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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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News

3rd IAW Workshop on Growth, Prosperity and Democracy in Stuttgart.

This workshop took place on 12 June and focused in particular on the following questions:

  • Is it necessary to rebalance the relationship between the state, civil society and private-sector actors in order to achieve welfare state objectives even during a period of zero growth?
  • How can the emergence of communicative power and its institutional translation into administrative power be secured under the changed conditions?
  • How can the changed conditions for action be translated into an informed public discourse with the potential for rational policy decisions?

The results of this workshop will be published in 2027 as the third volume in the series ‘Growth. Prosperity. Democracy’.

Programme (in German)

News from the IAW: IAW News 1/2026 online

  • Legally Equal-Practically Disadvantaged? The Situation of EU Citizens in Germany.
  • The Digital European Social Security Card: A Way to Simplify Monitoring of Cross-Border Employment?
  • What Factors Drive the Decision to Work Despite Illness?
  • How Benefit Recipients Perceive Basic Income Support.
  • IAW Annual Meeting 2026: What is Europe’s response to geopolitical challenges?
  • Commemorating Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Norbert Kloten on the 100th anniversary of his birth.

IAW-News 1/2026 (in German)

May 7, 2026: 11th Bundesbank-IAW Lecture at the University of Tübingen.

The Deutsche Bundesbank’s headquarters in Baden-Württemberg and the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IAW) invite you to the “Bundesbank-IAW Lecture” on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at 4:15 p.m. in the Neue Aula at the University of Tübingen.

We are very pleased to welcome Prof. Dr. mult. Dr. h.c. Ulrike Malmendier from the University of California, Berkeley. Her lecture is titled:

Human Finance – Incorporating Insights from the Life Sciences into Finance, with an Application to German Capital Markets and Pension Reform.

Please refer to the invitation for further information. Registration to attend the lecture is not required.

IAW Annual Meeting 2026: What Is Europe’s Response to Geopolitical Challenges?

How should Europe position itself to address the increasingly pressing challenges posed by global economic upheavals, geopolitical tensions, and potential crises in the international financial system? Prof. Dr. Christoph Trebesch, Vice President of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and a world-renowned expert in the field of geoeconomics, addressed this question at this year’s lecture event hosted by the IAW and the headquarters of the Deutsche Bundesbank in Baden-Württemberg on March 26, 2026.

The event also featured the presentation of the 2026 Norbert Kloten Prize for the best theses in the field of applied economic research at the Universities of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, and Tübingen. This year’s prizes went to Judith Lehner from the University of Tübingen and Ricardo Acevedo Arias from the University of Hohenheim.

Read more …

More women in employment – structural barriers remain.


The IAW today presented a new report (in German) on gender-specific employment trends in the state, commissioned by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism (title: “Employment trends and recruitment practices in Baden-Württemberg. A gender-specific analysis based on the IAB Establishment Panel"). The report shows that female employment in Baden-Württemberg has developed positively in recent years. At the same time, structural differences between women and men persist in the labour market.

Press release (in German)

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