"Open Government Data": Intended effects largely missed (in German).
Since the mid-1990s, legislators have been striving to open up the administration. One element of this is the provision of administrative data free of charge as "Open Government Data" or "Open Data" for short. This is intended to promote economic growth and increase the transparency of the administration. A new study by the IAW, which was funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation, shows that municipalities are currently providing data and in many cases using it themselves within the administration. However, there are as yet no economic business models based on open data. Demand for the data from civil society is also still weak.
Press release February 4, 2020
Further decline in the shadow economy in Germany in 2020 despite slower economic growth (in German).
The size of the shadow economy will be 322 billion euros in 2020. This is a decrease of 2 billion euros compared with the previous year. The shadow economy in Germany has declined continuously since 2009. The deteriorating economic outlook will dampen this decline in 2020. The still low level of unemployment together together with the expected growth of the official economy, however, will still lead to a slight decline in the shadow economy.
Press release August 2, 2019
Ministry of Science promotes network for good legislation and bureaucracy reduction (in German).
New laws should be easy to understand and apply, not lead to more bureaucracy and create benefits. These are the goals of the Normenkontrollrat Baden-Württemberg, which will be supported in the future by a network of scientists. The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts (MWK) is funding the network's office, which will be located at the Institute for Applied Economic Research at the University of Tübingen (IAW), from 2019 to 2022.
Press release February 6, 2019
Still good labor market development leads to further decline in shadow economy in 2019 (in German).
In 2019, the size of the shadow economy in Germany will decrease by around EUR 5 billion. The ratio of the shadow economy to official GDP will thus fall to just over 9 percent. The main reason for this is the continuing good labor market situation, which so far has not been affected by the weaker growth outlook. In addition, lower taxes for the small self-employed make it more worthwhile to register a business.
Press release January 17, 2019
Baden-Württemberg - Close integration of the industrial and service sectors brings location advantages in digitization (in German).
A recent study by the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IAW), the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI and the ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research shows that industry-related services in Baden-Württemberg are very strong in innovation. They ensure that SMEs in particular are better able to exploit the opportunities of digitization and increasingly offer digital hybrid services. However, the study also points out that in industry, only some of the companies are benefiting from the service business, while others are withdrawing from it in whole or in part.
Press release June 27, 2018
Companies use many levers to absorb cost increases resulting from the minimum wage (in German).
A general statutory minimum wage was introduced in Germany at the beginning of 2015. On behalf of the Minimum Wage Commission, the IAW has now conducted a comprehensive qualitative study in industries that were heavily affected by the minimum wage to investigate the reactions of companies and employees to the minimum wage. The study showed that companies use a wide range of adaptation strategies to respond to the changes resulting from the introduction of the minimum wage.
Press release February 6, 2018
Good economic situation and positive employment trend lead to further decline in shadow economy in 2018 (in German).
Due to the good economic situation and increasing reported employment, the longer-term decline in the shadow economy continues unabated in 2018. The ratio of the shadow economy to the official economy is thus reduced to below 10%. The volume of the shadow economy in Germany is estimated at EUR 323 billion in 2018. However, the future German government could reduce the shadow economy even further through tax relief. For example, the complete abolition of the solidarity surcharge would reduce the shadow economy by over EUR 10 billion.
