NEWSLETTER of January 2, 2026

The following content has been added at finexpert:

Bain & Company
DEUTSCHLANDS BANKEN 2025: NEUES SPIEL, NEUE AUFSTELLUNG
High returns demonstrate how successfully the industry has managed its transformation process in recent years. In order to continue growing profitably in the future, a strategic realignment is needed—also in view of growing competition from foreign providers and non-banks. >more

PwC
DESTINATION GERMANY: M&A Activity by Foreign Investors in Germany in 2025
In 2025, the German M&A market for foreign investors will remain stable in terms of the number of deals (approx. 1,233 expected), but with a significant increase in volume to around €118 billion, driven by large transactions. Private equity will account for the majority of deals for the first time, with over 50%, while industrial manufacturing will replace the technology sector as the most attractive sector; European investors will remain active, but non-EU investors will dominate. >more

KfW Research
KÖNNEN PRIVATE PARTNER HELFEN, DEN KOMMUNALEN INVESTITIONSRÜCKSTAND ABZUBAUEN?
After public-private partnerships were used somewhat less frequently in recent years, they are once again coming into focus in light of the difficult financial situation facing local authorities in Germany. According to a survey conducted by the Competence Center for Public Economy, Infrastructure and Public Services (KOWID) and supported by KfW, local authorities expect to benefit above all from the exchange of knowledge and experience with private partners and access to innovative and high-quality services. However, major challenges remain, particularly due to complex contracts and a lack of administrative staff. >more

KfW Research
DUALE BERUFSAUSBILDUNG IN DEUTSCHLAND: SCHLÜSSEL ZUR FACHKRÄFTESICHERUNG TROTZ RÜCKLÄUFIGER AUSZUBILDEN­DENZAHLEN
Dual vocational training in Germany combines practical in-company training with school education and is considered key to securing skilled workers. Despite a long-term decline in the number of trainees to around 1.1 million in 2024, small and medium-sized enterprises remain a mainstay of the German training system, accounting for over 90% of trainees. Last year, a total of around 1.2 million people in Germany were enrolled in dual training programs, which was around 19.3% fewer than in 2010. The main reasons for this are demographic change and declining applicant numbers as a result of an increasing tendency to pursue higher education. A wide range of measures are needed to promote dual training, remove barriers to training, strengthen basic skills, and improve career guidance. >more

RETHINKING THE STOCK MARKET PARTICIPATION PUZZLE: A QUALITATIVE APPROACH
Kamila Duraj, Daniela Grunow, Michael Haliassos, Christine Laudenbach, and Stephan Siegel
2025
We revisit the puzzle of limited stock market participation using qualitative methods common in other social sciences but rare in economics. Through in-depth interviews with investors and non-investors in Germany — a high-income country with low market participation — we elicit open-ended reflections on money without mentioning investing upfront. This allows beliefs and barriers to emerge naturally. We analyze these interviews using traditional human-led content analysis, complemented with a large language model (LLM)-based approach. We validate our findings using a representative survey of more than 7,000 individuals. While many known factors appear, we uncover a pervasive misconception: participation is believed to require selecting “safe” stocks, avoiding “bad” ones, and timing the market through monitoring and frequent trading. This inflates perceived costs and deters participation. Some investors overcome these barriers with support from family, friends, or trusted advisors. Notably, even active investors hold these beliefs, suggesting the misconception influences both entry and behavior in the market. >more

CORPORATE DIVERSITY CULTURE SPILLOVER
Xiao Cen, Yue Qiu, and Tracy Yue Wang
2024
We study the spillover of corporate diversity culture among interacting firms. Utilizing data from the U.S. Census, we find that through labor market competition, the opening of a high-profile plant by a more (less) pro-diversity firm leads to a decrease (increase) in the local gender wage gap. Furthermore, changes in the local employer’s gender wage gap can lead to broader changes in the diversity culture of their parent companies. But a cultural spillover occurs only when the leaders of a company are receptive to the new entrant’s culture and an internal learning platform is in place. >more