The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI) is an independent academic institute within the Hans-Böckler-Foundation, a non-profit organisation fostering co-determination and promoting research and academic study on behalf of the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB).
Since it was founded in 1946, the institute's focus has always been on the improvement of life chances, on social justice and fair working and living conditions. Economists, sociologists, political scientists and law scholars work on social, economic and labour market policy issues. On the basis of their analyses, researchers elaborate policy proposals aimed at overcoming labour market restrictions and social problems to the benefit of employees.
In recent years, labour market policy has been challenged by huge structural changes, most of all by the increase in non-standard and often also precarious forms of employment. Moreover, quality of work has changed – growing job-related stress being one major example.
Wage policy
Wage policy, collective bargaining policy and industrial relations have been the main fields of expertise in WSI research and public policy advice for decades.
Research is concerned with welfare state and social policy changes, structural causes for the increase in social inequality, and the search for possibilities to foster a fairer distribution of life chances.
The research area monitors economic, social and political developments on the European level and evaluates the consequences, risks and opportunities for employees, households, firms and the future of the welfare state.
Public procurement is of great economic importance and provides the state with considerable market power. The paper analyzes the current status of labour clauses in regional public procurement laws and the latest discussions on a new national procurement act for public contracts at federal level in Germany.
Many EU countries are raising minimum wages significantly in 2025, boosting purchasing power amid falling inflation. Driven by the EU Minimum Wage Directive, this trend continues—though for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.
The revision of the Posting of Workers Directive was supposed to be a milestone for a more social Europe. But a new study shows: Implementation in the member states fell short of expectations. The authors ask why MS that actively pushed for the revision did not exploit the new regulatory possibilities further. In addition to presenting comparative data on national implementation, they conduct in-depth case studies of countries that supported the revision at the EU level (Denmark, Finland, Germany).
The new report provides an overview of collective bargaining agreements by industry and region, branch-level minimum wages, and collective bargaining regulations on workloads and working hours.
The article investigates determinants of work intensity, especially against the background of increasing processes of work acceleration and numerous indications that high work intensity can pose a health risk for employees.
The Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages obliges the EU Member States with collective bargaining coverage of below 80 % to establish action plans to promote collective bargaining. The Policy Brief presents possible concrete measures.
On January 14, the Advocate General at the ECJ recommended that the EU minimum wage directive be annulled. How likely is it that the judges will follow his vote? And what would the consequences be?
The article analyses measures agreed upon by management and works councils to secure jobs during the pandemic, based on the WSI staff and works council survey. Monetary concessions are less common than measures relating to working hours.
The report focuses on unemployment and minimum income benefits for people of working age, finding that social benefits halve the proportion of people at risk of poverty in the EU, from 31% (after taxes, before transfers) to 15.5% (after taxes and transfers).
Comparing competing demands of representation, integration and solidarity – Dutch vis-à-vis German works councils: Data show that despite very similar institutional settings, there are differences in the priorities works councils set in the two countries.
While digitalisation of work offers many benefits, widespread access to digital devices has created new forms of antisocial behaviour. The report maps national regulatory instruments aimed at counteracting antisocial behaviours at work.
Revision of the Posted Workers Directive: trade unions and left-wing parties had been fighting for it for over 10 years – with a surprising success in June 2018. Daniel Seikel reconstructs and analyzes the political process of the revision.
Based on case studies, this policy brief investigates how relevant actors pursue a green and just transition using a partnership approach in eight EU regions (including the Rheinisches Revier in NRW Germany) facing particular challenges as a result of the phase-out of fossil fuels.
Inflation is wiping out the gains made by collective bargaining: In many EU countries, collectively agreed wage rates are below their 2015 level when adjusted for inflation. Hence, wages still need to catch up.
