All indicators of innovative strength in Germany – from research intensity and scientific and technical employment structures to patent successes – point to a strong south-north, west-east and urban-rural divide.

Maike Haag / Hanno Kempermann / Enno Kohlisch / Oliver Koppel IW

Natural gas has become increasingly important for Germany in the last three decades, be it for heating buildings, providing process heat in industry or generating electricity. At the same time, the dependence on imports of natural gas has risen to almost 100 percent in recent decades, with most of the imports coming from Russia.

Michael Hüther / Malte Küper / Thilo Schaefer IW

With the Compendium CO2 Regulation in Europe, the IW has been providing the interested public with a comprehensive collection of data on the development of CO2 emissions from passenger car traffic in the European Union, as well as on the applicable regulatory framework, since 2015.

Thomas Puls IW

Russia's war against Ukraine has highlighted the vulnerability of the Federal Republic of Germany to Russian energy imports, especially natural gas.

Markus Demary / Niklas Florian Taft IW

The degree to which companies in Germany have digitalised their vocational training, if at all, is influenced by a variety of factors.

Paula Risius / Susanne Seyda IW

Under its new name, Citizens' Benefit (Bürgergeld), Germany’s reformed unemployment benefit was supposed to put basic benefits for job-seekers on a new footing and fulfil the political promise to "overcome" its controversial predecessor known, after its original sponsor’s final proposal, as ‘Hartz IV’.

Matthias Diermeier/ Jan Felix Engler / Holger Schäfer IW

Cooperation between established companies and start-ups offers expanded opportunities to innovate and drive the digitalization of the economy.

Barbara Engels / Klaus-Heiner Röhl IW

ChatGPT is currently very popular. The AI can answer questions in seconds, summarize entire texts or create programming code. On the one hand, there are many advantages for the economy and society, on the other hand, experts warn of dangers and call for regulation. It is therefore interesting to see whether and for what purposes companies are already using ChatGPT.

Jan Büchel / Armin Mertens IW