Nowcasting East German GDP Growth: a MIDAS Approach
João Carlos Claudio, Katja Heinisch, Oliver Holtemöller
Empirical Economics,
No. 1,
2020
Abstract
Economic forecasts are an important element of rational economic policy both on the federal and on the local or regional level. Solid budgetary plans for government expenditures and revenues rely on efficient macroeconomic projections. However, official data on quarterly regional GDP in Germany are not available, and hence, regional GDP forecasts do not play an important role in public budget planning. We provide a new quarterly time series for East German GDP and develop a forecasting approach for East German GDP that takes data availability in real time and regional economic indicators into account. Overall, we find that mixed-data sampling model forecasts for East German GDP in combination with model averaging outperform regional forecast models that only rely on aggregate national information.
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Nowcasting East German GDP Growth: a MIDAS Approach
João Carlos Claudio, Katja Heinisch, Oliver Holtemöller
Abstract
Economic forecasts are an important element of rational economic policy both on the federal and on the local or regional level. Solid budgetary plans for government expenditures and revenues rely on efficient macroeconomic projections. However, official data on quarterly regional GDP in Germany are not available, and hence, regional GDP forecasts do not play an important role in public budget planning. We provide a new quarterly time series for East German GDP and develop a forecasting approach for East German GDP that takes data availability in real time and regional economic indicators into account. Overall, we find that mixed-data sampling model forecasts for East German GDP in combination with model averaging outperform regional forecast models that only rely on aggregate national information.
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Sinkendes Potenzialwachstum in Deutschland, beschleunigter Braunkohleausstieg und Klimapaket: Finanzpolitische Konsequenzen für die Jahre bis 2024
Andrej Drygalla, Katja Heinisch, Oliver Holtemöller, Axel Lindner, Christoph Schult, Matthias Wieschemeyer, Götz Zeddies
Konjunktur aktuell,
No. 4,
2019
Abstract
Nach der Mittelfristprojektion des IWH wird das Bruttoinlandsprodukt in Deutschland in den Jahren bis 2024 preisbereinigt um durchschnittlich 1% wachsen; das nominale Bruttoinlandsprodukt wird um durchschnittlich 2¾% zunehmen. Die Durchschnittswerte verschleiern die Tatsache, dass das Wachstum gegen Ende des Projektionszeitraums aufgrund der dann rückläufigen Erwerbsbevölkerung spürbar zurückgehen wird. Dies wird sich auch bei den Staatseinnahmen niederschlagen. Allerdings wird die Bevölkerung nicht regional gleichverteilt zurückgehen. Strukturschwache Regionen dürften stärker betroffen sein. Die regionalen Effekte auf die Staatseinnahmen werden zwar durch Umverteilungsmechanismen abgefedert, aber nicht völlig ausgeglichen. Regionen mit schrumpfender Erwerbsbevölkerung müssen sich auf einen sinkenden finanziellen Spielraum einstellen. Der beschleunigte Braunkohleausstieg wird diesen Prozess verstärken, das Klimapaket der Bundesregierung hat hingegen vergleichsweise geringe Auswirkungen auf die öffentlichen Finanzen.
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The Regional Effects of a Place-based Policy – Causal Evidence from Germany
Matthias Brachert, Eva Dettmann, Mirko Titze
Regional Science and Urban Economics,
November
2019
Abstract
The German government provides discretionary investment grants to structurally weak regions in order to reduce regional inequality. We use a regression discontinuity design that exploits an exogenous discrete jump in the probability of regional actors to receive investment grants to identify the causal effects of the policy. We find positive effects of the programme on district-level gross value-added and productivity growth, but no effects on employment and gross wage growth.
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02.10.2019 • 21/2019
Thanks to robust domestic demand, the impact of the manufacturing sector on East Germany is less severe than in the west – Implications of the Autumn 2019 Joint Economic Forecast and official regional data for the eastern German economy
In its autumn report, the Joint Economic Forecast Project Group states that the German economy has cooled further in the current year. The manufacturing sector is the main reason for the economic weakness. This affects the economy in East Germany as well.
Oliver Holtemöller
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Do Asset Purchase Programmes Shape Industry Dynamics? Evidence from the ECB's SMP on Plant Entries and Exits
Manfred Antoni, Talina Sondershaus
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 12,
2019
Abstract
Asset purchase programmes (APPs) may insulate banks from having to terminate relationships with unproductive customers. Using administrative plant and bank data, we test whether APPs impinge on industry dynamics in terms of plant entry and exit. Plants in Germany connected to banks with access to an APP are approximately 20% less likely to exit. In particular, unproductive plants connected to weak banks with APP access are less likely to close. Aggregate entry and exit rates in regional markets with high APP exposures are also lower. Thus, APPs seem to subdue Schumpeterian cleansing mechanisms, which may hamper factor reallocation and aggregate productivity growth.
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04.04.2019 • 10/2019
Service providers in Berlin give boost to East German economy – implications of the Joint Economic Forecast and of official data on the East German economy in 2018
In its spring report, the Joint Economic Forecast group states that the upturn in Germany came to an end in the second half of 2018, mainly because the manufacturing sector is weakening due to a slowing international economy and to problems in the automotive industry. Accordingly, in places such as Saxony (1.2%), Thuringia (0.5%), and Saxony-Anhalt (0.9%), where manufacturing plays a particularly important role, gross domestic product (GDP) grew less than in Germany as a whole (1.4%).
Oliver Holtemöller
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07.03.2019 • 7/2019
German economy will pick up speed only slowly
In winter of 2018/2019, the global economy weakened considerably, mainly due to economic policy risks. In Germany, the economy will pick up speed only slowly. According to IWH spring economic forecast, gross domestic product will increase by 0.5% in 2019. Growth in East Germany will amount to 0.7%.
Oliver Holtemöller
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04.03.2019 • 6/2019
New IWH publication takes stock: “United country – three decades after the Wall came down”
How is Germany’s economy faring 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall? A new publication by the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) uses illustrative maps and graphs to show how the Federal Republic has developed compared to other countries and how economic unification has progressed. The publication presents many new findings, including on productivity differences between east and west, urban and rural development, as well as the availability of skilled labour.
Gerhard Heimpold
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Aktuelle Trends: Die Dienstleistungsmetropole Berlin ist für das Wachstum in Ostdeutschland wichtiger geworden
Axel Lindner
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 4,
2018
Abstract
Der Aufschwung in Ostdeutschland erfährt seit 2016 einen Tempowechsel, vor allem aufgrund unterschiedlich dynamischer Wirtschaftsbereiche: Die dienstleistungsorientierte Berliner Wirtschaft legt weiter zu, das Verarbeitende Gewerbe in Sachsen, Thüringen und Sachsen-Anhalt lässt nach.
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