Studies (free of charge)

Who is the Bertelsmann Stiftung? What are our goals? How do we carry out our work? This brochure is meant to provide clear, concise answers to those questions and others. After all, transparency is one of our core principles. We want to use our projects, studies and events...

With the global race for tech dominance and digital sovereignty set to intensify, we look at what the European Union is doing to strengthen its fledgling but ambitious startup sector. We find that despite bold and proactive new steps, the creation of European unicorns will...

The impact investing market in Germany shows significant growth in 2020. New players with investments across all asset classes and SDGs are energizing the field and want to tackle pressing social issues.

Public goods reflect a complex construct between the principle of solidarity and the principle of subsidiarity in European Union law. This policy brief concisely contextualises public goods in European law and shows that they can act as a point of reference for the...

In our previous report, The Optimism Gap, we found that a substantial share of the EU’s population thinks that their own country is not doing well, despite still being hopeful about their own lives. We called this the “optimism gap”. We also discussed what this might mean...

“Trust in social and political institutions” is one of nine dimensions underlying the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s empirical measure of social cohesion. Although the studies we have conducted in recent years have shown that social cohesion in Germany as a whole remains strong, an...

Since 2013, the Bertelsmann Stiftung has in numerous studies repeatedly examined the state of social cohesion, while seeking to determine which factors influence it. These efforts have included studies with a cross-national comparative focus, at the national level in Germany...

The topic of social cohesion has gained significantly in importance in recent years, while attracting increasing attention. Over the long term, the megatrends of globalization, digital transformation and demographic change are driving rapid, comprehensive and fundamental...

The third of October 2020 marked the 30th anniversary of German reunification. The debate over whether, and if so at what pace, a Germany that “belongs together is growing together” is just as old. Differences between the federal states of the former West Germany and the...

From January 2021, the electronic patient health record (EHR) will enable citizens in Germany to have their health data and documents stored in a central location. However, the law does not provide for the digital transfer of the notes that doctors make about their patients...