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This paper explores the interaction between corporate ownership concentration and private savings, and by extension, the current account balance in Germany. As high corporate savings largely reflected capital income accruing to wealthy households and increasingly retained in closely-held firms, the buildup of external imbalances in Germany has been accompanied by widening top income inequality, rising private savings and compressed consumption rates. Rising corporate profits in an environment of high business wealth concentration account for 90 percent of the rise in the private savings rate and a third of the increase in the German current account surplus over 1999–2016.

Germany

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We provide broad-based evidence of a firm size premium of total factor productivity (TFP) growth in Europe after the Global Financial Crisis. The TFP growth of smaller firms was more adversely affected and diverged from their larger counterparts after the crisis. The impact was progressively larger for medium, small, and micro firms relative to large firms. It was also disproportionally larger for firms with limited credit market access. Moreover, smaller firms were less likely to have access to safer banks: those that were better capitalized banks and with a presence in the credit default swap market. Horseraces suggest that firm size may be a more important and robust vulnerability indicator than balance sheet characteristics. Our results imply that the tightening of credit market conditions during the crisis, coupled with limited credit market access especially among micro, small, and medium firms, may have contributed to the large and persistent drop in aggregate TFP.

Germany

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Germany

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Germany --- Germany --- Germany --- History --- History --- History

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The International Energy Agency (IEA) regularly conducts in-depth peer reviews of the energy policies of its member countries. This process supports energy policy development and encourages the exchange of international best practices and experiences. The "Energiewende" continues to be the defining feature of Germany's energy policy landscape. In place for nearly a decade, the Energiewende is a major plan for transforming the country's energy system to make it more efficient and supplied mainly by renewable sources. The Energiewende is clearly visible in electricity generation, where it has increased the share of renewables. Yet despite progress on lowering overall emissions, Germany is struggling to meet its near-term emissions reduction targets, in large part because of uneven progress across sectors. It faces notable challenges in transport and heating. Now, the government must refocus its efforts to achieve stronger emissions reductions in lagging sectors. A recently adopted climate action plan, which includes a carbon price in the transport and heating sectors, represents an important step in the right direction. In its energy transition so far, Germany has maintained a high degree of oil, natural gas and electricity supply security. Planned nuclear and coal phase-outs are set to increase the country's reliance on natural gas, making it increasingly important to continue efforts to diversify gas supply options, including through liquefied natural gas imports. In this report, the IEA provides energy policy recommendations to help Germany smoothly manage the transformation of its energy sector.

Energy --- Germany