Germany’s Economic Experts Raise Forecast Slightly: Joint Economic Forecast Spring 2018
Externe Monographien,
2018
Abstract
The German economy continues to boom, but the air is getting thinner. Unused economic capacities are gradually shrinking, leading to a slight loss of economic impetus. The pace of economic expansion nevertheless remains brisk: the upturn in the world economy will continue to stimulate exports; and the domestic economy is also expected to remain buoyant thanks to the exceptionally favourable situation in the labour market. The fiscal measures outlined by Germany’s new government in its coalition agreement can be expected to stimulate demand. Annual average economic output can be expected to rise by 2.2 percent this year and by 2.0 percent in 2019. This represents a 0.2 percentage point increase in the institutes’ assessment of growth in gross domestic product versus their autumn 2017 forecast. Employment will continue to see clear growth, but will be weakened by labour market shortages. At the same time, gross wages can be expected to increase markedly. The inflation rate will also rise gradually from 1.7 percent this year to 1.9 percent in 2019.
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Konjunktur aktuell: Konjunktur weiter stark, aber Risiken nehmen zu
Konjunktur aktuell,
No. 1,
2018
Abstract
Die internationale Konjunktur ist seit Herbst 2016 kräftig, und auch im Jahr 2018 dürfte die Weltwirtschaft deutlich expandieren, nach vorliegender Prognose um 3,3%. Die deutsche Wirtschaft ist derzeit in einer Hochkonjunktur. Allerdings ist zweifelhaft, ob die deutsche Wirtschaft über die Kapazitäten verfügt, um das Tempo des Aufschwungs noch lange durchzuhalten. Das Bruttoinlandsprodukt in Deutschland dürfte im Jahr 2018 mit 2,2% noch einmal recht kräftig und im Jahr 2019 mit 1,6% deutlich moderater expandieren. Der Zuwachs der Produktion in Ostdeutschland dürfte im Jahr 2018 mit 2,0% etwas unter dem in Westdeutschland liegen.
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The European Refugee Crisis and the Natural Rate of Output
Katja Heinisch, Klaus Wohlrabe
Applied Economics Letters,
No. 16,
2017
Abstract
The European Commission follows a harmonized approach for calculating structural (potential) output for EU member states that takes into account labour as an important ingredient. This article shows how the recent huge migrants’ inflow to Europe affects trend output. Due to the fact that the immigrants immediately increase the working population but effectively do not enter the labour market, we illustrate that the potential output is potentially upward biased without any corrections. Taking Germany as an example, we find that the average medium-term potential growth rate is lower if the migration flow is modelled adequately compared to results based on the unadjusted European Commission procedure.
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Pendlerströme führen zur regionalen Angleichung bei Beschäftigung
Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 4,
2017
Abstract
Im Jahr 2016 hatten 75% der erwerbsfähigen Personen, die in Ostdeutschland wohnten, dort auch einen Arbeitsplatz. In Westdeutschland waren es 81%. Berücksichtigt man den Pendlerüberschuss gegenüber Westdeutschland sowie die längeren Jahresarbeitszeiten in Ostdeutschland, verschwindet der Rückstand auf den Westen: Die erwerbsfähigen Ostdeutschen haben im Durchschnitt genauso viele Arbeitsstunden geleistet wie die Westdeutschen. Auch auf Kreisebene kann kein ausgeprägtes Ost-West-Gefälle ausgemacht werden. Vielmehr zeigen sich deutliche Disparitäten zwischen Süddeutschland (einschließlich Sachsens und Thüringens) und großen Teilen Norddeutschlands.
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Measuring Indirect Effects of Unfair Employer Behavior on Worker Productivity – A Field Experiment
Matthias Heinz, Sabrina Jeworrek, Vanessa Mertins, Heiner Schumacher, Matthias Sutter
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 26,
2017
Abstract
We present a field experiment in which we set up a call-center to study how the productivity of workers is affected if managers treat their co-workers in an unfair way. This question cannot be studied in long-lived organizations since workers may change their career expectations (and hence effort) when managers behave unfairly towards co-workers. In order to rule out such confounds and to measure productivity changes of unaffected workers in a clean way, we create an environment where employees work for two shifts. In one treatment, we lay off parts of the workforce before the second shift. Compared to two different control treatments, we find that, in the layoff treatment, the productivity of the remaining, unaffected workers drops by 12 percent. We show that this result is not driven by peer effects or altered beliefs about the job or the managers’ competence, but rather related to the workers’ perception of unfair behavior of employers towards co-workers. The latter interpretation is confirmed in a survey among professional HR managers. We also show that the effect of unfair behavior on the productivity of unaffected workers is close to the upper bound of the direct effects of wage cuts on the productivity of affected workers. This suggests that the price of an employer’s unfair behavior goes well beyond the potential tit-for-tat of directly affected workers.
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Konjunktur aktuell: Aufschwung in Deutschland und in der Welt
Konjunktur aktuell,
No. 5,
2017
Abstract
Zur Jahreswende ist die deutsche Konjunktur nach wie vor kräftig. Das Bruttoinlandsprodukt dürfte im Jahr 2017 um 2,2% zunehmen, und weil in diesem Jahr deutlich weniger Arbeitstage anfallen als zuvor, beträgt die Zuwachsrate kalenderbereinigt sogar 2,5%. Der Aufschwung ist breit aufgestellt. Schon länger treibt die deutliche Zunahme der Beschäftigung die privaten Einkommen, den Konsum und den Wohnungsbau, der außerdem von den sehr nied-rigen Zinsen Rückenwind erhält. Zudem profitieren die deutschen Exporte zurzeit von der schwungvollen internationalen Konjunktur. Auch weil die Geldpolitik im Euroraum vorerst expansiv bleibt, ist damit zu rechnen, dass sich der Aufschwung im Jahr 2018 fortsetzt; die Produktion dürfte dann erneut um 2,2% zunehmen (auch kalenderbereinigt). Die Verbraucherpreisinflation ist in den Jahren 2017 und 2018 mit 1,7% moderat. Zwar nimmt der binnenwirtschaftliche Preisdruck zu, aber die die Effekte des Energiepreisanstiegs vom Jahr 2017 laufen im Jahr 2018 aus, und die Aufwertung des Euro im Sommer 2017 wirkt preissenkend. Die schon gegenwärtig niedrige Arbeitslosenquote geht im kommenden Jahr weiter zurück. Der Finanzierungssaldo des Staates fällt im Jahr 2018 mit 1,3% in Relation zum Bruttoinlandsprodukt fast so hoch wie im Vorjahr aus, wenn man keine neuen finanzpolitischen Maßnahmen unterstellt. Die ostdeutsche Wirtschaft dürfte in den Jahren 2017 und 2018 mit 2,1% bzw. 2,0% etwas langsamer expandieren als die gesamtdeutsche. Weil das Verarbeitende Gewerbe in Ostdeutschland nicht so exportorientiert ist wie das im Westen, profitiert es auch nicht ganz so stark von der gegenwärtig sehr kräftigen internationalen Konjunktur.
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Losing Work, Moving Away? Regional Mobility After Job Loss
Daniel Fackler, Lisa Hölscher
LABOUR: Review of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations,
No. 4,
2017
Abstract
Using German survey data, we investigate the relationship between involuntary job loss and regional mobility. Our results show that job loss has a strong positive effect on the propensity to relocate. We also analyse whether displaced workers who relocate to a different region after job loss are better able to catch up with non-displaced workers in terms of labour market performance than those staying in the same region. Our findings do not support this conjecture as we find substantial long-lasting earnings losses for movers and stayers and even slightly but not significantly higher losses for movers.
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14.12.2017 • 39/2017
Cyclical upswing in Germany and in the world
At the turn of the year, the cyclical upswing in Germany continues. Gross domestic product is expected to increase by 2.2% in 2017, and because this year has seen significantly fewer working days than before, the rate of change amounts, adjusted for calendar effects, to even 2.5%. “The upswing is broad-based”, says Oliver Holtemöller, head of the Department Macroeconomics and IWH vice president. “For quite a long time now, significant increases in employment have been driving private incomes, consumption and housing construction. The latter was, in addition, stimulated by low interest rates.” Currently, German exports are benefiting from the vivid international economy. Not least since monetary policy in the euro area remains expansionary for the time being, we expect the upturn to continue in 2018 and production to increase again by 2.2%. Consumer price inflation is, with 1.7%, still moderate in both 2017 and 2018. Although domestic price pressures are on the rise, the effects of the energy price increase in 2017 expire in 2018, and the appreciation of the euro in the summer of 2017 will dampen price dynamics.
Oliver Holtemöller
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Coming to Work While Sick: An Economic Theory of Presenteeism With an Application to German Data
Boris Hirsch, Daniel S. J. Lechmann, Claus Schnabel
Oxford Economic Papers,
No. 4,
2017
Abstract
Presenteeism, i.e. attending work while sick, is widespread and associated with significant costs. Still, economic analyses of this phenomenon are rare. In a theoretical model, we show that presenteeism arises due to differences between workers in (healthrelated) disutility from workplace attendance. As these differences are unobservable by employers, they set wages that incentivise sick workers to attend work. Using a large representative German data set, we test several hypotheses derived from our model. In line with our predictions, we find that bad health status and stressful working conditions are positively related to presenteeism. Better dismissal protection, captured by higher tenure, is associated with slightly fewer presenteeism days, whereas the role of productivity and skills is inconclusive.
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