THE BERLIN OFFICE OF RWI

RWI in Berlin: Science meets politics
Since 2007, the RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research has been combining economic research with practical policy advice in Berlin. Our Berlin office strengthens the institute's presence in the German capital. We build bridges between research and policy.
Dual expertise: scientific networking and policy advice
The team in Berlin consists of researchers from all RWI areas of expertise as well as from the research groups Global Migration and Microstructure of Tax and Transfer Systems. We work closely with Berlin universities and communicate research results directly to decision-makers. Politicians, media professionals and other stakeholders find competent answers to economic questions at our institute.
Active networking in the research landscape
Since 2023, the RWI Berlin Network Seminar has regularly invited leading researchers from Berlin and the surrounding area. Anyone interested can participate after registering.
Together with our partner institutions, we coordinate important Berlin research networks and seminar series:
- Berlin School of Economics Applied Micro Seminar (BAMS)
- Berlin Network for Labour Market Research (BeNA)
- Development Economics Network Berlin (DENeB)
- Research Seminar on Environment, Resource and Climate Economics (RSERC)
Knowledge transfer through events
Our Berlin office organises conferences, workshops and dialogue formats on current economic policy issues. We bring research, politics and society into conversation. If you would like to find out more about our events or participate in our network seminar, please contact us at Claudia.Schmiedchen@rwi-essen.de.
Upcoming events
24.10.2025: Research Seminar on Environmental, Resource and Climate Economics (RSERC)
Speaker: Raji Jayaraman (ESMT Berlin / University of Toronto)
Speaker: Raji Jayaraman (ESMT Berlin / University of Toronto)
Location: Hybrid – Berlin Office and Teams Link
Time: 10:15 am – 11:45 am
Titel: Growing Gherkins in Extreme Heat
Abstract: We examine the causal effect of sub-seasonal extreme heat on the productivity and earnings of smallholder farmers cultivating gherkins in South India. While existing research has focused primarily on staple crops and harvested seasonally, our study uses granular daily data on yields, earnings, and temperature from a large number of smallholders producing a high-value, labor-intensive, horticultural cash crop. The study area spans multiple villages within a geographically homogeneous region, with outcomes measured at high temporal resolution across a narrow planting window. Leveraging variation in daily maximum temperatures—constructed using high-frequency satellite data—we use semi-parametric methods to identify a clear thermal tipping point at 33°C, beyond which both yields and earnings decline sharply. Parametric panel specifications reveal an economic and statistically significant “heat penalty”: when maximum temperatures exceed this tipping point, farmers lose 20% of their daily yield, with comparable drops in daily earnings per acre. Temporal temperature variation, combined with basic plant and human biology, allows us to uncover whether heat penalties are driven by agronomy or physiognomy. We show that contemporaneous heat penalties are driven by constraints on labor supply, while lagged heat effects reflect both labor and plant stress. The effects are cumulative: each additional hot day in the preceding week lowers total yield and earnings.
27.10.2025: Leibniz Open Science Day 2025
Workshop: Better Science for Better Policies
When: 27 October 2025
Where: Berlin, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft
ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, DIW Berlin (the German Institute for Economic Research), WZB (Berlin Social Science Center), and RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research are pleased to invite to the Leibniz Open Science Day 2025: Better Science for Better Policies.
With the growing importance of social sciences in addressing societal challenges, the significance of a meta-scientific perspective is also increasingly on the rise. We need a deeper understanding of how evidence is generated and communicated to society and policymakers.
The keynote speech will be given by Johanna Rickne (Stockholm University)
We invite researchers to submit their extended abstracts (max. 750 words) via e-mail to Heike Henningsen (h.henningsen@zbw.eu) by 1 August. Notifications will be sent by 1 September.
Registration will also be possible from 1 September on.
Limited travel assistance is available for junior researchers (doctoral students, non-tenured postdocs, and assistant professors). Please indicate in your submission whether you will require funding.
More information about the event and the program can be found here.
20.11.2025: Joint Learning Forum
Evidence That Matters: Evidence-based Development Cooperation in Strategy and Practice
Location: WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Berlin
Time: 8:30 am - 15:45 pm
Further information and the programme are available here.
03.12.2025: RWI Berlin Network Seminar
Speaker: Hannah Klauber(PIK)
Location: Hybrid – Berlin Office and Teams Link
Time: 1:30 - 2:30 pm
Title: The Immediate and Lasting Effects of Heat Waves On Workers
Abstract: This paper examines how prolonged exposure to heat affects the labor force’s ability to work in the short and long run. Linking administrative public health insurance records for one-third of the German working-age population to the quasi-experimental occurrence of heat waves, we provide the first comprehensive characterization of the occupation-specific heterogeneity in how heat-induced health damages materialize in decreased labor supply, and its distributional implications. An average hot day increases the number of new sick leave cases, and the effects build with prolonged heat. After seven consecutive days of heat exposure, the impact is roughly three times greater than on the first day. Workers who are already disadvantaged in terms of their income and working conditions are more vulnerable to heat stress. Those who are more flexible in scheduling and adjusting their working hours are less at risk. Our results also reveal a longer-term decrease in labor supply in the years following heat wave exposure, and suggest sustained increases in expenditures for healthcare.
29.04.2026: RWI Berlin Network Seminar
Speaker: Moritz Lubczyk (ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin)
Location: Hybrid – Berlin Office and Teams Link
Time: 1:30 - 2:30 pm
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