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 at its Berlin location. Our Berlin office strengthens the institute's presence in the German capital. We build bridges between research and politics.
Dual expertise: scientific networking and policy advice
The team in Berlin works closely with Berlin universities and communicates research findings directly to decision-makers. Politicians, media professionals and other stakeholders can find expert answers to economic questions here.
The team 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.
Active networking in the research landscape
Since 2023, the RWI Berlin Network Seminar has regularly invited leading scientists from Berlin and the surrounding area. Interested parties can participate after registering.
Furthermore, we coordinate important Berlin research networks and seminar series together with our partner institutions:
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.
At RWI Impuls, you will find a confidential space for scientifically sound policy discussions. Here, research and decision-making come together directly. RWI Impuls is our exclusive round-table format in Berlin.
If you would like to learn more about our events or participate in our networking seminar, please contact us at Claudia.Schmiedchen@rwi-essen.de.
Upcoming events
Speaker: Abdoulaye Cisse (Princeton University)
Location: Hybrid – Berlin Office and Teams Link
Time: 12:30 - 1:30 pm
Title: The Value of Electricity Reliability: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Senegal
Abstract: Policymakers invest heavily in expanding electricity access in low-income countries, yet existing estimates of the welfare impacts of electrification are mixed. I exploit the staggered rollout of large-scale reliability projects in Senegal, combined with a difference-in-differences design, to provide the first revealed-preference estimates of the welfare gains from grid improvements for both firms and households. I assemble high-frequency administrative data by digitizing the universe of station-level outage logs and combining them with all national billing records and nationally representative household surveys. I show that the projects reduced outage duration by 40%, increased electricity consumption and appliance adoption by 10%, expanded grid connections, and shifted time use toward labor market activities, especially for women and rural workers. Mapping the reduced-form effects into a structural demand model, I quantify welfare gains for both existing and newly connected clients. Reliability improvements increase willingness-to-pay for an additional hour of supply by about 15%, with larger gains during peak hours, and generate internal rates of return above 50%. These results help reconcile the literature by showing that the benefits of electrification hinge critically on the reliability of the grid.
Speaker: Moritz Lubczyk (ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin)
Location: Hybrid – Berlin Office and Teams Link
Time: 1:30 - 2:30 pm
Title: tba
The annual workshop brings together Berlin-based researchers working on the economics and politics of international development.
Date: May 11, 2026
Location: Andreas Dombret Room at ESMT Berlin, Schloßplatz 1, 10178 Berlin
Please register for the workshop and the feedback session—either as presenter or active participant—by February 28using this link.
Speaker: Sevrin Waights (HU Berlin)
Location: Hybrid – Berlin Office and Teams Link
Time: 1:30 - 2:30 pm
Title: tba
Together with decision-makers from government ministries, implementing organizations, and the academic community, we will discuss the current state of research on the effectiveness of anticipatory humanitarian aid. We will focus on the future potential of such programs and the challenges involved in their implementation and evaluation.
Date: 07 July 2026
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
RWI Impulse is an exclusive roundtable format in which the RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research invites selected actors from politics, civil society, and the media to discuss scientific evidence on current, socio-politically relevant topics with researchers in a confidential setting. The events follow the Chatham House Rules. The event is reserved for invited guests.
Speaker: Anna Schulze Tilling (Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow)
Location: Hybrid – Berlin Office and Teams Link
Time: 1:30 - 2:30 pm
Title: tba
Speaker: Johanna Arlinghaus (Hertie School)
Location: Hybrid – Berlin Office and Teams Link
Time: 1:30 - 2:30 pm
Title: tba
