„Competent in competition and healthˮ – both claim and aspiration of the health economic research center CINCH in Essen.

The current public debate on health care in Germany revolves around the conflict between providing comprehensive and high-quality medical services on the one hand and curbing the costs of health care on the other. More competition in the markets for health care and insurance can help mitigate this trade-off. Issues of competition in health care are therefore at the core of health economics research at CINCH, which is organized within two junior research groups and several complementary projects.

Essen's Labatory for experimental economic's research (elfe)

eBay instead of a flea market, My-Hammer instead of a business directory — the online auction is one of the fastest growing sectors of eCommerce. Academic research projects are increasingly looking at this phenomenon.

Opened in 2009, the aim of the laboratory is to analyse the effect of various types of communication on the economic decision-making of participants in virtual markets. How do people make decisions when confronted with social dilemmas and what is the role of communication in this process? Which auction mechanisms will win among the variety of platforms available? To what extent can communication be harnessed as a reputation mechanism? 

With 26 modern computer workstations including 12 sound-insulation booths, which are interconnected via a video and audio conference system, elfe is the world's best equipped experimental laboratory for researching business interaction and communication. 

The House of Energy Markets and Finance (HEMF) has the objective to become Germany’s leading research institution for research at the interface between energy and finance. It builds on the expertise and international visibility of its members. The existing competences of the participating departments at the University of Duisburg-Essen are united to form a centre with international visibility, combining research and teaching into sustainable market and trade concepts.

In particular the link from methods of financial mathematics and energy economics is unique. Additionally the HEMF serves as a centre of competences in the field of energy economics. The intention is to integrate expertise of environmental economics and finance as well as competences of information technology and engineering. The HEMF provides a platform for scientific analysis and support for the transformation of the energy system.