PD Dr Mirko Titze

PD Dr Mirko Titze
Current Position

since 4/14

Head of the Centre for Evidence-based Policy Advice (IWH-CEP)

Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association

since 1/13

Head of the Research Group Evaluation of Subsidy Programmes

Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association

Research Interests

  • convergence of regional economic development (focus East-Germany, new EU members)
  • efficiency of subsidisation in the EU

Mirko Titze joined the institute in 2006. His research focuses on impact assessment of subsidy programmes for firms and regions.

Mirko Titze graduated at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg and habilitated at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. From 2011 to 2013, he worked as an interim professor at the chair of Regional Policy at the faculty of Spatial Planning at the TU Dortmund University (formerly Professor Dr Franz-Josef Bade).

Your contact

PD Dr Mirko Titze
PD Dr Mirko Titze
Mitglied - Department Präsidialbereich
Send Message +49 345 7753-861

Publications

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Identifying Cooperation for Innovation―a Comparison of Data Sources

Michael Fritsch Mirko Titze Matthias Piontek

in: Industry and Innovation, No. 6, 2020

Abstract

The value of social network analysis is critically dependent on the comprehensive and reliable identification of actors and their relationships. We compare regional knowledge networks based on different types of data sources, namely, co-patents, co-publications, and publicly subsidized collaborative R&D projects. Moreover, by combining these three data sources, we construct a multilayer network that provides a comprehensive picture of intraregional interactions. By comparing the networks based on the data sources, we address the problems of coverage and selection bias. We observe that using only one data source leads to a severe underestimation of regional knowledge interactions, especially those of private sector firms and independent researchers.

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The Regional Effects of a Place-based Policy – Causal Evidence from Germany

Matthias Brachert Eva Dettmann Mirko Titze

in: 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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Do Diasporas Affect Regional Knowledge Transfer within Host Countries? A Panel Analysis of German R&D Collaborations

Lutz Schneider Alexander Kubis Mirko Titze

in: Regional Studies, No. 1, 2019

Abstract

Interactive regional learning involving various actors is considered a precondition for successful innovations and, hence, for regional development. Diasporas as non-native ethnic groups are regarded as beneficial since they enrich the creative class by broadening the cultural base and introducing new routines. Using data on research and development (R&D) collaboration projects, the analysis provides tentative evidence that the size of diasporas positively affects the region’s share of outward R&D linkages enabling the exchange of knowledge. The empirical analysis further confirms that these interactions mainly occur between regions hosting the same diasporas, pointing to a positive effect of ethnic proximity rather than ethnic diversity.

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Working Papers

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Employment Effects of Investment Grants and Firm Heterogeneity – Evidence from a Staggered Adoption Approach

Eva Dettmann Mirko Titze Antje Weyh

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 6, 2023

Abstract

This study estimates the establishment-level employment effects of investment grants in Germany. In addition to the average treatment effect for the treated, we focus on discrimination in the funding rules as potential source of effect heterogeneity. We combine the difference-in-differences approach of Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021) that explicitly models variation in treatment timing with a ties matching at the cohort level. We observe a positive effect of investment grants on employment development in the full sample. The subsample analysis yields strong evidence for effect heterogeneity due to firm characteristics and the economic environment.

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Firm Subsidies, Financial Intermediation, and Bank Stability

Aleksandr Kazakov Michael Koetter Mirko Titze Lena Tonzer

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 24, 2022

Abstract

We use granular project-level information for the largest regional economic development program in German history to study whether government subsidies to firms affect the quantity and quality of bank lending. We combine the universe of recipient firms under the Improvement of Regional Economic Structures program (GRW) with their local banks during 1998-2019. The modalities of GRW subsidies to firms are determined at the EU level. Therefore, we use it to identify bank outcomes. Banks with relationships to more subsidized firms exhibit higher lending volumes without any significant differences in bank stability. Subsidized firms, in turn, borrow more indicating that banks facilitate regional economic development policies.

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Who Benefits from GRW? Heterogeneous Employment Effects of Investment Subsidies in Saxony Anhalt

Eva Dettmann Mirko Titze Antje Weyh

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 27, 2017

Abstract

The paper estimates the plant level employment effects of investment subsidies in one of the most strongly subsidized German Federal States. We analyze the treated plants as a whole, as well as the influence of heterogeneity in plant characteristics and the economic environment. Modifying the standard matching and difference-in-difference approach, we develop a new procedure that is particularly useful for the evaluation of funding programs with individual treatment phases within the funding period. Our data base combines treatment, employment and regional information from different sources. So, we can relate the absolute effects to the amount of the subsidy paid. The results suggest that investment subsidies have a positive influence on the employment development in absolute and standardized figures – with considerable effect heterogeneity.

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