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Welcome at the Institute for Applied Economic Research at the University of Tübingen (IAW)

The Institute for Applied Economic Research, located in Tübingen, Germany, is an independent research institute at the University of Tübingen. The IAW’s objective is

to apply economic and social research to issues relating to the private and public economy. Its scientific work contributes to the empirical basis for economic policymaking.

News

Subjects

In the following, you will receive an overview of the individual subjects. For more information please click on the topic of interest.

In this field of research, IAW mainly focuses on impact analyses and process-accompanying evaluations of various labor market policies. Another research topic are the effects of legal regulations on the labor market.

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Labor market policy

Demographic change, the shortage of skilled workers and the increasing inequality of market incomes are central challenges for the social security system. Our research focuses on poverty and wealth, social mobility, rehabilitation and retirement, and working conditions in care.

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Social policy and nursing

Research on education issues is an important field of research at the IAW. The focus is on the transition between school and work, on the development of training and further education, on digitization processes in the education sector and on the returns to education.

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Educational research

The IAW feels closely connected to the state of Baden-Württemberg and its economic and social development. In many research projects, we examine current challenges, opportunities and risks of companies and employees in different industries and regions of Baden-Württemberg.

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Baden-Württemberg

We investigate the significance of international trade and migration for incomes and employment in the state of Baden-Württemberg and the German economy. The focus of our research lies in trade agreements as well as European Integration on goods and factor markets.

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Foreign trade

Due to demographic change, the topics of migration and integration will gain in importance in the future. Quantitative questions becoming increasingly important for the national economy, e.g. forms of managing immigration and the attractiveness for potential migrants, while qualitative questions may treat about criteria for successful integration.

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Migration and integration

News

Poor economic situation causes shadow economy to continue increase.

As a result of the weak growth of the official economy and increasing unemployment, the shadow economy in Germany will continue to rise in 2025. The avoidance of cold progression and the relatively small increase in the minimum wage counteract this trend, but can only slow it down slightly. According to the forecast, the size of the shadow economy will increase in nominal terms to 511 billion euros, which is an increase of 6.1 % compared to the previous year. Adjusted for prices, the increase is 3.8 %. The ratio of the forecast shadow economy to measured gross domestic product (GDP) will increase to 11.5 per cent.

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News from the IAW: IAW News 4/2024 online

  • Large potential workforce could be better utilized
  • Continuing vocational training almost back to pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels
  • Annual Network Conference 2024 on the topic of evidence-based bureaucracy reduction

IAW News 4/2024 (in German)

Economic situation in Baden-Württemberg: Forecast for the 4th quarter of 2024 - No growth spurt at the end of the year.

Even at the end of 2024, Baden-Württemberg's economy will not be able to break out of stagnation. This is the conclusion of the latest Nowcast from the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IAW) and the University of Hohenheim. In the fourth quarter of 2024, gross domestic product (GDP) in Baden-Württemberg - adjusted for seasonal and working-day effects - rose slightly by 0.2%. However, this small increase cannot make up for the negative development in the previous quarters far from making up for the negative development in previous quarters.

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Company training in Baden-Württemberg back to pre-Covid 19 pandemic levels.

In the first half of 2023, the proportion of companies in Baden-Württemberg that were active in further training increased significantly from 48% to 56% compared to the previous year. All forms of continuing education recorded an increase. This growth was particularly strong in self-directed learning. This form of further training is used most in companies with 500 or more employees. However, there has also been an increase of around 30 percentage points in small and micro companies in the country since 2019.

The study also shows that people with a low level of qualification continue to participate less frequently in further training measures than those with higher qualifications. In addition, the continuing education rate for women remains higher than that of men.

The report (in German) was commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor and Tourism and is based on data from the IAB Establishment Panel.

A master plan for SMEs in Baden-Württemberg.

On behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism, a scientific consortium consisting of the Centre for European Economic Research Mannheim (ZEW), the Institute for Applied Economic Research Tübingen (IAW) and the Institute for SME Research Mannheim (ifm) has developed a master plan for SMEs in Baden-Württemberg in order to strengthen SMEs as the heart and backbone of Baden-Württemberg's economy. The report analyses the strengths and weaknesses of SMEs and recommends a comprehensive three-stage action programme based on 1. urgency, 2. broad impact and 3. transformation management.

The report (in German) can be downloaded here.

The press release from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism (in German) is available here.