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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.

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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

Bureaucracy in social law - reasons and solutions.

The ongoing debates about reducing bureaucracy make it clear how much bureaucratic burdens characterise the everyday lives of citizens and companies, but also the public administration itself. Bureaucratic hurdles can have far-reaching consequences, particularly in social law and the granting of social benefits. In a current IAW article, the reasons for the complexity of this problem and various approaches to reducing bureaucracy in social law, some of which have already been implemented or are in the process of being implemented, are outlined.

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Workplaces must be adapted to the needs of older employees.

In order to enable people to work longer and avoid unemployment, jobs and labour promotion must be adapted to the needs of older employees and the unemployed. To this end, for example, health promotion should be improved within the framework of SGB II (citizens' benefits) and SGB III (labour promotion). There should be labour market programmes specifically for older employees in order to avoid or at least shorten periods of unemployment in the transition to retirement.

IAW guest article (in German) in a series on the future of pension provision by Table.Media, Berlin.

Baden-Württemberg training alliance focusses on more intensive vocational orientation.

At the 53rd top-level meeting on the training situation, the members of the Baden-Württemberg Training Alliance in Stuttgart discussed the current challenges on the training market in the state. The IAW short report ‘Company-based training in Baden-Württemberg 2023’ (in German) was published in connection with this.

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IAW mourns the loss of its honorary member, former German President Professor Dr. Horst Köhler.

The IAW mourns the loss of its honorary member, former German President Professor Dr. Horst Köhler, who passed away on February 1, 2025 at the age of 81.

Horst Köhler was a research assistant at the IAW from 1969 to 1976, during which time he wrote his dissertation entitled “Release of labor through technical progress”. The fact that he worked on a topic whose topicality is still unbroken shows his foresight, which went far beyond the technical perspective. In many of his later professional positions in federal ministries, at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and at the International Monetary Fund, he bore responsibility at a critical time. He was President of the Federal Republic of Germany from July 1, 2004 to May 31, 2010.

Time and again, he provided the IAW with advice and support. He had been a personal member of the association since 1999 and became an honorary member of the IAW e.V. in 2003, the same year the University of Tübingen made him an honorary professor. His speech to mark the 50th anniversary of the IAW in 2007 is a lasting memory. After his term in office as Federal President, he turned his attention to the importance of Africa for the European economy and foreign policy - again a topic whose long-term significance few recognized as clearly as he did. The IAW owes him a great debt of gratitude for his initiatives and many connections.

The IAW will always remember its honorary member and continue his work in his spirit. Our thoughts are with his family.