Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung

ZEW headquarters in Mannheim

The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim is an economic research institute and a member of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community. Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Franz, president of the Institute, and Thomas Kohl, director of business and administration, ZEW employs a staff of about 180. ZEW is one of Europe’s leading economic research institutes.

ZEW is subdivided into the five research fields:

• International Finance and Financial Management
• Labour Markets, Human Resources and Social Policy
• Industrial Economics and International Management
• Corporate Taxation and Public Finance
• Environmental and Resource Economics, Environmental Management;

and three research groups:

• Information and Communication Technologies
• Growth and Business Cycles
• Competition and Regulation

ZEW’s guiding mission is to study the optimal performance of markets and institutions in Europe. ZEW’s expertise lies particularly in the area of applied microeconometrics and in computable general equilibrium models. Research findings are presented at conferences and published in scientific journals. ZEW also contributes to current political and economic discussions by issuing a variety of its own publications. Furthermore it is offering seminars.^[1]

Special attention is paid to the monthly published ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment. It is a leading indicator for the German economy. The survey also asks for the expectations for the Eurozone, Japan, Great Britain, Italy, France and the US.

ZEW is funded in part by the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg. Since 2005, the Institute has also received basic funding from a partnership between the German federal and state governments. More than 40 per cent of the Institute’s financial resources are obtained from research contracts for third parties, including the European Commission, ministries, and institutions of the federal and state governments, as well as companies, associations, and local authorities. As a member of the Leibniz Scientific Community, also known as the Leibniz Association, ZEW gained recognition from the association's Senate on the basis of a strong 2009 evaluation.^[1]

Attention to indicators

The March, 2012, edition of the Indicator of Economic Sentiment, which compiled survey results from 285 analysts,^[2] found a notable increase in German sentiment.^[3] Another of the several measures in the survey—of the "Current economic situation"—showed little change in the month,^[3] while inflation expectations rose sharply.^[2] The indicator showed an "unexpected rise in April [2012] for a fifth straight monthly gain. The indicator rose to 23.4 from 22.3 in March, against expectations for a decline to 20.0", a result which upon release was cited relative to gains in European stock markets in mid-month.^[4]

References