From Equal Pay Day to International Women's Day, March is all about gender equality and women's rights. These symbolic days underline the importance of women for society and the economy: they often have to master the challenge of balancing work and family. In doing so, they also bring a variety of perspectives to the economic sphere. Men, on the other hand, are often expected to put their careers before their families. Each gender plays its own important role in the economy, which results in some differences between men and women in economic terms.   With its focus on “Gender Disparities”, the March issue of our ZEW Monthly provides an insight into current ZEW research findings that reveal existing gender disparities in an economic context. ZEW researchers across four units examine aspects as diverse as career opportunities, the impact of voting rights, wage gaps due to educational expansion, and financial literacy. RESEARCH ON GENDER DISPARITIES   ↗ TWO REASONS WHY WOMEN ARE LESS LIKELY TO BE PROMOTED TO TOP POSITIONS    Saturation and replacement effects are common hurdles for women who aim to enter into top positions, as proven in a research study conducted by researchers at ZEW Mannheim, the Technical University of Munich and the Federal University of Applied Administrative Sciences in Brühl. In this study, researchers analysed the gender representation in executive and supervisory boards of more than 3,000 companies in Europe between 2002 and 2019.   More about the ZEW study     ↗ ELECTORAL EQUALITY FOR WOMEN ENCOURAGES ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE    Political equality and independent decision-making in one’s personal life are closely linked. Women who were socialised in environments with existing female suffrage are more likely to be in gainful employment, are less likely to marry, do so later, and achieve a higher education than women who only experienced political emancipation later in life. The former group tends to pursue lifestyles which afford them greater economic independence. A study from ZEW Mannheim recently published in the Economic Journal and conducted in cooperation with the University of Basel examines this relationship in the context of Switzerland.   More about the ZEW study     ↗ WOMEN ARE THE BENEFICIARIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION EXPANSION    Women profit more than men from the recent increase in higher education expansion, as shown in a study by ZEW Mannheim and the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW). In this study, the researchers examined how education levels and wage gaps have developed depending on the type of degree – separately for women and men – in the period from 1996 to 2019, using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).   More about the ZEW study     ↗ WHAT PREVENTS WOMEN FROM BUILDING WEALTH?    Women have fewer financial assets, save less for their retirement, and are less likely to invest in the capital market than men. On the one hand, this is because women have less capital available for investment in the first place. On the other hand, a study co-authored by ZEW Mannheim shows shortcomings in women’s financial literacy and a lack of self-confidence that leads women to frequently underestimate their own financial knowledge.   More about the ZEW study AT A GLANCE ↗ TAKING IN REFUGEES CREATES NEW JOBS     The accommodation of refugees in 2015 and 2016 not only benefited the migrants themselves, but also the regions that received them. New employment opportunities were created for locals in the host regions as various support services were made available to refugees at the local level. These included accommodation, alimentation, social support and assistance with asylum applications. In this way, statistically speaking, one job subject to social security contributions was created for every 2.4 refugees, as a recent study by ZEW Mannheim in cooperation with the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action finds. More about the ZEW study CURRENT ZEW RESEARCH ↗ HUMAN OVERSIGHT OF AI DONE RIGHT    The AI Act is a proposed European law on artificial intelligence (AI). It is the world’s first law on AI from a major regulator. It aims to ensure safe AI systems for high-risk applications, such as CV scanning or medical decision-making. The law relies on human supervision of AI to do this, yet mounting evidence indicates that such oversight is not always reliable. A newly published ZEW policy brief considers the advantages and disadvantages of human supervision and offers possible solutions.   More about the ZEW policy brief   ↗ GERMANY RISKS LOSING ITS ATTRACTIVENESS IN INTERNATIONAL TAX COMPETITION    The current Mannheim Tax Index from ZEW Mannheim shows that Germany has lost further ground in international tax competition. This is particularly due to France having lowered its corporate tax rate in recent years. With that said, Germany’s corporate tax burden is now the highest when directly compared with important competitors. The effective average tax burden of a profitable investment project in Germany in 2022 is 28.8 per cent, exceeding the EU average by 10 percentage points.   More about the ZEW study   ↗ ZEW ECONOMIST TABEA BUCHER-KOENEN ADVISES GERMAN FINANCE MINISTRY ON PENSIONS    Professor Tabea Bucher-Koenen, head of the ZEW Research Unit “Pensions and Sustainable Financial Markets”, has been appointed as an expert to the focus group “Private Pensions” of the German government and the Federal Ministry of Finance. Together with the other experts, she will prepare a report by summer 2023 that will examine ways to strengthen private old-age provision.   Read more ↗ WHAT THE ELECTRICITY MARKET REALLY NEEDS   The European Commission is consulting on the reform of the European electricity market design. This is triggered by dissatisfaction with the high energy prices, which have led to numerous interventions in the energy markets in European countries. Proposals are aplenty. However, a key problem of the electricity market design, i.e. the insufficient provision of flexible generation capacity, is being overlooked.   To the opinion piece EVENTS ↗ FIRST-HAND ON ECONOMIC POLICY OVERCOMING A “SILO MENTALITY” AND RAISING INNOVATION POTENTIAL    At the most recent event in ZEW’s series “First-Hand Information on Economic Policy” on 7 March 2023, Professor Irene Bertschek, head of the “Digital Economy” Unit at ZEW and deputy chair of the EFI Commission, and Dr. Anna Christmann, Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Start-ups at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, discussed the governing coalition’s goals for and measures regarding innovation policy. Jan-Martin Wiarda moderated the discussion.   To the event report UPCOMING ↗ ZEW LUNCH DEBATES IMMIGRATION AND ITS IMPACTS ON EU LABOUR MARKETS    Do migrants take away jobs – or do they create new jobs? May immigration even be a remedy to the labour market shortages? And what is the European answer to these pressing issues? The EU urgently needs comprehensive responses to these challenges with the particular objectives of filling labour shortages in Europe and better managing migration flows. In our Lunch Debate on 18 April 2023 experts will discuss approaches to facilitate labour mobility, and promote migrant integration. Panel members will discuss public policies that maximise migration benefits for the labour markets, and that reduce migration challenges.   More about the event ↗ CONFERENCE AGEING AND SUSTAINABLE FINANCE    ZEW Mannheim is pleased to announce a conference on ageing and sustainable finance on 27 and 28 April 2023. The two-day event provides a stimulating environment for in-depth debates on the effects of demographic change and climate change on financial markets and their various players, on the policy implications of recent research, and on new research questions arising from policy responses. Keynotes will be presented by Anders Anderson from the Stockholm School of Economics, Steven Ongena from the University of Zurich, and Susan Thorp from the University of Sydney.   More about the event → CONTACT FOR QUESTIONS OR SUGGESTIONS ON THE CONTENT Dr. Frank Herkenhoff | frank.herkenhoff@zew.de EDITORIAL TEAM   Yvonne Bräutigam // CvD   Simone Mann // Design   Pascal Ausäderer // Press Officer   Bastian Thüne // Press Officer ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research L7, 1 · 68161 Mannheim Phone: +49 (0)0621/1235-01 E-mail: zewmonthly@zew.de Website: www.zew.de   Executive Directors: Professor Achim Wambach, PhD; Thomas Kohl Chair of the ZEW Supervisory Board: Ministerial Director Dr. Hans Reiter Registered Office: Mannheim Local Court Mannheim HRB 6554 USt-IdNr.: DE188318292   Commitment to Data Protection   Detailed Legal Note   Notification on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)   Unsubscribe from ZEW Monthly