EPoS press releases
• Representative surveys of 5,000 individuals
• Increasing hours worked by mothers counteracts skills shortage
Bonn, Mannheim, Germany, 25.03.2024 – Almost half of the women in Germany work part-time, compared to only about 10 percent of men. New research reveals that perceptions of women drive their work-related decisions: Even in a best-case scenario of high-quality, full-day childcare, only 55 percent of women would want to work full-time – 40 percent would work part-time when having a child. These are findings of the discussion paper “Beliefs About Maternal Labor Supply” published by the EPoS Economic Research Center at the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim.
• OECD warns of old-age poverty
• German government subsidy for low-income pensions analyzed
Bonn, Mannheim, Germany, 11.03.2024 – Subsidizing pensions of low-income retirees has important health benefits and lowers the risk of dying early. The analysis of German administrative data shows: A government subsidy of 100 Euros per month (13% increase of pension benefits) reduces the probability of dying before age 65 by 23.5 percent, before age 70 by 8 percent and before age 75 by 2 percent. These are findings of the discussion paper “Live Longer and Healthier: Impact of Pension Income for Low-Income Retirees” published by the EPoS Economic Research Center at the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim.
Bonn, Mannheim, 06.03.2024 – The usage of shared electric vehicles peaks earlier than overall traffic – a study of road trips in Madrid shows. This effect can help to smooth road traffic, reducing congestion and emissions in big cities. These are findings of the discussion paper “Observed Patterns of Free-Floating Car-Sharing Use” published by the EPoS Economic Research Center at the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim.
• Higher risk of losing the job prevents stock investment
• Capital gains widen racial income disparities (+15%, 1980-2020)
Bonn, Mannheim, 01.03.2024 – Black Americans face a higher risk of losing their job than white Americans, especially during economic recession. That is why Black Americans invest less in the stock market, worsening the racial wealth gap in the US. Had the risk of unemployment been the same for Black and white Americans in the period 1980-2020, the wealth gap would have risen by 3 percent, whereas it actually grew by 15 percent. These are findings of the discussion paper “Unemployment risk, portfolio choice, and the racial wealth gap” published by the EPoS Economic Research Center at the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim.
• Women anticipate unequal treatment and accumulate salary losses
• EPoS study analyzes data from 15,000 students
Bonn, Mannheim, 29.02.2024 – A new EPoS study on the gender pay gap shows that female students expect to earn significantly less than men throughout their professional careers. All in all, they expect to earn more than half a million euros less in their working life. In line with their expectations, women demand lower wages, so that the gender pay gap persists. These are findings of the discussion paper “Gender Differences in Wage Expectations and Negotiation” published by the EPoS Economic Research Center.
Bonn, Mannheim, Germany, 08.02.2024 – Young people often use marijuana in combination with alcohol and cigarettes. Therefore, a combination of tax increases on all three counterbalances rising marijuana use among youth after legalization. These are empirical findings of the discussion paper “More than Joints:
Multi-Substance Use, Choice Limitations, and Policy Implications” by the EPoS Economic Research Center at the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim.
• Acquisition of firms for hiring eliminates labor market competition
Bonn, Mannheim, 31.01.2024 – Large tech firms such as Facebook and Google claim to buy small startups to get specialized talent. Yet, the economic analysis suggests a different rationale: Acquiring a startup and hiring its staff suppresses competition in the labor market. This harms workers’ wages. These are findings of the discussion paper “Acquihiring for Monopsony Power” published by the EPoS Economic Research Center at the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim.
• Experiment studied the acceptance and response rate to Black and White profiles
• Young and female users discriminate most
• Field study on LinkedIn in the U.S.
Bonn, Mannheim, Germany, 15.12.2023 – Black Americans face higher initial barriers when using online business networks compared to White Americans. Contact requests from Black profiles on LinkedIn are rejected more often compared to White profiles. These are findings of the discussion paper “LinkedOut? A Field Experiment on Discrimination in Job Network Formation” by the EPoS Economic Research Center at the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim.
EPoS Economic Research Center analyses German social security data
Bonn, Mannheim, Germany, 15.12.2023 – Interactions between generous unemployment insurance and retirement rules can lead to higher unemployment particularly for older workers close to retirement. The reason: The joint effect of both schemes creates an incentive to build a “bridge-to-retirement”. This is the main finding of the discussion paper “When Institutions Interact: How the Effects of Unemployment Insurance are Shaped by Retirement Policies” by the EPoS Economic Research Center at the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim.
Bonn, Mannheim, 23.11.2023 - Die Energiepreisbremsen bei Strom und Gas in Deutschland werden mit dem jüngsten Gerichtsurteil aus Karlsruhe auf den Prüfstand gestellt. Ökonomen sehen die Entlastungen für Unternehmen in Form von Transferzahlungen und Subventionen kritisch: Eingriffe dieser Art, wie die geplante Absenkung der Stromsteuer für Unternehmen, sind keine sinnvolle Nutzung von Steuergeldern – so ein Fazit einer Studie des EPoS Economic Research Center der Universitäten Bonn und Mannheim. Im aktuellen Diskussionspapier „Hicks in HANK: Fiscal Responses to an Energy Shock“ werden die Wechselwirkungen staatlicher Eingriffe als Reaktion auf Energiepreisschocks untersucht.
- Wirtschaftsforscher untersuchen Wechselwirkungen staatlicher Eingriffe
Bonn, Mannheim, Germany, 21.11.2023 – The fear of losing office in the next election provides a strong incentive for political leaders to satisfy voters. Those in power are particularly prepared to change their political course if the potential successor may belong to a populist party. The threat of voters to switch to populists has a serious impact. These are findings of the discussion paper “Shaking Up the System: When Populism Disciplines Elite Politicians” by the EPoS Economic Research Center at the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim.
- EPoS Economic Research Center of the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim publishes new paper
- Swing voters examined with equilibrium model
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.
Financial Dollarisation in emerging market economies does not necessarily lead to more vulnerability in the respective financial system, according to a recently published study with the participation of the University of Mannheim. “The common view that financial dollarisation is a source of fragility is overstated,” the authors said.
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.
The re-opening of schools in Germany in late summer 2020 did not propel infections with the novel
Sars-CoV-2 virus, according to a recently published study.
„We do not find any evidence for a positive effect of the end of summer breaks on the number of
confirmed cases“, the researchers from the Institute for Labor Economics (IZA) and the University of
Bonn concluded.
Other press releases covering EPoS research*
briq, September 1, 2022
ECONtribute, August 5, 2022
RWI, Jule 14, 2022
Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaten, August 8, 2022
University of Mannheim, August 8, 2022
briq, March 23, 2022
briq, March 16, 2022
University of Mannheim; March 09, 2022
briq, March 07, 2022
ECONtribute, February 17, 2022
University of Mannheim, January 28, 2022
ECONtribute, Januar 25, 2022
ECONtribute, December 13, 2022
IZA. November 16, 2021
briq, July 09, 2021
ECONtribute, July 09, 2022
ECONtribute, June 30, 2021
ECONtribute, October 29, 2020
ECONtribute, October 07, 2020
ECONtribute, April 17, 2020
IZA, April 17, 2020
*The CRC TR 224 bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.