On behalf of Haus & Grund, DIW Econ GmbH has investigated the possible effects of new rental regulations on the rental housing market in Germany. To this end, party positions on proposed housing market regulations were converted into a regulation index and then, using a regression model, the impact of the new regulations on the proportion of tenant households in Germany was estimated.
Research and development abroad: German companies have similar priorities as at home
DIW Weekly Report 36 / 2019, pp. 631-639
More than every fourth patent filed by large German companies is based on inventions made in their research laboratories abroad. In three-quarters of the cases, the companies concentrate on technologies in which they are also particularly strong in Germany. The technological performance of research and development at home thus largely determines the innovative strength of German companies operating worldwide.
Who meets whom when buying property?
Economic Bulletin No. 1 | 2019
Purchaser principle when buying residential property
One reason for the stagnating homeownership rate in Germany for years is often cited as the high ancillary acquisition costs, which discourage households with low equity in particular from buying property. In addition to land transfer tax, notary and land registry fees, the brokerage commission is also a significant factor. However, there is no uniform and cross-national regulation on the amount and distribution of the broker’s commission. For this reason, the introduction of a nationwide buyer’s principle for the purchase of residential property is being discussed to prevent a possible predicament of buyers. Who is protected from whom by the buyer principle and what the typical buyer and seller household looks like is examined in this Economic Bulletin “Who meets whom when buying property”.
The buyer principle when buying and selling residential property – An economic analysis
The introduction of a nationwide buyer principle for the purchase of residential property is currently being discussed (draft law BMJV, 2019). In the future, the clients of the estate agents – mainly the sellers – would pay for the agent’s commission, so that the ancillary acquisition costs for buyers should decrease.
Whether this can be achieved with the buyer principle depends to a large extent on the probability of the sellers passing on the brokerage costs to the purchase prices. This study, commissioned by leading brokerage firms, therefore examines the potential effects of introducing the buyer-principle on a scientific and empirical basis.
Digital infrastructure: glass fibre urgently needed!
Report in Wirtschaftsdienst 97th volume, 2017, issue 3, pp. 157-158
German companies present themselves at CeBIT
as a technology leader on the way to the gigabit society. But when it comes to broadband, Germany is lagging: in terms of download speed, it is ranked 26th in the world, behind most industrialised nations and even behind Bulgaria and Romania. Although DSL availability is excellent, only 7.1% of German households have access to genuine fibre optic connections (FTTH/B: Fibre to the Home/Building).