The Saar economy faces current and future challenges that are unique in Germany. The acute need for transformation in the Saarland, which is particularly significant compared to other federal states, is due primarily to the strong industrial character of the Saar economy. This is confirmed by a study conducted by DIW Econ on behalf of the Ministry of Finance and Europe and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Energy and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour, Energy and Transport of the Saarland
On behalf of the Association of German Private School Associations (VDP e.V.), DIW Econ has investigated whether and how stable the financing system of independent schools in Germany is with regard to extreme increases in energy costs.
The vending industry is currently facing a variety of challenges. Rising operating costs, the decline in floor space in the hospitality industry, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increasing digital competition are putting providers of slot machines under increasing pressure. At the same time, there is only limited legal room for manoeuvre for the vending machine industry to counteract the changed economic conditions by adjusting prices, the quantity offered and via changes to product characteristics.
On behalf of the Verband der Deutschen Automatenindustrie e.V. (Association of the German Amusement Machine Industry), DIW Econ examines the key economic figures of the amusement machine industry against the background of the applicable regulations and the development of economic trends over the past 30 years.
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine, renewed curfews in China, and the consequences of these events on global supply chains, the inflation rate has reached historic levels in reunified Germany since the beginning of the year. The German government has already adopted two comprehensive measures to cushion the impact of rising prices for energy, food and mobility. However, given the increasing uncertainty in the energy supply and continuing high inflation rates, these do not seem to be enough.
Social welfare associations, in particular, have criticized that the relief measures have so far not considered lower income groups and pensioners sufficiently. At the same time, climate experts fear that individual interventions such as the fuel rebate will create false incentives in the fight against climate change.
Against this background, DIW Econ, together with Prof. Dr Claudia Kemfert, on behalf of the Climate Alliance Germany, has evaluated the existing relief measures and provides an outlook on how ecological and distributional effects can be considered together in a new relief package. This is done based on an analysis of five measures in the areas of energy & heat, transport & mobility and food, which are currently being discussed politically and in the media in anticipation of a further relief package.
Tourism plays an important economic role in Berlin. The new edition of the TSA study for the reference year 2020 not only once again quantifies economic indicators – gross value added and employment – related to tourists’ consumption*. For the first time, the impact of the Corona pandemic on Berlin tourism is also calculated by DIW Econ in cooperation with TouristiCon and dwif, on behalf of visit Berlin.