How immigration can make essential services more affordable: Our new study on German elder care shows that hiring foreign caregivers significantly lowers nursing home prices for families, without cutting care quality or staffing levels.

Does Immigration Lower the Cost of Living? Evidence from German Nursing Homes

Haan, Schmieder & Wnuk-Soares: “The Supply-Side Effect of Immigration on Prices: Evidence from Nursing Homes” CRC Discussion Paper No. 585

190researchblog.substack.com

Yesterday we concluded our 19th retreat for CRC TRR 190. The inspiring environment of Schloss Lautrach provided the perfect backdrop for productive days filled with exciting presentations, deep scientific discussions and great food.

How labour-market inequality arises without employer bias: Our new experiment shows that social anxiety leads qualified candidates to skip job interviews due to pessimism, even though they perform just as well as anyone else.

How Social Anxiety Shapes Labor Market Inequality Before the Interview Begins

Horn, Schwardmann & Tripodi: “Social Anxiety and Evaluative Interviews” CRC Discussion Paper No. 574

190researchblog.substack.com

How government wealth transfers can backfire on the politicians who enact them: Our new study of the 1934 Taylor Grazing Act shows that giving ranchers secure property rights on public land made them richer- prompting them to turn against the Democrats who enriched them.

When a Government Transfer Makes Its Supporters Leave

Bühler & Schäfer “Wealth Transfers Erode the Coalition That Enacted Them: Evidence from the Taylor Grazing Act“ Journal of Historical Political Economy 2026

190researchblog.substack.com

Why more business districts don't equal stronger urban centers: Our new global analysis demonstrates that as the number of commercial hubs within a city increases, their collective share of total employment actually falls.

Where the Services Are: Mapping the Ultra-Dense Core of the Modern City

Ahlfeldt, Albers & Behrens: “Prime Locations” Insights 2026, 8(3)

190researchblog.substack.com

Is China a "Paper Tiger" regarding scientific quality? Our investigation into citation home bias revealed China exhibits the largest bias globally, demonstrating that its seeming rise in citation rankings is overstated. Now published in "Journal of International Economics".

Reassessing scientific dominance: How China’s citation home bias inflates its ranking

Qiu, Steinwender & Azoulay: "Paper tiger? Chinese science and home bias in citations" Journal of International Economics Volume 157

190researchblog.substack.com

We are very much looking forward to hosting the 3rd International Seminar on Trade together with the ifo Institute and @lmu.de in Munich!

Journal of International Economics@jintlecon.bsky.social · last mo.

📢 The International Seminar on Trade (ISoT) returns for its 3rd edition! 📍 ifo Institute, Munich 🗓️ 20–21 May 2027 📅 Deadline: 10 Jan 2027 Co-organised by the Journal of International Economics, LMU Munich, CESifo, ifo Institute, World Bank & CEPR 🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/journal/jour...

How do elite families maintain their status over multiple generations? Using data from prewar Japan, we showed that adoption expands the choice to a broader talent pool, increasing the probability of maintaining elite status. Now published in "Economic History Review".

Why do elite families remain at the top generation after generation?

Kumanomido, Takayasu: "Elite Persistence in Family: The Role of Adoption in Prewar Japan" CRC Discussion Paper No. 537

190researchblog.substack.com

Unclear product details or mixed user reviews aren't always bad. Our study showed that ambiguous product information can prompt sellers to drop prices for cautious shoppers or boost revenue when buyers feel optimistic. Now published in "Theoretical Economics".

Benefits and Challenges of Ambiguous Product Information

Lang & Wasser "Benefits and Challenges of Ambiguous Product Information" CRC Discussion Paper No. 564

190researchblog.substack.com

Why information campaigns fail: We showed that correcting consumers beliefs about which products cause high emissions does not have an effect on their consumption decisions. Now published in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.

Correcting misunderstandings about CO2 emissions doesn’t help to fight climate change

Imai, Pace, Schwardmann & van der Weele "Correcting Consumer Misperceptions About CO2 Emissions" CRC Discussion Paper No. 529

190researchblog.substack.com

Last week marked 50 weeks of the CRC TRR 190 Coffee Break Blog! To celebrate, throughout next week, we will highlight some of our discussion papers, which have been published since we featured them on our blog. Thanks for reading everyone and to the next 50 weeks!

Why one analysis isn’t the full story: A re-check of 100 studies reveals that only 34% of original results held up across different expert choices. So, even with identical data, different "justifiable" analytical paths often lead to different scientific conclusions.

CRC TRR 190 Coffee Break ☕ | Substack

CRC TRR 190 Coffee Break ☕ is the research blog of Collaborative Research Center Transregio “Rationality and Competition,” a joint venture of researchers from Berlin and Munich, funded by DFG. Click to read CRC TRR 190 Coffee Break ☕, a Substack publication. Launched 10 months ago.

190researchblog.substack.com

How certification can fall short in spite of perfect honesty: Our research shows that expert gatekeepers reveal every secret a seller is hiding while deliberately avoiding new data investigations just to keep a bigger slice of the profit for themselves.

CRC TRR 190 Coffee Break ☕ | Substack

CRC TRR 190 Coffee Break ☕ is the research blog of Collaborative Research Center Transregio “Rationality and Competition,” a joint venture of researchers from Berlin and Munich, funded by DFG. Click to read CRC TRR 190 Coffee Break ☕, a Substack publication. Launched 10 months ago.

190researchblog.substack.com

Why central bank actions don’t always work as predicted: A new study shows that rising interest rates cause people to cut their spending and borrowing much more than an equal drop in inflation, even though both should technically affect our wallets the same way.

Why Households Respond More to Nominal Interest Than Inflation

Bosch-Rosa, Heinemann, Massenot & Meissner: "Different Consumption Responses to Equivalent Changes in the Real Interest Rate" CRC Discussion Paper No. 578

190researchblog.substack.com

How the shipping container made global trade more efficient but also more political: We show that while focusing trade in a few giant ports makes shipping cheaper for everyone, it also gives the governments who own those ports a powerful way to influence other countries.

The New Gatekeepers: How Chinese State Ownership and Strategic Infrastructure Reshape Maritime Power

Réka Juhász et al.: "Ports, Technology and Inter-City Trade: The Economics and Geopolitics of Evolving Maritime Transport Networks" CRC Discussion Paper No. 579

190researchblog.substack.com

Why talking to political rivals is better for social cohesion than for information sharing: Our experiment shows that while face-to-face conversations durably reduce polarization, deep-seated distrust prevents us from learning, even when the other side has more to teach.

Talking Across the Aisle: What a Conversation with the Other Side Can (and Cannot) Fix

Braghieri, Schwardmann & Tripodi:"Talking Across the Aisle" CRC Discussion Paper No. 575

190researchblog.substack.com

How eco-friendly markets can accidentally increase pollution: Our research shows that without enough environmentally-conscious buyers, creating separate "green" markets can backfire by pushing regular consumers toward more harmful products.

When Green Markets Backfire

Herweg, Köszegi & Schmidt "Some Simple Economics of Green Markets" CRC Discussion Paper No. 572

190researchblog.substack.com

Why are new homes being built in danger zones? Cheap insurance and strict building rules in safe neighbourhoods are forcing development toward the wildfire fringe, but allowing more housing in safe areas can help lower the financial burden on workers.

Building in Harm’s Way: How Institutional Distortions Shape Wildfire Risk in San Diego

Ospital: "Housing Supply, Property Insurance, and Exposure to Wildfire Risk" CRC Discussion Paper No. 571

190researchblog.substack.com

How transport subsidies fall short as climate policy: Germany’s 9-Euro Ticket boosted rail travel by 35% but cost €6,140/tCO2 due to minimal car-to-rail substitution. Though an efficient cost-of-living transfer, the passenger surge triggered a 30% surge in train delays.

Welfare vs. Climate: Lessons from Germany’s 9-Euro Ticket

Wichert et al.: "Almost fare free: Impact of a cheap public transport ticket on mobility patterns and train delays" Journal of Public Economics 258 (2026)

190researchblog.substack.com

How private interest drives the public good: Our study shows that the 1866 cholera epidemic induced a 35% increase in waterworks investments by industrial elites fearing labor scarcity, proving that economic incentives can catalyze transformative public health reforms.

Private Interest in the Public Good: Cholera and the Origins of Sanitary Reform

Gallardo-Albarrán & Kappner: "Private Interest in the Public Good: Cholera and the Origins of Sanitary Reform" CRC Discussion Paper No. 573

190researchblog.substack.com

How media content shapes democracy: Our study of early Canadian TV shows that nationalised news erodes voter turnout and local accountability, while local programming preserves the vital link between citizens and their representatives.

National Content, Local Consequences: How the Geographic Orientation of Media Shapes Political Accountability

Bühler & Dickens: "National content and local political consequences: Evidence from public and private television" Journal of Public Economics, Volume 259 (2026)

190researchblog.substack.com

This is not just another summer workshop in Berlin, but actually TWO conferences! The 2nd Berlin PhD Conference consists of an Applied Micro part and a part on micro theory and behavioral economics: sites.google.com/vie... Keynotes by Esmée Zwiers, Simon Jäger, Jeanne Hagenbach, and Botond Köszegi.

How a country can survive its currency value doubling overnight: Our study of the 1985 Plaza Accord shows that Japan avoided a jobs crisis by leaning on its "jobs-for-life" culture and moving production to Asia, even as it began a shift from manufacturing to services.

How Rigid Labor Markets Shaped Japan’s Response to the Plaza Accord

Kumanomido: "Exchange Rate Appreciation and Structural Adjustment: Evidence from the Plaza Accord" CRC Discussion Paper No. 567

190researchblog.substack.com

Great stuff happening in Berlin! Look at our market design workshop at @wzb.bsky.social ! @rationalitycrc.bsky.social

Why newly enfranchised women voted against the parties that secured their rights: We reveal that religious "identity payoffs" outweighed material self-interest, proving that cultural identities can decouple political choice from economic incentives even when stakes are high.

Female Enfranchisement and the Conservative Voting Gap

Bühler & Sabet "Female enfranchisement and the conservative voting gap: Evidence from gender-separated precinct returns" European Journal of Political Economy (2026)

190researchblog.substack.com

Why searching for a "better deal" yields diminishing returns: David Ronayne and David P. Myatt prove that sampling without replacement exhibits decreasing returns, where the expected benefit of each additional search systematically declines regardless of the population.

New Insights into Sampling Without Replacement

Myatt & Ronayne: "Decreasing returns to sampling without replacement" Economics Letters, Volume 264 (2026)

190researchblog.substack.com

Why specialists give proprietary data to big-tech rivals for free: David Ronayne and colleague's model shows that sharing data strategically induces "coopetition," softening competition but potentially harming consumers through lower innovation.

Why Specialist Firms Willingly Give Their Data to Big-Tech Rivals

Bhargava, Dubus, Ronayne & Shekhar: "The Strategic Value of Data Sharing in Interdependent Markets" Management Science, Volume 72 (2025)

190researchblog.substack.com

Why identical products maintain persistent price differences: David Ronayne and David P. Myatt demonstrate how the threat of rapid "special deals" stabilizes price dispersion, with the most captive firms setting the highest prices.

Stable Price Dispersion: A New Framework for Persistent Price Heterogeneity

Myatt & Ronayne: "Stable Price Dispersion under Heterogeneous Buyer Consideration" RAND Journal of Economics, Volume 57 (2026)

190researchblog.substack.com

How the "law of one price" fails in asymmetric competition: David Ronayne and David P. Myatt show that vanishing customer loyalty induces a "law of monopoly pricing" where most firms charge the maximum price while one leader anchors the market at the second-lowest cost.

Revisiting Bertrand Competition with Captive Customers

Myatt & Ronayne: "Bertrand competition and captive customers" Economics Letters, Volume 257 (December 2025)

190researchblog.substack.com

When price competition is more than a simple "tango": David Ronayne and David P. Myatt show how cost differences create a "thrango" of multiple firms using randomized sales. Innovation drives even similar companies toward unique, unpredictable pricing strategies.

Ronayne Week Day #1: How Cost Asymmetry Reshapes Competitive Sales

Myatt & Ronayne: "Asymmetric Models of Sales" American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, Volume 18 (2026)

190researchblog.substack.com