This paper provides evidence that most German states (Laender) have unsustainable public finances by exploiting a newly compiled database covering the years 1950‐2011. Although the Laender are closely intertwined we are the first to apply “second generation” panel techniques that control...

Women are still in the clear minority among the financial sector's top decision-making bodies. According to DIW Berlin's Women Executives Barometer, at the end of 2016, 21 percent of the supervisory and administrative board members of the 100 largest banks were female. The number has stagnated...

The gender quota for supervisory boards that has been mandatory since January 2016 has shown an initial impact. According to DIW Berlin's Women Executives Barometer, at the end of 2016, there were more women on the supervisory boards of the 106 companies subject to the statutory quota than one...