Prof. Dr. Andreas Peichl

Andreas Peichl beklagt, dass in Deutschland bei der Datenerhebung und -verfügbarkeit im Vergleich zu vielen anderen Ländern ein signifikanter Nachholbedarf besteht. Er sieht auf diesem Gebiet großen Handlungsbedarf, da durch eine bessere Datenqualität die gesellschaftliche Teilhabe verbessert, die wirtschaftliche Wertschöpfung erhöht sowie eine verbesserte Informationsgrundlage für politische Entscheidungen geschaffen wird.

Die fehlende Gleichstellung von Frauen auf dem deutschen Arbeitsmarkt ist ernüchternd und vor allem in Führungspositionen sind Frauen weiterhin die Ausnahme. Dazu kommt die Lohnlücke. Mit Frauenquoten allein lässt sich die Chancenungleichheit nicht lösen. Andreas Peichl spricht von erheblichem Handlungsbedarf für die neue Bundesregierung, um die vielfältigen Ursachen für Gender Gaps in Deutschland zu bekämpfen.

Kevin Kloiber, Andreas Peichl und Hannes Winner erläutern, wie sich verschärfte Corona-Einschränkungen für Ungeimpfte auf die Impfbereitschaft auswirken.

Andreas Peichl, Ronnie Schöb, Christian Waldhoff, Alfons Weichenrieder erklären, warum ein bedingungsloses, existenzsicherndes Grundeinkommen weder finanzierbar noch verfassungsrechtlich umsetzbar ist.

Die Ausweitung der Minijobs durch die neue Ampelkoalition ist aus verschiedenen Gründen problematisch.  Alexandra Fedorets, Peter Haan, Andreas Peichl, Sebastian Siegloch und Katharina Wrohlich erklären, warum das mit Blick auf mehrere im Sondierungspapier genannten Ziele kontraproduktiv ist, und zeigen mögliche Alternativen auf.

Philipp Dörrenberg und Andreas Peichl erklären, vor welchen besonderen Herausforderungen die empirische Steuerforschung steht, um eine besser fundierte Steuerpolitik zum Wohle der Allgemeinheit zu gewährleisten.

Rüdiger Bachmann, Andreas Peichl und Regina T. Riphahn zeigen die Schwächen der deutschen Wirtschaftsdateninfrastruktur im internationalen Vergleich auf und erklären, warum aktuelle Daten gerade in Krisenzeiten für die politische Steuerung so wichtig sind.

Das Hartz-IV-System hat seine Wirkung gezeigt. Nun ist es Zeit für eine Neuauflage. Denn in seiner jetzigen Form hält es Menschen von der Arbeit fern, erklärt Andreas Peichl.

In Germany, people always have a higher income working than not working. People who work and take advantage of all the social benefits available to them always have more disposable income than people who do not work and receive only social benefits. This is according to the ifo Institute’s calculations.

Making smaller cuts to social benefits for recipients of Germany’s basic income (Bürgergeld) who work more would increase their participation in the labor market. This is the finding of a reform proposal by the ifo Institute and ZEW elaborated on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS).

The ifo Institute is calling for more data to be made available to researchers and hopes a proposed new law will help make this happen. “Improvements must be made to ensure fast access to high-quality, detailed research data,” said ifo researchers Andreas Peichl and Sebastian Wichert in Berlin on Friday. “This is essential for top research that is based on facts and thus suitable to inform policy decisions. Unfortunately, regulation of this area is considerably worse in Germany than in many other European countries.” For this reason, the ifo researchers are counting on the German government’s proposed new legislation on research data.

The ifo Institute is proposing a reform to Germany’s income tax and transfer system that would not lead to any additional costs for the government budget. “The reform would increase the number of hours worked by the equivalent of 184,000 full-time positions. At the same time, 172,000 people would enter the labor force,” says Andreas Peichl, Director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys. Most notably, the number of people in full-time employment would go up. This is according to a study published in ifo Schnelldienst 09/2023.

Income inequality has increased in Germany between 1998 and 2016, according to tax data analyzed by the ifo Institute and EconPol Europe. This analysis shows that in 1998, the richest 10 percent of taxpayers earned 33.8 percent of total income. In 2016, that figure rose to 37.2 percent.

Higher corporate taxes lead to a decline in private investment in Germany, shows a study conducted by the EconPol research network. A 1 percentage point in-crease in local business tax leads to a 3 percent decrease in investment activity. “This means that every additional euro of tax revenue would cause companies to invest two euros less on average,” says Andreas Peichl, Director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys.

Women’s and men’s earned incomes are slowly converging. The gap narrowed from 39.1 percent in 2001 to 37.5 percent in 2016, according to a recent study by the ifo Institute. “However, if additional income from rentals, self-employment, or business holdings is taken into account, the gap actually widens: it went from 39.6 to 40.6 percent over the same period,” says Andreas Peichl, Director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys.

Tighter Covid-19 restrictions for the unvaccinated go hand in hand with greater willingness to get the shot. That is the finding of an ifo study on vaccine willingness in the German-Austrian border region. “The announcement of a 2G rule (exemption from restrictions solely for those who are vaccinated or have recovered) in Austria on November 5 led to a rise in the vaccination rate,” says Andreas Peichl, Director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys and co-author of the study.

The burden on gross incomes in Germany from taxes, the solidarity surcharge, and social security contributions has decreased almost continuously since 1986, according to ifo Institute calculations. “Whether it makes sense to continue this trend toward lower income tax burdens is questionable. After all, Germany has decided to invest massively in climate change, digitalization, and education over the coming years,” says Andreas Peichl, Director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys.

The ifo researcher Andreas Peichl believes that setting up a commission to reform German social benefits is a good idea. This proposal is included in the new coalition agreement. “This is a step in the right direction,” Peichl said in Munich on Wednesday. “The current confusion over the rules and on the part of the authorities means that for some workers, a higher gross salary means lower take-home pay. This has to stop.”

A compromise on tax by Germany’s traffic light coalition could bring citizens up to EUR 16.4 billion in relief if the SPD gets its way on tax rates and the solidarity surcharge is abolished. This is the result of an ifo Institute analysis of the possible coalition alliances’ tax proposals. “All that has emerged so far from the exploratory talks is that taxes will not be raised. However, it is quite possible that they will be lowered in the further course of the talks,” says Andreas Peichl, Director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys and coauthor of the study.

Die unteren 40 Prozent der Einkommen könnten entlastet werden, wenn Minijobs in eine sozialversicherungspflichtige Beschäftigung umgewandelt werden und gleichzeitig das Ehegattensplitting reformiert wird. Das ist das Ergebnis einer ifo-Studie im Auftrag der Bertelsmann Stiftung. Gleichzeitig würde die Reform höhere Einkommensgruppen nur mäßig belasten. Insgesamt entstünden keine zusätzlichen Kosten für den Staatshaushalt.

A comprehensive reform of taxes and allowances could increase employment in Germany by 400,000 jobs, according to ifo Institute calculations. In the process, the disposable incomes of large families and single parents would increase. The proposal would be virtually revenue neutral for the government budget. “Our proposal helps to offset demographic change and the exit of baby boomers from the labor market,” says Andreas Peichl, Director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys.

The German government has provided tax relief for many of its citizens in the current legislative period, according to an ifo Institute study. Without the federal government’s tax policy, average household income would be EUR 444 or 1.2 percent lower in 2021. Many households with children, but also high earners in particular, have benefited from the federal government’s tax reforms.

The income tax reforms proposed by Germany’s political parties will lead to more employment, but will have different effects on government finances. This is according to a study by the ifo Institute published in the latest edition of ifo Schnelldienst. Employment growth is highest under the FDP’s plans, which would lead to the creation of 330,000 new jobs. The Left Party’s plans would create 229,000 new jobs, those of the CDU/CSU would create 100,000, the SPD’s 66,000 and the Greens’ 24,000.

Germany’s next federal government must take a more focused approach to resolving distribution problems in its redistribution policy, without risking growth targets. This is the proposal put forward by ifo President Clemens Fuest, Andreas Peichl, Director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys, and Florian Neumeier, Head of the ifo Research Group Taxation and Fiscal Policy, in an article for ifo Schnelldienst.

The coronavirus allowances for families and the extension of short-time allowances adopted by the German government in 2020 have stabilized gross earned incomes in the country. This is the finding of recent calculations by the ifo Institute together with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.

The ifo researcher Andreas Peichl is calling for a comprehensive reform of Germany’s basic social security system. “There are about 175 different regulations on this, and nobody understands them anymore. That has to be simplified to five,” he said in Munich on Wednesday on ifo’s Economy for All podcast, marking the publication of a new study commissioned by the Stiftung Grundeinkommen think tank. “The system is too complicated and it works like it was deliberately made difficult for applicants, since the state saves EUR 6–10 billion a year as a result of eligible persons being deterred by the maze of application paperwork and not asserting their claims. It’s been that way for decades,” Peichl said.

The economic situation for low-wage and self-employed workers in Germany has deteriorated during the coronavirus crisis. This is according to the latest analysis conducted by the ifo Institute. A pivotal factor is these workers’ ineligibility for short-time allowance. “Neither the self-employed nor low-wage earners pay unemployment insurance contributions, and we are now seeing the effect,” says Andreas Peichl, Director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys.

In economic terms, cities have been hit the hardest by the coronavirus crisis. Unemployment rose more significantly there and companies’ business situations deteriorated more so than in Germany’s other regions. The rise in short-time work is hitting the industry-heavy southwest the hardest. These are the key findings from a study conducted by the ifo Institute.

Many employees in Germany would like to work less, according to figures from an ifo Institute study for the Bertelsmann Stiftung. Currently, 50 percent of male employees and 41 percent of female employees work more than they would like to. Men work 41 hours a week on average and want to work 37 hours. Women work an average of 32 hours a week and would prefer 30 hours. Both groups would accept wage cuts.

The NoCovid group’s scientists have called for extensive testing, faster contact tracing, and a rapid rollout of vaccinations in Germany, arguing that only then will it be possible to open up the economy again. Any reopening in the immediate future threatens to quickly undo the hard-won successes of recent weeks, the group writes in a new paper. This means testing must become a part of everyday life. “If we want the economy to recover, any reopening has to be backed by an effective testing strategy and must not be permitted to lead to a resurgence of infections,” says Clemens Fuest, ifo President and a member of the group.

German companies’ equity has suffered during the coronavirus crisis.  Some 6 percent of companies reported sharp declines. Fully 30 percent of companies have seen their equity ratio fall. In contrast, 61 percent reported no change, and 9 percent even reported an increase. These are findings from a study conducted by the ifo Institute on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Munich and Upper Bavaria. “Equity was just one of many concerns among the companies surveyed. They have also lost orders and their business situation has deteriorated,” says Andreas Peichl, Director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys.

The NoCovid research group aims to end the state of emergency in Germany with four new tools: designating low-incidence green zones; implementing these zones across Europe; accelerating the chain of testing, tracking, and isolating; and managing outbreaks locally. “The NoCovid strategy’s approach is to keep the health, economic, and democratic losses and resulting damages of the global pandemic as low as possible,” says Clemens Fuest, ifo President and co-signatory to the study.

Die temporäre Senkung der Mehrwertsteuer hat  die Konsumausgaben nur wenig stimuliert. . „Das Ziel war, die Bürger*innen dadurch zu größeren Anschaffungen zu bewegen. Dieses ist nicht erreicht worden, wie zwei Umfragen nahelegen“, schreiben die ifo-Autoren Clemens Fuest, Andreas Peichl und Florian Neumeier in einem Aufsatz. 6,3 Milliarden Euro an zusätzlichem Konsum habe die Steuer gebracht, diese stünden zu den Kosten in Höhe von 20 Milliarden Euro in keinem Verhältnis. „Die Entscheidung, die Mehrwertsteuersenkung nicht über den Dezember 2020 hinaus zu verlängern, kann vor diesem Hintergrund trotz der noch immer unsicheren Lage der Konjunktur nur begrüßt werden.“

Germany’s state welfare system was able to significantly mitigate employees’ loss of income due to the coronavirus crisis. This is the conclusion of a joint study by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) and the ifo Institute. The study estimates that the pandemic cut gross income by about 3 percent; among the bottom 10 percent of incomes, this reduction was as high as 4.3 percent. “However, the combination of the short-time work allowance plus lower taxes and duties reduced this decrease to an average of 1.1 percent,” says Andreas Peichl, who heads the Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys at ifo. “Short-time work is functioning as planned – like a shock absorber in a car.”

An extension of Germany’s current “lockdown light” restrictions would reduce the seven-day infection rate only gradually in the coming weeks, to 75 per 100,000 inhabitants by Christmas. This is according to the latest calculations conducted by the ifo Institute together with researchers from the University of Bonn and the IZA. “Policymakers have the following options to achieve a further reduction in infections: they can tighten restrictions at educational institutions, in the retail trade, or both, or they could even introduce wide-ranging restrictions on social contact and leaving the house, as with a hard lockdown,” says Andreas Peichl, Director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys.

German companies had hardly any problems when implementing working from home (WFH). This is a key finding of an ifo survey of 1,188 managers and personnel managers, which was conducted in cooperation with consultants from Mercer Promerit and the Women on Supervisory Boards (FidAR) initiative. Of the responding companies, 84 percent said the switch to WFH was not difficult.

For single people with low wages, there is little financial incentive to work full time. If they had an additional income of EUR 10 per hour gross, they would see only EUR 2.50 to 3.90 of this in their net income. This is a finding of a study by ifo researchers Andreas Peichl and Maximilian Blömer for the Bertelsmann Stiftung. “The fatal combination of taxes, social security contributions, and the high withdrawal rate of  benefits are to blame,” Peichl says. “This error in the system must be corrected. The workforce is shrinking, and soon we’ll need all hands on deck.”

Over the past ten years, the income gap between German regions has narrowed, not least due to eastern Germany’s catching up with the western part. This is the result of an analysis by ifo researchers Lea Immel and Andreas Peichl that has now been published in ifo Schnelldienst. Nonetheless, a particularly high concentration of the richest Germans live in the major cities of the country’s west and south; in contrast, an especially high number of the poorest live in eastern German districts. 

Die Pressekonferenzen und Reden von Kanzlerin Angela Merkel in der Coronakrise verändern die Erwartungen in Deutschland. Das hat ein Forschungspapier ergeben, an dem Wissenschaftler des ifo Instituts zusammen mit Wissenschaftlern vom DIW, der LMU München, der HU Berlin und der FU Berlin beteiligt sind. „Die Konsumneigung der Bundesbürger ist nach der Pressekonferenz der Kanzlerin am 15. April  um etwa ein Fünftel zurückgegangen“, sagt Andreas Peichl, Leiter des ifo Zentrums für Makroökonomik und Befragungen.

La lutte contre le coronavirus entraînera des arrêts de production, qui coûteront plusieurs centaines de milliards d'euros aux pays d'Europe. Ce constat est le résultat de récents calculs réalisés par l'Institut ifo. « Des facteurs non seulement médicaux mais aussi économiques plaident en faveur d'investissements massifs dans la protection sanitaire. Nous pourrons ainsi enrayer l'épidémie – et créer en même temps les conditions pour réouvrir ensuite progressivement les établissements scolaires et les entreprises », indique Clemens Fuest, président de l'Institut ifo. Les calculs ont porté sur la France, la Suisse, l'Italie, l'Espagne,  l'Autriche, et le Royaume-Uni.

The fight against the coronavirus will lead to production losses, which will cost European countries hundreds of billions of euros. This is the result of the ifo Institute’s recent calculations. “In addition to medical reasons, there are also economic reasons for investing massive amounts in health protection. This would help contain the epidemic and at the same time allow us to then gradually lift the closures of schools and businesses,” says ifo President Clemens Fuest. In its calculations, the ifo Institute looked at the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, France, Austria and Switzerland.

The coronavirus could cost the Bavarian economy several billion euros. This is the result of the ifo Institute’s recent calculations. “If companies are closed down for a period of two months, the costs already go as high as EUR 49 to 94 billion, depending on the assumptions made. That would lower annual growth by between 7.7 and 15.0 percentage points; if the closures go on for three months, the costs go up to EUR 68 to 138 billion, which represents a loss of growth of 10.8 to 22.1 percentage points. This means that Bavaria is under a somewhat greater threat than the rest of Germany,” says ifo President Clemens Fuest.

Le Covid-19 pourrait coûter plusieurs dizaines de milliards d'euros à l'économie bavaroise. Ce constat est le résultat de calculs réalisés par l'Institut ifo. « Une fermeture d'entreprises pendant seulement deux mois entraînerait des coûts de 49 à 94 milliards d'euros suivant le scénario considéré. Ces coûts réduiraient la croissance annuelle de 7,7 à 15,0 points de pourcentage ; au bout de trois mois, ces coûts atteindraient déjà 68 à 138 milliards d'euros, soit 10,8 à 22,1 points en perte de croissance. La Bavière est ainsi légèrement plus menacée que le reste de l'Allemagne », indique Clemens Fuest, président de l'Institut ifo.

The ifo Institute has called for low earners in Germany to receive more effective training. “We urgently need to improve the qualifications and training that low earners receive, both so they can move up the career ladder and so companies get the skilled workers they desperately need,” writes Andreas Peichl, Director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys, in an essay for ifo Schnelldienst.

The ifo Institute has welcomed the German Ministry of Finance’s (BMF) proposal to abolish the solidarity tax for over 90 percent of taxpayers as a “first step.” 

Andreas Peichl (40), Director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys, has been appointed to the Advisory Board to the Federal Ministry of Finance. In this capacity, he will advise the German Federal Minister of Finance on fiscal policy issues, independently and on a voluntary basis.

A few days before International Women’s Day, ifo researcher Andreas Peichl has come out in favor of reforming the German system of family taxation. “It should be changed to be more like the French system. This means it would be not marriage itself, but having children that would incur tax advantages,” says Peichl.

The ifo researcher Andreas Peichl has spoken out in favour of more equal opportunities between men and women in Germany. "There is still a lot to do, especially when it comes to reconciling work and family life," he writes together with ifo researcher Julia Schricker in an essay for the ifo Schnelldienst 4/2019. The new German Pay Transparency Act introduced with the aim of ensuring more justice between men and women does not change this either, as Peichl and his co-author show in the essay.

Andreas Peichl, chercheur à l’Institut ifo, s'est prononcé en faveur d'une plus grande égalité des chances entre hommes et femmes en Allemagne. Il y a encore beaucoup à faire, surtout en ce qui concerne la conciliation de la vie professionnelle et familiale ", écrit-il avec Julia Schricker, chercheuse de l'ifo, dans un essai pour l'ifo Schnelldienst 4/2019 : " La nouvelle loi sur la transparence salariale en Allemagne introduite dans le but d'assurer plus de justice entre hommes et femmes ne change rien à cela, comme le montrent Peichl et sa co-auteure dans cet essai.

L'Institut ifo veut réformer le système allemand des bas revenus. "Les personnes touchées doivent pouvoir échapper au piège des faibles revenus. C'est pourquoi nous voulons améliorer les incitations à travailler davantage. Malheureusement, le système est actuellement construit de telle manière que plus brut signifie parfois moins net. Mais le travail doit en valoir la peine ", déclare Andreas Peichl, directeur du Centre de macroéconomie et d'études de l'Institut ifo.

The ifo Institute wants to reform the German system of social benefits. "Those affected must be able to escape the trap of low incomes. That's why we want to improve incentives to work more. Unfortunately, the system is currently built in such a way that more gross sometimes means less net income. But more work must be worth it," says Andreas Peichl, head of the ifo Centre for Macroeconomics and Surveys.