a new study by the University of Mannheim shows that removing early retirement increases the hazard of dying. “The Effect of Removing Early Retirement on Mortality” Discussion Paper is published by Cristina Bellès-Obrero, Ph.D., Prof. Sergi Jiménez-Martin and Prof. Han Ye at the EPoS Collaborative Research Center Transregio 224, a cooperation of the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim in Germany.

The racial wealth gap is the largest of the economic disparities between Black and white Americans, with a white-to-Black per capita wealth ratio of 6 to 1. It is also among the most persistent. In 2019, this means that Black Americans held just 17 cents on average for every white dollar of health.

Over the last few decades, China has witnessed a rapid surge in the wage skill premium due
to growing machinery imports. Accordingly, wages for skilled workers rose disproportionately,
widening wage inequality.

As consumer prices soar around the globe, central banks’ reactions have moved to the forefront again. Inflation jumped to more than eight percent in the US and the European Union, causing concern about rapid interest rate hikes and their economic consequences.

Real-time electricity pricing is a topic currently considered in many countries worldwide. Still, initial experience in New Zealand shows, that there are obstacles which hamper consumers’ willingness to switch to a real-time tariff.

Payday loans are subject of an intense and sometimes even grim debate, in particular in the U.S. Advocates emphasise the role of payday loans in smoothing consumption while opponents have long argued that these lenders exploit poor households and should be banned.

Representation of women and minorities in groups, which choose organisation’s leaders on its own
is not sufficient to support gender diversity unless the organisational culture changes, a recently
published study showed.

Social stigma towards diseases such as lung cancer can hinder patients to seek treatment and negatively affects the diffusion of innovative therapies, according to a recently published study.