Die Übernahme von Krankenhäusern durch Private-Equity-Firmen steht oft in der Kritik. Neue Forschung des Leibniz-Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) und der ESMT Berlin zeigt jedoch: Krankenhäuser profitieren davon operativ, ohne dass Qualität oder medizinische Versorgung beeinträchtigt werden.
Die Zahl der Insolvenzen von Personen- und Kapitalgesellschaften in Deutschland ist im April überraschend deutlich gestiegen. Laut Insolvenztrend des Leibniz-Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) wurde der höchste Wert seit Juli 2005 erreicht. Die Zahl der betroffenen Jobs ging hingegen zurück.
Im Jahr 2024 ist die Wirtschaft in Ostdeutschland um 0,1% geschrumpft, in Deutschland insgesamt um 0,2%. Für das Jahr 2025 rechnet das Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) für Ostdeutschland mit einer Stagnation, für 2026 mit einem Zuwachs von 1,1%. Die Arbeitslosenquote dürfte laut IWH-Prognose in den Jahren 2025 und 2026 jeweils 7,8% betragen, nach 7,5% im Jahr 2024.
Die deutsche Wirtschaft tritt auch 2025 auf der Stelle. In ihrem Frühjahrsgutachten prognostizieren die führenden Wirtschaftsforschungsinstitute für das laufende Jahr eine Zunahme des Bruttoinlandsprodukts von lediglich 0,1%. Für das Jahr 2026 erwarten die Institute einen Anstieg des Bruttoinlandsprodukts um 1,3%. Kurzfristig belasten die neue US-Zollpolitik und die wirtschaftspolitische Unsicherheit die Wirtschaft in Deutschland. Die Mittel aus den zusätzlichen Verschuldungsspielräumen dürften nach und nach expansiv wirken, drohen aber den privaten Konsum und private Investitionen zu verdrängen.
Die Zahl der Insolvenzen von Personen- und Kapitalgesellschaften in Deutschland liegt laut IWH-Insolvenztrend im April bei 1 626. Das sind 11% mehr als im Vormonat und 21% mehr als im April 2024. Es ist zudem der höchste Wert seit 2005 (Stand 2. Mai 2025).
Laut IWH-Insolvenztrend waren im April in den größten 10% der insolventen Unternehmen 14 000 Arbeitsplätze betroffen. Damit liegt die Zahl der betroffenen Beschäftigten um 14% unter dem Vormonatswert und 53% unter dem Niveau von April 2024, aber knapp die Hälfte über dem April-Durchschnitt der Vor-Corona-Jahre 2016 bis 2019 (Stand 2. Mai 2025).
Das Bruttoinlandsprodukt dürfte in diesem Jahr mit einem Anstieg um 0,1 % kaum mehr als stagnieren. Damit revidieren die Institute der Projektgruppe Gemeinschaftsdiagnose die Prognose vom Herbst 2024 recht deutlich um 0,7 Prozentpunkte nach unten. Für das Jahr 2026 wird ein Anstieg des Bruttoinlandsprodukts um 1,3% erwartet. Datenstand: 4. April 2025.
Heute gehen die Deutschen im Schnitt zwei Jahre später in Rente als vor zwanzig Jahren, leben aber auch zwei Jahre länger. Seit einigen Jahren steigt zudem die Zahl der Neurentner. Quellen: Statistisches Bundesamt; Berechnungen und Darstellung des IWH.
Die Abbildung zeigt eine Projektion der Ausgaben für Beamtenpensionen bis zum Jahr 2080. Dargestellt ist (für zwei verschiedene Szenarien S1 und S2) der Anteil dieser Ausgaben an den Steuereinnahmen für Bund, Länder und Gemeinden in %. Dieser wird sich nicht dramatisch erhöhen – vorausgesetzt, dass mit rückläufiger Bevölkerung auch die Anzahl der Beamten reduziert wird. Quellen: Statistisches Bundesamt; Bundesministerium der Finanzen; Berechnungen und Darstellung des IWH.
Anzahl der Unternehmensgründungen pro 100 000 Einwohner (EW) für Ost- und Westdeutschland zwischen 1995 und 2018. Bis zum Jahr 2018 sank die Rate in Ost- wie in Westdeutschland um mehr als 100 Neugründungen pro 100 000 Einwohner. Quelle: Diegmann, André: Aktuelle Trends: Entwicklung der Firmengründungen in Deutschland, in: IWH, Wirtschaft im Wandel, Jg. 26 (1), 2020, 4.
Veränderung der Unternehmensgründungen pro 100 000 Einwohner zwischen 2000 und 2018. Je dunkler die Farbe, desto größer der Rückgang. Quelle: Diegmann, André: Aktuelle Trends: Entwicklung der Firmengründungen in Deutschland, in: IWH, Wirtschaft im Wandel, Jg. 26 (1), 2020, 4.
Im Krisenjahr 2009 lag die Nichtbesetzungsquote lediglich bei etwa 16%. Bis zum Jahr 2018 hat sie sich deutlich mehr als verdoppelt. Dabei sind Höhe und Entwicklung der Nichtbesetzungsquote in Ostdeutschland und Westdeutschland ähnlich. Quelle: Steffen Müller, Aktuelle Trends: Fachkräftemangel hat in den letzten zehn Jahren in Ost und West stark zugenommen, in: IWH, Wirtschaft im Wandel — Jg. 25 (3), 2019, 48.
Beim Vergleich der Wirtschaftskraft deutscher Regionen vor den politischen Umbrüchen des 20. Jahrhunderts zeigt sich: Aus historischer Sicht sehen manche Tendenzen, etwa der Berlin-Boom und die höhere Wachstumsdynamik in Sachsen, wie eine Normalisierung aus, die sich mit einiger Wahrscheinlichkeit auch fortsetzen dürfte. Quelle: Axel Lindner: Zur Wirtschaftskraft deutscher Regionen aus langfristiger Perspektive: Alte Muster werden in Ostdeutschland langsam wieder sichtbar, in: IWH, Wirtschaft im Wandel — Jg. 25 (3), 2019, 49.
In Westdeutschland kam es in denjenigen Betrieben, die die vergleichsweise geringsten Löhne zahlen (hier 10. Perzentil), im gesamten Betrachtungszeitraum zu Lohneinbußen. Am aktuellen Rand liegen die Einbußen bei etwa 2% im Vergleich zu 1997, während die Löhne am Median leicht gestiegen sind. In Ostdeutschland verlief die Entwicklung vor allem seit 2013 deutlich positiver. Am aktuellen Rand sind im Osten für alle Perzentile deutliche Lohnzuwächse zu beobachten, am Median etwa 10%.
Ein Investment von 1000 Euro, angelegt am 1. Juli 1988, dem Eröffnungstag des DAX, wäre heute über 6000 Euro wert, hätte sich also versechsfacht. Der DAX hat demnachlangfristig alle anderen Anlage- und Sparoptionen übertroffen, die bei deutschen Haushalten üblich sind (Bundesanleihen, Wohnimmobilien, Sparkonten). Quelle: Gropp, Reint E.: Kommentar: 30 Jahre DAX, in: IWH, Wirtschaft im Wandel, Jg. 24 (3), 2018.
Belgien, Litauen, Polen und Slowenien haben viel Zeit bis zur Umsetzung der EU-Richtlinien in nationales Recht verstreichen lassen. Deutschland und Österreich haben die Richtlinien am schnellsten übernommen. Quelle: Koetter, Michael; Krause, Thomas; Tonzer, Lena: "Welche Faktoren verzögern die Umsetzung der Bankenunion?", in: IWH, Wirtschaft im Wandel, Jg. 24 (1), 2018.
1/3: Im Szenario "Inflationsausgleich" wird für jede Alterskohorte, die aus dem Erwerbsleben ausscheidet, das Rentenniveau bei 48,1% des zuletzt empfangenen Arbeitsentgelts fixiert und bleibt dann real konstant, die Rentenbezüge nehmen also mit der Inflationsrate zu. Die Rentenhöhe kann hierdurch stabilisiert werden. Alle zukünftigen Generationen erhalten eine vergleichbare Absicherung. Quelle: Holtemöller, Oliver; Zeddies, Götz: Zur Stabilisierung von Rentenniveau und Rentenversicherungsbeitrag. IWH Online 2/2017. Halle (Saale) 2017.
2/3: Eine Kopplung der laufenden Renten an die Verbraucherpreise kann ein Element zur Dämpfung des Ausgabenanstiegs bei der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung infolge des demographischen Wandels sein, da die Renten nicht mehr so stark wie die Löhne steigen, sondern nur noch die Inflation ausgleichen. Quelle: Holtemöller, Oliver; Zeddies, Götz: Zur Stabilisierung von Rentenniveau und Rentenversicherungsbeitrag. IWH Online 2/2017. Halle (Saale) 2017.
3/3: Der erforderliche Beitragssatz in der Rentenversicherung im Szenario „Inflationsausgleich“ fällt deutlich niedriger aus und sinkt ab 2035 sogar wieder, während er im Szenario „Status quo“ weiter ansteigt. Durch den Inflationsausgleich kann also ein stabiles Rentenniveau bei Renteneintritt gewährleistet und gleichzeitig eine Dämpfung der Rentenausgaben erreicht werden, wenn die Bevölkerung altert. Quelle: Holtemöller, Oliver; Zeddies, Götz: Zur Stabilisierung von Rentenniveau und Rentenversicherungsbeitrag. IWH Online 2/2017. Halle (Saale) 2017.
in: Journal of Financial Intermediation, im Erscheinen
<p>We examine how banks manage carbon transition risk by selling loans given to polluting borrowers to less regulated shadow banks in securitization markets. Exploiting the election of Donald Trump as an exogenous shock that reduces carbon risk, we find that banks’ securitization decisions are sensitive to borrowers’ carbon footprints. Banks are more likely to securitize brown loans when carbon risk is high but swiftly change to keep these loans on their balance sheets when carbon risk is reduced after Trump’s election. Importantly, securitization enables banks to offer lower interest rates to polluting borrowers but does not affect the supply of green loans. Our findings are more pronounced among domestic banks and banks that do not display green lending preferences. We discuss how securitization can weaken the effectiveness of bank climate policies through reducing banks’ incentives to price carbon risk.</p>
in: International Journal of Banking, Accounting and Finance, im Erscheinen
<p>We study the effects of Tax Authority (IRS) attention on a firm’s financial reporting. We explore whether firms institute a higher degree of accounting conservatism in response to IRS monitoring. Using data on IRS acquisition of public firms’ 10-K financial disclosures to proxy for IRS attention, we find that when firms are under IRS attention, they tend to initiate higher levels of unconditional and, to some extent, conditional accounting conservatism. We alleviate some of the endogeneity concerns by using pre- and post-IRS attention environments between the treated group (firms with IRS attention) and a propensity score that matches the control group of firms (no IRS attention). These results withstand several robustness tests and subsample analyses.</p>
in: Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, im Erscheinen
<p>We find that a firm’s stock price drops when its compensation peer firm announces a severe say-on-pay voting failure. This price drop causes a reduction in the focal firm CEO’s pay in the following period. The effect on CEO pay is stronger when the board of directors is more powerful, when the proxy advisor holds a negative view of the CEO’s pay, and when the hired compensation consultant is less reputable. Directors who cut their CEO’s pay following the price drop receive more voting support from investors than other directors. Our findings show that the peer firm’s voting failure induces a market-feedback effect for focal firm directors.</p>
in: Journal of the European Economic Association, im Erscheinen
<p>There is an ongoing debate about the economic effects of individualism. We establish that individualism leads to better educational and labor market outcomes. Using data from the largest international adult skill assessment, we identify the effects of individualism by exploiting variation between migrants at the origin country, origin language, and person level. Migrants from more individualistic cultures have higher cognitive skills and larger skill gains over time. They also invest more in their skills over the life-cycle, as they acquire more years of schooling and are more likely to participate in adult education activities. In fact, individualism is more important in explaining adult skill formation than any other cultural trait that has been emphasized in previous literature. In the labor market, more individualistic migrants earn higher wages and are less often unemployed. We show that our results cannot be explained by selective migration or omitted origin-country variables.</p>
in: Journal of Financial Stability, im Erscheinen
<p>The establishment of the European Banking Union constitutes a major change in the regulatory framework of the banking system. Main parts are implemented via directives that show staggered transposition timing across EU member states. Based on the newly compiled Banking Union Directives Database, we assess how banks’ funding costs responded to the Capital Requirements Directive IV (CRD IV). Our findings show an upward trend in funding costs which is driven by an increase in cost of equity and partially offset by a decline in cost of debt. The diverging trends are most present in countries with an ex-ante lower regulatory capital stringency, which is in line with banks’ short-run adjustment needs but longer-run benefits from increased financial stability.</p>
in: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, im Erscheinen
<p>We estimate the effects of worker voice on productivity, job quality, and separations. We study the 1991 introduction of a right to worker representation on boards or advisory councils in Finnish firms with at least 150 employees, designed primarily to facilitate workforce-management communication. Consistent with information sharing theories, our difference-in-differences design reveals that worker voice slightly raised labor productivity, firm survival, and capital intensity. In contrast to the exit-voice theory, we find no effects on voluntary job separations, and at most small positive effects on other measures of job quality. A 2008 introduction of shop-floor representation had similarly limited effects.</p>
in: Journal of Finance, im Erscheinen
<p>We examine how firms adapt their organization when they go public. To conform with the requirements of public capital markets, we expect IPO firms to become more organized, making the firm more accountable and its human capital more easily replaceable. We find that IPO firms transform into a more hierarchical organization with smaller departments. Managerial oversight increases. Organizational functions dedicated to accounting, finance, information and communication, and human resources become much more prominent. Employee turnover is sizeable and directly related to changes in hierarchical layers. New hires are better educated, but younger and less experienced than incumbents, which reflects the staffing needs of a more hierarchical organization. Wage inequality increases as firms become more hierarchical. Overall, going public is associated with a comprehensive transformation of the firm's organization which becomes geared towards efficiently operating a public firm.</p>
in: Management Science, im Erscheinen
<p>The effects of private equity buyouts on employment, productivity, and job reallocation vary tremendously with macroeconomic and credit conditions, across private equity groups, and by type of buyout. We reach this conclusion by examining the most extensive database of U.S. buyouts ever compiled, encompassing thousands of buyout targets from 1980 to 2013 and millions of control firms. Employment shrinks 12% over two years after buyouts of publicly listed firms—on average, and relative to control firms—but expands 15% after buyouts of privately held firms. Postbuyout productivity gains at target firms are large on average and much larger yet for deals executed amid tight credit conditions. A postbuyout tightening of credit conditions or slowing of gross domestic product growth curtails employment growth and intrafirm job reallocation at target firms. We also show that buyout effects differ across the private equity groups that sponsor buyouts, and these differences persist over time at the group level. Rapid upscaling in deal flow at the group level brings lower employment growth at target firms. We relate these findings to theories of private equity that highlight agency problems at portfolio firms and within the private equity industry itself.</p>
in: Political Research Quarterly, im Erscheinen
<p>How durable are the political accountability effects of the worst pandemic in a century? We track the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on political preferences through its “high” and “low” phases in the Czech Republic. Uniquely, we ask about the effects of both the health and the economic costs of the pandemic measured at both personal and municipality levels. Consistent with the literature, we estimate effects suggestive of political accountability of leaders during “high” pandemic phases without higher support for non-democratic alternatives. However, we also find that the pandemic political accountability effects are mostly short-lived, and do not extend to the first post-pandemic elections.</p>
in: Journal of Financial Intermediation, im Erscheinen
<p>We examine how banks manage carbon transition risk by selling loans given to polluting borrowers to less regulated shadow banks in securitization markets. Exploiting the election of Donald Trump as an exogenous shock that reduces carbon risk, we find that banks’ securitization decisions are sensitive to borrowers’ carbon footprints. Banks are more likely to securitize brown loans when carbon risk is high but swiftly change to keep these loans on their balance sheets when carbon risk is reduced after Trump’s election. Importantly, securitization enables banks to offer lower interest rates to polluting borrowers but does not affect the supply of green loans. Our findings are more pronounced among domestic banks and banks that do not display green lending preferences. We discuss how securitization can weaken the effectiveness of bank climate policies through reducing banks’ incentives to price carbon risk.</p>
in: International Journal of Banking, Accounting and Finance, im Erscheinen
<p>We study the effects of Tax Authority (IRS) attention on a firm’s financial reporting. We explore whether firms institute a higher degree of accounting conservatism in response to IRS monitoring. Using data on IRS acquisition of public firms’ 10-K financial disclosures to proxy for IRS attention, we find that when firms are under IRS attention, they tend to initiate higher levels of unconditional and, to some extent, conditional accounting conservatism. We alleviate some of the endogeneity concerns by using pre- and post-IRS attention environments between the treated group (firms with IRS attention) and a propensity score that matches the control group of firms (no IRS attention). These results withstand several robustness tests and subsample analyses.</p>
in: Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, im Erscheinen
<p>We find that a firm’s stock price drops when its compensation peer firm announces a severe say-on-pay voting failure. This price drop causes a reduction in the focal firm CEO’s pay in the following period. The effect on CEO pay is stronger when the board of directors is more powerful, when the proxy advisor holds a negative view of the CEO’s pay, and when the hired compensation consultant is less reputable. Directors who cut their CEO’s pay following the price drop receive more voting support from investors than other directors. Our findings show that the peer firm’s voting failure induces a market-feedback effect for focal firm directors.</p>
in: Journal of the European Economic Association, im Erscheinen
<p>There is an ongoing debate about the economic effects of individualism. We establish that individualism leads to better educational and labor market outcomes. Using data from the largest international adult skill assessment, we identify the effects of individualism by exploiting variation between migrants at the origin country, origin language, and person level. Migrants from more individualistic cultures have higher cognitive skills and larger skill gains over time. They also invest more in their skills over the life-cycle, as they acquire more years of schooling and are more likely to participate in adult education activities. In fact, individualism is more important in explaining adult skill formation than any other cultural trait that has been emphasized in previous literature. In the labor market, more individualistic migrants earn higher wages and are less often unemployed. We show that our results cannot be explained by selective migration or omitted origin-country variables.</p>
in: Journal of Financial Stability, im Erscheinen
<p>The establishment of the European Banking Union constitutes a major change in the regulatory framework of the banking system. Main parts are implemented via directives that show staggered transposition timing across EU member states. Based on the newly compiled Banking Union Directives Database, we assess how banks’ funding costs responded to the Capital Requirements Directive IV (CRD IV). Our findings show an upward trend in funding costs which is driven by an increase in cost of equity and partially offset by a decline in cost of debt. The diverging trends are most present in countries with an ex-ante lower regulatory capital stringency, which is in line with banks’ short-run adjustment needs but longer-run benefits from increased financial stability.</p>
in: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, im Erscheinen
<p>We estimate the effects of worker voice on productivity, job quality, and separations. We study the 1991 introduction of a right to worker representation on boards or advisory councils in Finnish firms with at least 150 employees, designed primarily to facilitate workforce-management communication. Consistent with information sharing theories, our difference-in-differences design reveals that worker voice slightly raised labor productivity, firm survival, and capital intensity. In contrast to the exit-voice theory, we find no effects on voluntary job separations, and at most small positive effects on other measures of job quality. A 2008 introduction of shop-floor representation had similarly limited effects.</p>
in: Journal of Finance, im Erscheinen
<p>We examine how firms adapt their organization when they go public. To conform with the requirements of public capital markets, we expect IPO firms to become more organized, making the firm more accountable and its human capital more easily replaceable. We find that IPO firms transform into a more hierarchical organization with smaller departments. Managerial oversight increases. Organizational functions dedicated to accounting, finance, information and communication, and human resources become much more prominent. Employee turnover is sizeable and directly related to changes in hierarchical layers. New hires are better educated, but younger and less experienced than incumbents, which reflects the staffing needs of a more hierarchical organization. Wage inequality increases as firms become more hierarchical. Overall, going public is associated with a comprehensive transformation of the firm's organization which becomes geared towards efficiently operating a public firm.</p>
in: Management Science, im Erscheinen
<p>The effects of private equity buyouts on employment, productivity, and job reallocation vary tremendously with macroeconomic and credit conditions, across private equity groups, and by type of buyout. We reach this conclusion by examining the most extensive database of U.S. buyouts ever compiled, encompassing thousands of buyout targets from 1980 to 2013 and millions of control firms. Employment shrinks 12% over two years after buyouts of publicly listed firms—on average, and relative to control firms—but expands 15% after buyouts of privately held firms. Postbuyout productivity gains at target firms are large on average and much larger yet for deals executed amid tight credit conditions. A postbuyout tightening of credit conditions or slowing of gross domestic product growth curtails employment growth and intrafirm job reallocation at target firms. We also show that buyout effects differ across the private equity groups that sponsor buyouts, and these differences persist over time at the group level. Rapid upscaling in deal flow at the group level brings lower employment growth at target firms. We relate these findings to theories of private equity that highlight agency problems at portfolio firms and within the private equity industry itself.</p>
in: Political Research Quarterly, im Erscheinen
<p>How durable are the political accountability effects of the worst pandemic in a century? We track the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on political preferences through its “high” and “low” phases in the Czech Republic. Uniquely, we ask about the effects of both the health and the economic costs of the pandemic measured at both personal and municipality levels. Consistent with the literature, we estimate effects suggestive of political accountability of leaders during “high” pandemic phases without higher support for non-democratic alternatives. However, we also find that the pandemic political accountability effects are mostly short-lived, and do not extend to the first post-pandemic elections.</p>
Die Zahl der Insolvenzen von Personen- und Kapitalgesellschaften in Deutschland liegt laut IWH-Insolvenztrend im April bei 1 626. Das sind 11% mehr als im Vormonat und 21% mehr als im April 2024. Es ist zudem der höchste Wert seit 2005 (Stand 2. Mai 2025).
Laut IWH-Insolvenztrend waren im April in den größten 10% der insolventen Unternehmen 14 000 Arbeitsplätze betroffen. Damit liegt die Zahl der betroffenen Beschäftigten um 14% unter dem Vormonatswert und 53% unter dem Niveau von April 2024, aber knapp die Hälfte über dem April-Durchschnitt der Vor-Corona-Jahre 2016 bis 2019 (Stand 2. Mai 2025).
Das Bruttoinlandsprodukt dürfte in diesem Jahr mit einem Anstieg um 0,1 % kaum mehr als stagnieren. Damit revidieren die Institute der Projektgruppe Gemeinschaftsdiagnose die Prognose vom Herbst 2024 recht deutlich um 0,7 Prozentpunkte nach unten. Für das Jahr 2026 wird ein Anstieg des Bruttoinlandsprodukts um 1,3% erwartet. Datenstand: 4. April 2025.
Heute gehen die Deutschen im Schnitt zwei Jahre später in Rente als vor zwanzig Jahren, leben aber auch zwei Jahre länger. Seit einigen Jahren steigt zudem die Zahl der Neurentner. Quellen: Statistisches Bundesamt; Berechnungen und Darstellung des IWH.
Die Abbildung zeigt eine Projektion der Ausgaben für Beamtenpensionen bis zum Jahr 2080. Dargestellt ist (für zwei verschiedene Szenarien S1 und S2) der Anteil dieser Ausgaben an den Steuereinnahmen für Bund, Länder und Gemeinden in %. Dieser wird sich nicht dramatisch erhöhen – vorausgesetzt, dass mit rückläufiger Bevölkerung auch die Anzahl der Beamten reduziert wird. Quellen: Statistisches Bundesamt; Bundesministerium der Finanzen; Berechnungen und Darstellung des IWH.
Anzahl der Unternehmensgründungen pro 100 000 Einwohner (EW) für Ost- und Westdeutschland zwischen 1995 und 2018. Bis zum Jahr 2018 sank die Rate in Ost- wie in Westdeutschland um mehr als 100 Neugründungen pro 100 000 Einwohner. Quelle: Diegmann, André: Aktuelle Trends: Entwicklung der Firmengründungen in Deutschland, in: IWH, Wirtschaft im Wandel, Jg. 26 (1), 2020, 4.
Veränderung der Unternehmensgründungen pro 100 000 Einwohner zwischen 2000 und 2018. Je dunkler die Farbe, desto größer der Rückgang. Quelle: Diegmann, André: Aktuelle Trends: Entwicklung der Firmengründungen in Deutschland, in: IWH, Wirtschaft im Wandel, Jg. 26 (1), 2020, 4.
Im Krisenjahr 2009 lag die Nichtbesetzungsquote lediglich bei etwa 16%. Bis zum Jahr 2018 hat sie sich deutlich mehr als verdoppelt. Dabei sind Höhe und Entwicklung der Nichtbesetzungsquote in Ostdeutschland und Westdeutschland ähnlich. Quelle: Steffen Müller, Aktuelle Trends: Fachkräftemangel hat in den letzten zehn Jahren in Ost und West stark zugenommen, in: IWH, Wirtschaft im Wandel — Jg. 25 (3), 2019, 48.
Beim Vergleich der Wirtschaftskraft deutscher Regionen vor den politischen Umbrüchen des 20. Jahrhunderts zeigt sich: Aus historischer Sicht sehen manche Tendenzen, etwa der Berlin-Boom und die höhere Wachstumsdynamik in Sachsen, wie eine Normalisierung aus, die sich mit einiger Wahrscheinlichkeit auch fortsetzen dürfte. Quelle: Axel Lindner: Zur Wirtschaftskraft deutscher Regionen aus langfristiger Perspektive: Alte Muster werden in Ostdeutschland langsam wieder sichtbar, in: IWH, Wirtschaft im Wandel — Jg. 25 (3), 2019, 49.
In Westdeutschland kam es in denjenigen Betrieben, die die vergleichsweise geringsten Löhne zahlen (hier 10. Perzentil), im gesamten Betrachtungszeitraum zu Lohneinbußen. Am aktuellen Rand liegen die Einbußen bei etwa 2% im Vergleich zu 1997, während die Löhne am Median leicht gestiegen sind. In Ostdeutschland verlief die Entwicklung vor allem seit 2013 deutlich positiver. Am aktuellen Rand sind im Osten für alle Perzentile deutliche Lohnzuwächse zu beobachten, am Median etwa 10%.
Ein Investment von 1000 Euro, angelegt am 1. Juli 1988, dem Eröffnungstag des DAX, wäre heute über 6000 Euro wert, hätte sich also versechsfacht. Der DAX hat demnachlangfristig alle anderen Anlage- und Sparoptionen übertroffen, die bei deutschen Haushalten üblich sind (Bundesanleihen, Wohnimmobilien, Sparkonten). Quelle: Gropp, Reint E.: Kommentar: 30 Jahre DAX, in: IWH, Wirtschaft im Wandel, Jg. 24 (3), 2018.
Belgien, Litauen, Polen und Slowenien haben viel Zeit bis zur Umsetzung der EU-Richtlinien in nationales Recht verstreichen lassen. Deutschland und Österreich haben die Richtlinien am schnellsten übernommen. Quelle: Koetter, Michael; Krause, Thomas; Tonzer, Lena: "Welche Faktoren verzögern die Umsetzung der Bankenunion?", in: IWH, Wirtschaft im Wandel, Jg. 24 (1), 2018.
1/3: Im Szenario "Inflationsausgleich" wird für jede Alterskohorte, die aus dem Erwerbsleben ausscheidet, das Rentenniveau bei 48,1% des zuletzt empfangenen Arbeitsentgelts fixiert und bleibt dann real konstant, die Rentenbezüge nehmen also mit der Inflationsrate zu. Die Rentenhöhe kann hierdurch stabilisiert werden. Alle zukünftigen Generationen erhalten eine vergleichbare Absicherung. Quelle: Holtemöller, Oliver; Zeddies, Götz: Zur Stabilisierung von Rentenniveau und Rentenversicherungsbeitrag. IWH Online 2/2017. Halle (Saale) 2017.
2/3: Eine Kopplung der laufenden Renten an die Verbraucherpreise kann ein Element zur Dämpfung des Ausgabenanstiegs bei der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung infolge des demographischen Wandels sein, da die Renten nicht mehr so stark wie die Löhne steigen, sondern nur noch die Inflation ausgleichen. Quelle: Holtemöller, Oliver; Zeddies, Götz: Zur Stabilisierung von Rentenniveau und Rentenversicherungsbeitrag. IWH Online 2/2017. Halle (Saale) 2017.
3/3: Der erforderliche Beitragssatz in der Rentenversicherung im Szenario „Inflationsausgleich“ fällt deutlich niedriger aus und sinkt ab 2035 sogar wieder, während er im Szenario „Status quo“ weiter ansteigt. Durch den Inflationsausgleich kann also ein stabiles Rentenniveau bei Renteneintritt gewährleistet und gleichzeitig eine Dämpfung der Rentenausgaben erreicht werden, wenn die Bevölkerung altert. Quelle: Holtemöller, Oliver; Zeddies, Götz: Zur Stabilisierung von Rentenniveau und Rentenversicherungsbeitrag. IWH Online 2/2017. Halle (Saale) 2017.
in: Journal of Financial Intermediation, im Erscheinen
<p>We examine how banks manage carbon transition risk by selling loans given to polluting borrowers to less regulated shadow banks in securitization markets. Exploiting the election of Donald Trump as an exogenous shock that reduces carbon risk, we find that banks’ securitization decisions are sensitive to borrowers’ carbon footprints. Banks are more likely to securitize brown loans when carbon risk is high but swiftly change to keep these loans on their balance sheets when carbon risk is reduced after Trump’s election. Importantly, securitization enables banks to offer lower interest rates to polluting borrowers but does not affect the supply of green loans. Our findings are more pronounced among domestic banks and banks that do not display green lending preferences. We discuss how securitization can weaken the effectiveness of bank climate policies through reducing banks’ incentives to price carbon risk.</p>
in: International Journal of Banking, Accounting and Finance, im Erscheinen
<p>We study the effects of Tax Authority (IRS) attention on a firm’s financial reporting. We explore whether firms institute a higher degree of accounting conservatism in response to IRS monitoring. Using data on IRS acquisition of public firms’ 10-K financial disclosures to proxy for IRS attention, we find that when firms are under IRS attention, they tend to initiate higher levels of unconditional and, to some extent, conditional accounting conservatism. We alleviate some of the endogeneity concerns by using pre- and post-IRS attention environments between the treated group (firms with IRS attention) and a propensity score that matches the control group of firms (no IRS attention). These results withstand several robustness tests and subsample analyses.</p>
in: Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, im Erscheinen
<p>We find that a firm’s stock price drops when its compensation peer firm announces a severe say-on-pay voting failure. This price drop causes a reduction in the focal firm CEO’s pay in the following period. The effect on CEO pay is stronger when the board of directors is more powerful, when the proxy advisor holds a negative view of the CEO’s pay, and when the hired compensation consultant is less reputable. Directors who cut their CEO’s pay following the price drop receive more voting support from investors than other directors. Our findings show that the peer firm’s voting failure induces a market-feedback effect for focal firm directors.</p>
in: Journal of the European Economic Association, im Erscheinen
<p>There is an ongoing debate about the economic effects of individualism. We establish that individualism leads to better educational and labor market outcomes. Using data from the largest international adult skill assessment, we identify the effects of individualism by exploiting variation between migrants at the origin country, origin language, and person level. Migrants from more individualistic cultures have higher cognitive skills and larger skill gains over time. They also invest more in their skills over the life-cycle, as they acquire more years of schooling and are more likely to participate in adult education activities. In fact, individualism is more important in explaining adult skill formation than any other cultural trait that has been emphasized in previous literature. In the labor market, more individualistic migrants earn higher wages and are less often unemployed. We show that our results cannot be explained by selective migration or omitted origin-country variables.</p>
in: Journal of Financial Stability, im Erscheinen
<p>The establishment of the European Banking Union constitutes a major change in the regulatory framework of the banking system. Main parts are implemented via directives that show staggered transposition timing across EU member states. Based on the newly compiled Banking Union Directives Database, we assess how banks’ funding costs responded to the Capital Requirements Directive IV (CRD IV). Our findings show an upward trend in funding costs which is driven by an increase in cost of equity and partially offset by a decline in cost of debt. The diverging trends are most present in countries with an ex-ante lower regulatory capital stringency, which is in line with banks’ short-run adjustment needs but longer-run benefits from increased financial stability.</p>
in: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, im Erscheinen
<p>We estimate the effects of worker voice on productivity, job quality, and separations. We study the 1991 introduction of a right to worker representation on boards or advisory councils in Finnish firms with at least 150 employees, designed primarily to facilitate workforce-management communication. Consistent with information sharing theories, our difference-in-differences design reveals that worker voice slightly raised labor productivity, firm survival, and capital intensity. In contrast to the exit-voice theory, we find no effects on voluntary job separations, and at most small positive effects on other measures of job quality. A 2008 introduction of shop-floor representation had similarly limited effects.</p>
in: Journal of Finance, im Erscheinen
<p>We examine how firms adapt their organization when they go public. To conform with the requirements of public capital markets, we expect IPO firms to become more organized, making the firm more accountable and its human capital more easily replaceable. We find that IPO firms transform into a more hierarchical organization with smaller departments. Managerial oversight increases. Organizational functions dedicated to accounting, finance, information and communication, and human resources become much more prominent. Employee turnover is sizeable and directly related to changes in hierarchical layers. New hires are better educated, but younger and less experienced than incumbents, which reflects the staffing needs of a more hierarchical organization. Wage inequality increases as firms become more hierarchical. Overall, going public is associated with a comprehensive transformation of the firm's organization which becomes geared towards efficiently operating a public firm.</p>
in: Management Science, im Erscheinen
<p>The effects of private equity buyouts on employment, productivity, and job reallocation vary tremendously with macroeconomic and credit conditions, across private equity groups, and by type of buyout. We reach this conclusion by examining the most extensive database of U.S. buyouts ever compiled, encompassing thousands of buyout targets from 1980 to 2013 and millions of control firms. Employment shrinks 12% over two years after buyouts of publicly listed firms—on average, and relative to control firms—but expands 15% after buyouts of privately held firms. Postbuyout productivity gains at target firms are large on average and much larger yet for deals executed amid tight credit conditions. A postbuyout tightening of credit conditions or slowing of gross domestic product growth curtails employment growth and intrafirm job reallocation at target firms. We also show that buyout effects differ across the private equity groups that sponsor buyouts, and these differences persist over time at the group level. Rapid upscaling in deal flow at the group level brings lower employment growth at target firms. We relate these findings to theories of private equity that highlight agency problems at portfolio firms and within the private equity industry itself.</p>
in: Political Research Quarterly, im Erscheinen
<p>How durable are the political accountability effects of the worst pandemic in a century? We track the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on political preferences through its “high” and “low” phases in the Czech Republic. Uniquely, we ask about the effects of both the health and the economic costs of the pandemic measured at both personal and municipality levels. Consistent with the literature, we estimate effects suggestive of political accountability of leaders during “high” pandemic phases without higher support for non-democratic alternatives. However, we also find that the pandemic political accountability effects are mostly short-lived, and do not extend to the first post-pandemic elections.</p>
in: Journal of Financial Intermediation, im Erscheinen
<p>We examine how banks manage carbon transition risk by selling loans given to polluting borrowers to less regulated shadow banks in securitization markets. Exploiting the election of Donald Trump as an exogenous shock that reduces carbon risk, we find that banks’ securitization decisions are sensitive to borrowers’ carbon footprints. Banks are more likely to securitize brown loans when carbon risk is high but swiftly change to keep these loans on their balance sheets when carbon risk is reduced after Trump’s election. Importantly, securitization enables banks to offer lower interest rates to polluting borrowers but does not affect the supply of green loans. Our findings are more pronounced among domestic banks and banks that do not display green lending preferences. We discuss how securitization can weaken the effectiveness of bank climate policies through reducing banks’ incentives to price carbon risk.</p>
in: International Journal of Banking, Accounting and Finance, im Erscheinen
<p>We study the effects of Tax Authority (IRS) attention on a firm’s financial reporting. We explore whether firms institute a higher degree of accounting conservatism in response to IRS monitoring. Using data on IRS acquisition of public firms’ 10-K financial disclosures to proxy for IRS attention, we find that when firms are under IRS attention, they tend to initiate higher levels of unconditional and, to some extent, conditional accounting conservatism. We alleviate some of the endogeneity concerns by using pre- and post-IRS attention environments between the treated group (firms with IRS attention) and a propensity score that matches the control group of firms (no IRS attention). These results withstand several robustness tests and subsample analyses.</p>
in: Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, im Erscheinen
<p>We find that a firm’s stock price drops when its compensation peer firm announces a severe say-on-pay voting failure. This price drop causes a reduction in the focal firm CEO’s pay in the following period. The effect on CEO pay is stronger when the board of directors is more powerful, when the proxy advisor holds a negative view of the CEO’s pay, and when the hired compensation consultant is less reputable. Directors who cut their CEO’s pay following the price drop receive more voting support from investors than other directors. Our findings show that the peer firm’s voting failure induces a market-feedback effect for focal firm directors.</p>
in: Journal of the European Economic Association, im Erscheinen
<p>There is an ongoing debate about the economic effects of individualism. We establish that individualism leads to better educational and labor market outcomes. Using data from the largest international adult skill assessment, we identify the effects of individualism by exploiting variation between migrants at the origin country, origin language, and person level. Migrants from more individualistic cultures have higher cognitive skills and larger skill gains over time. They also invest more in their skills over the life-cycle, as they acquire more years of schooling and are more likely to participate in adult education activities. In fact, individualism is more important in explaining adult skill formation than any other cultural trait that has been emphasized in previous literature. In the labor market, more individualistic migrants earn higher wages and are less often unemployed. We show that our results cannot be explained by selective migration or omitted origin-country variables.</p>
in: Journal of Financial Stability, im Erscheinen
<p>The establishment of the European Banking Union constitutes a major change in the regulatory framework of the banking system. Main parts are implemented via directives that show staggered transposition timing across EU member states. Based on the newly compiled Banking Union Directives Database, we assess how banks’ funding costs responded to the Capital Requirements Directive IV (CRD IV). Our findings show an upward trend in funding costs which is driven by an increase in cost of equity and partially offset by a decline in cost of debt. The diverging trends are most present in countries with an ex-ante lower regulatory capital stringency, which is in line with banks’ short-run adjustment needs but longer-run benefits from increased financial stability.</p>
in: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, im Erscheinen
<p>We estimate the effects of worker voice on productivity, job quality, and separations. We study the 1991 introduction of a right to worker representation on boards or advisory councils in Finnish firms with at least 150 employees, designed primarily to facilitate workforce-management communication. Consistent with information sharing theories, our difference-in-differences design reveals that worker voice slightly raised labor productivity, firm survival, and capital intensity. In contrast to the exit-voice theory, we find no effects on voluntary job separations, and at most small positive effects on other measures of job quality. A 2008 introduction of shop-floor representation had similarly limited effects.</p>
in: Journal of Finance, im Erscheinen
<p>We examine how firms adapt their organization when they go public. To conform with the requirements of public capital markets, we expect IPO firms to become more organized, making the firm more accountable and its human capital more easily replaceable. We find that IPO firms transform into a more hierarchical organization with smaller departments. Managerial oversight increases. Organizational functions dedicated to accounting, finance, information and communication, and human resources become much more prominent. Employee turnover is sizeable and directly related to changes in hierarchical layers. New hires are better educated, but younger and less experienced than incumbents, which reflects the staffing needs of a more hierarchical organization. Wage inequality increases as firms become more hierarchical. Overall, going public is associated with a comprehensive transformation of the firm's organization which becomes geared towards efficiently operating a public firm.</p>
in: Management Science, im Erscheinen
<p>The effects of private equity buyouts on employment, productivity, and job reallocation vary tremendously with macroeconomic and credit conditions, across private equity groups, and by type of buyout. We reach this conclusion by examining the most extensive database of U.S. buyouts ever compiled, encompassing thousands of buyout targets from 1980 to 2013 and millions of control firms. Employment shrinks 12% over two years after buyouts of publicly listed firms—on average, and relative to control firms—but expands 15% after buyouts of privately held firms. Postbuyout productivity gains at target firms are large on average and much larger yet for deals executed amid tight credit conditions. A postbuyout tightening of credit conditions or slowing of gross domestic product growth curtails employment growth and intrafirm job reallocation at target firms. We also show that buyout effects differ across the private equity groups that sponsor buyouts, and these differences persist over time at the group level. Rapid upscaling in deal flow at the group level brings lower employment growth at target firms. We relate these findings to theories of private equity that highlight agency problems at portfolio firms and within the private equity industry itself.</p>
in: Political Research Quarterly, im Erscheinen
<p>How durable are the political accountability effects of the worst pandemic in a century? We track the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on political preferences through its “high” and “low” phases in the Czech Republic. Uniquely, we ask about the effects of both the health and the economic costs of the pandemic measured at both personal and municipality levels. Consistent with the literature, we estimate effects suggestive of political accountability of leaders during “high” pandemic phases without higher support for non-democratic alternatives. However, we also find that the pandemic political accountability effects are mostly short-lived, and do not extend to the first post-pandemic elections.</p>
