Neue Informations- und Kommunikationstechnik: L?sung für den Arbeitsmarkt der Zukunft?

Recent technological advances have prompted both utopian and dystopian visions of the transformation of work. The design of humane work environments requires not only a thorough understanding of technological affordances but also ?? critically ?? of work practices and their development. Many workers use advanced communication technologies on the job. It is assumed that this may foster economic productivity and growth, but there may also be negative effects, i.e. problems due to information overfl ow, diversion of attention and blurred boundaries between professional life and family life. The Internet has become one of the most popular tools for job seekers and changed the way workers and firms are matched on the job market. There is evidence that job changers who found their new job through the Internet are better matched than those who found a new job through newspapers, friends or other channels. The Internet has the potential to improve the matching quality of the labour market.     

Verbesserte Institutionen für den Arbeitsmarkt in der Wirtschaftskrise

Bis in die 90er Jahre war der deutsche Arbeitsmarkt dadurch charakterisiert, dass ein Aufschwung den Bestand der Arbeitslosigkeit kaum beeinfl usste, eine Rezession hingegen schon. Seit fünf Jahren gilt das Umgekehrte: der Aufschwung schl?gt auf die Entwicklung der Arbeitslosigkeit durch, die Rezession hingegen kaum. Offenbar pr?gen l?nger dauernde Anpassungsprozesse über Konjunkturzyklen hinweg die Arbeitsmarktentwicklung.     

Hartz IV: die Lösung für die Probleme in der Währungsunion?

The Hartz reforms are often regarded as the therapy which turned the so called “sick man of Europe” into a global superstar. But this diagnosis was wrong. The strength of the German economy was overshadowed by the negative effects of reunification. The decline in unemployment can partly be attributed to the end of the transformation in East Germany. It also reflects the negative cyclical situation in 2005. This analysis is in line with the finding that compared e.g. with Italy and Greece, German unemployment assistance is still very generous. Thus, for the member states of the Eurozone Hartz IV is not a promising strategy. This could be different should wage moderation be cosnidered. However, if member states practice it simultaneously, this will lead to deflation. This calls for higher wage increases in Germany and a more symmetric adjustment.     

Bundesfinanzierung für Berlin — ein Patentrezept für den Finanzausgleich ab 2020?

The federal states Bavaria and Hesse have demanded a change in the system of financial equalisation among the German federal states. One of their demands is that Berlin, as the German capital, should not receive payments from the fiscally strong federal states but rather directly from the federal government. But there are no strong arguments for such a regulation, and it would be contradictory to the constitutional rules on public finance. Moreover, there are additional objections both from a financial and a political point of view which indicate that the proposal by Bavaria and Hesse will not be successful.     

Auswirkungen der Markttransparenzstelle für Kraftstoffe

The authors analyse how the market transparency unit for fuels in Germany affects both supplier and consumer behaviour. The number of price changes has increased, mainly due to increasing price cuts, as has the spread between the lowest and the highest price of the day — both indicators of intensified competition. The concern that the introduction of the market transparency unit would facilitate collusion appears not to be warranted. In contrast, competition has intensified and consumers are increasingly making use of the price differences. The analysis also reveals that consumers purchased more gasoline in times of low prices (so-called price valleys) in 2015 than they did in 2012. The change in consumer behaviour is an indicator that at least some drivers tend to use fuel price comparison apps fed by data from the market transparency unit.     

ANFA – nationale Geldschöpfung als Sprengsatz für die Währungsunion?

The so called ANFA secret protocol brought to the public’s attention the previously only little noticed opportunity for national central banks of individual Eurozone members to create money through purchases of securities at their own expense. The ANFA financial assets amount to the significant share of 51% (gross) or rather 18% (net) of the Eurosystem’s balance sheet total and 41% of its total liquidity, thereby jeopardising the principle that the communities of the emitting and the money accepting countries should be congruent, which is seen as a stability condition for currency unions. There is a danger that the money creation via ANFA acts as an explosive device for the currency union. It is therefore necessary to clearly limit the own funds portfolio in order to restore the community of money emission.     

Neuregelung der Hinzuverdienstmöglichkeiten für Transferbeziehende: keine leichte Aufgabe

In its coalition agreement, the German government proposes a reorganisation of the rules of earned income to be considered as a means test of basic income. In doing so, it takes up a frequently voiced criticism of the design of the basic income support for job-seekers under Book II of the Social Code. In recent years, researchers have called for a strengthening of (monetary) incentives to work, especially to take up employment with higher weekly working hours. In this paper, we summarise potential effects of such a reform on labour supply, the income distribution and the government budget in the context of a complex welfare system characterised by a high level of benefit non-take-up.

     

Fracking in Deutschland — eine Option für die Zukunft!

Extraction of shale gas in Germany (fracking) is better left as an option for the future. Today, owners of deposits in many other countries have uncertain property rights and extract too quickly. German deposits may appreciate in value if left in the ground. They also better contribute to national energy security there than if extracted and depleted. Waiting also allows Germany to learn from the mistakes of others and to take this new information and the improvements in extraction technology into account when deciding about extraction in the future. Such decisions should not be left to the resource extraction industries. Their objectives are likely to differ from the objective of maximising the rent from the nation’s shale gas.     

Das Bestellerprinzip — Entlastung für den Mieter oder Augenwischerei?

Real estate agents (REAs) brokering rent contracts in Germany charged fees only to tenants but not to landlords until 2015. In order to relieve tenants from this burden, German law now requires REAs to only charge landlords. We suggest three reasons for why landlords’ brokerage fees are not simply passed on to tenants but declined substantially after the legal change as did the amount of brokering of rent contracts. REAs’ bargaining power declined when landlords replaced tenants as bargaining partner. Brokerage fees to be paid by tenants serve as a self-selection mechanism of long term tenants. REAs’ incentives to provide high quality decline when the price is fixed before they produce their service.     

Die Erwartungen der Wirtschaft für 2017

In 2016, Germany’s economic sectors had mixed fortunes. Gross domestic income increased by 1.8% in total. The prospects for 2017 are hardly better and subject to uncertainties. Above all the results of the US presidential election and Brexit give cause to fear protectionist tendencies, which are especially adverse for the German export-oriented industries. As a result the representatives of industry and services associations expect in 2017 rather modest growth rates.     

Die Erwartungen der Industrie für 2014

The overall economic situation in 2013 showed less momentum than predicted. In particular, exports grew slowly — as did global trade on the whole. The economic environment was difficult in the aftermath of the public debt and currency crisis in the euro zone. This is reflected in most of the industrial sectors. The construction industry is less dependent on exports than on weather, which reduced production last winter. Meanwhile, the automotive industry grew at an above average rate. The outlook for 2014 finds all industries predicting better performance than in 2013, but there are obstacles due to German policy — the renewable energy act is one of them, as Utz Tillmann of the chemical industry points out. Klaus Mittelbach also looks critically at the turnaround in the German energy policy, but he hopes that the electronics industry will benefit from technological requirements.