In January 2005, the German government enacted a substantial reform of the welfare system, the so-called Hartz IV reform. This book evaluates key characteristics of the reform from a microeconometric perspective. It investigates whether a centralized or decentralized organization of welfare...

As the residential buildings sector accounts for around 30 percent of the final energy demand in Germany, this sector is increasingly becoming the focus of public attention with regard to climate change. In this book, decisions on energy consumption by private households are examined. The...

This book analyses the employment effects of job creation schemes for the participating individuals in Germany. Programmes provide subsidised jobs that are additional in nature and of value for society to hard-to-place individuals. International evidence on the effectiveness suggests that...