IWH-CompNet Discussion Papers
IWH-CompNet Discussion Papers The IWH-CompNet Discussion Paper series presents research...
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Gross domestic product
Gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) includes the value of all goods and services produced in an economic area during a specific period of time. It is ...
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Stock of fixed assets
Stock of fixed assets Gross fixed capital formation Gross fixed capital formation includes the purchase of permanent and reproducible fixed assets as well as created...
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27.09.2018 • 18/2018
Joint Economic Forecast Autumn 2018: Upturn Loses Momentum
Berlin, 27 September – Germany’s leading economics research institutes have downwardly revised their forecasts for 2018 and 2019. They now expect economic output to increase by 1.7 percent in 2018, and not 2.2 percent as forecast in spring. They also scaled back their 2019 forecast slightly from 2.0 to 1.9 percent. These are the results of the Joint Economic Forecast for autumn 2018 that will be presented in Berlin on Thursday.
Oliver Holtemöller
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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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The Restructuring of the Agricultural Sector in Eastern Germany
Udo Ludwig
Schneider, Jürgen (Hrsg.): Einigkeit, Recht und Freiheit. 25 Jahre deutsche Wiedervereinigung (1990-2015). Eine ordnungs-theoretische Analyse, Beiträge zur Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte. Band 132.3, Stuttgart,
2017
Abstract
The paper deals with the restructuring of the East German agricultural sector. In terms of macroeconomic indicators it shows how the sector was able to successfully catching up in the economy. It finds that the restructured agricultural enterprises benefit from the modernization of their capital stocks and the economies of scale in the production of plants on large areas. As a result they outdo their competitors in Western Germany in terms of unit labor costs and per capita output.
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