DIW Econ has successfully completed the BMAS research project ‘Investigation of the social situations of self-employed persons in Germany’, in collaboration with infas – Institute for Applied Social Sciences. As part of the project, a nationwide survey of over 2,000 self-employed individuals in main and secondary employment was conducted in 2024. The survey covered topics such as their employment situation and history, income, finances, and social security provisions.
Regional economic effects of the energy transition in the Hanover region
The energy transition is a powerful economic driver for the Hanover region. A study by DIW Econ shows that an ambitious energy transition by 2035 would result in additional investments of around €24.9 billion, €14.3 billion of which would directly benefit the Hanover region. This could generate around €9.5 billion in gross value added and create an average of around 4,100 jobs. Local budgets would also benefit significantly, with projected additional tax revenues of around €470 million.
The potential for creating value from wind energy in Germany.
This study by DIW Econ shows that innovative technology could create thousands of jobs and contribute to the energy transition.
The study, commissioned by Airborne Wind Europe, shows that airborne wind energy (AWE) offers significant economic opportunities for Germany. It has the potential to accelerate the energy transition, provide new industrial impetus, and generate high-quality employment opportunities.
Power2Jobs – Employment Impact of Hydrogen Technologies
The hydrogen economy will play a decisive role in Germany’s green transformation in the coming decades. With its help, the goal of climate neutrality can be achieved while preserving German industry.
As part of the Hydrogen Atlas of Germany, the Power2Jobs subproject has investigated the potential significance of the hydrogen economy for regional labor markets.
At the bottom of this page, you will find a list of publications, which are accessible through links.
The working paper “Upstream employment effects of P2X production” provides benchmarks for the regional employment effects of hydrogen production in Germany.
The paper “Regional Hydrogen Relevance in Germany” compares the hydrogen-specific potential and challenge profiles of German counties.
Building on this, in the paper “Employment Effects of the Hydrogen Economy” we have ventured a look into the future of the steel and heavy industry labor market. We discuss how the two labor markets in Germany could change in the face of the emergence of new occupational groups and the disappearance and transformation of established occupational fields.
The changing world of work is also the focus of our fourth working paper. In it, we have documented our approach to measuring regional skills gaps, which was used in the context of Power2Jobs to assess the existing distribution of skills and knowledge in Germany’s regions against the backdrop of a hydrogen economy.
You can get a first insight into the results in interactive form at www.power2jobs.de.
The Hydrogen Atlas Germany is available at www.wasserstoffatlas.de.
Cheap new world? Comparison of the energy costs of a fossil-based and a green household
Whether a sustainable lifestyle is financially worthwhile for households is a matter of public debate. The high initial investment in particular reinforces the prejudice that switching to renewable energies is the morally correct but expensive alternative to a fossil-fuelled lifestyle. A cost comparison carried out by DIW Econ on behalf of Enpal B.V. suggests that the opposite is true.