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  2. Wirtschaft im Wandel, 7/2011
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Aktuelle Trends: Starke Zunahme des ehrenamtlichen Engagements von Rentnern

Immer mehr Rentner engagieren sich in Deutschland in ihrer Freizeit ehrenamtlich. Dies ergab eine Analyse der Jahre 1995 und 2008 auf Grundlage des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) des Deutschen Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW) Berlin. Als Rentner werden hier Personen ab 65 Jahren betrachtet, unabhängig von ihrem Erwerbsstatus. Ehrenamtlich tätig sind Personen, die laut Angaben im SOEP täglich oder mindestens einmal in der Woche bzw. im Monat ein Ehrenamt ausführen.

05. August 2011

Authors Herbert S. Buscher Gabriele Hardt S. Noack

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Keywords

current trend ageing demography

Also in this issue

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Upturn in Saxony-Anhalt in between structural Barriers

Udo Ludwig Brigitte Loose

in: Wirtschaft im Wandel, No. 7, 2011

Abstract

The gross domestic product of Saxony-Anhalt will increase by 2.6% in 2011. Due to structural reasons the growth is lower than in Germany. In Saxony-Anhalt the key growth driver, the engineering industry, are poorly represented. The previously strong food industry suffers under the pressure of rising commodity prices. The growth gap is explained also from a slowing dynamics in the industry later this year, what is already indicated in the intermediate goods sector, which is the most important part in Saxony-Anhalt´s industry. In addition, the dynamics of household demand for consumer goods and housing is weaker because of the sharp decline in population. Furthermore, the government sector slows in connection with the consolidation of public budgets. The growth gap compared to the average of the New Federal States in total also stems from the fact that the recovery in Saxony-Anhalt had progressed rapidly in the previous year.

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Editorial

Jutta Günther

in: Wirtschaft im Wandel, No. 7, 2011

Abstract

Not macht erfinderisch. Oder ist es Zufall, dass in Zeiten zunehmenden Fachkräftemangels das Thema „Frauen in Führungspositionen“ anhaltend thematisiert wird? Dabei ist die verstärkte Einbindung von Frauen in leitende Positionen keine neue Erfindung. So haben Norwegen, Spanien und Frankreich in den letzten Jahren gesetzliche Maßnahmen ergriffen, um den Anteil von Frauen in leitenden Funktionen der Unternehmen zu erhöhen. Die zuweilen leidenschaftlich geführte Diskussion um das Für und Wider hält an. Gesellschaftspolitische Fragen der Gleichberechtigung treffen auf Indizien der Bildungs- und Beschäftigungsstatistik, Zitate von Vorstandsvorsitzenden, Einzelbeispiele und vieles mehr. Lässt sich die Debatte mit Hilfe ökonomischer Erkenntnisse versachlichen?

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Firm level determinants of innovation: small firms with high potential in East Germany

Jutta Günther Philipp Marek

in: Wirtschaft im Wandel, No. 7, 2011

Abstract

Innovations in the sense of new products and production processes are crucial drivers of the economic development in advanced economies. After a phase of massive technological renewal in East Germany, characterized by much a higher rate of innovators in East than in West Germany, firms in East Germany have to compete with original innovation activities. The paper outlines the innovation activity in East and West Germany and investigates the determinants of product and process innovation within a multivariate analysis using the IAB establishment panel. The empirical study shows that firms in manufacturing industry in East Germany are quite active in innovation activities in the year 2008. As regards the share of innovative firms there are no substantial differences between East and West Germany. The regression analysis shows that R&D is a significant determinant of innovation in East and West for all types of innovation. In East Germany, further education activities for employees also show a statistically significant impact on innovation. A major difference between East and West could be found for the firm size. In East Germany size has no significant impact on innovation while in West Germany size clearly matters. Different from West Germany, small firms (10 up to 49 employees) in the East have a significantly positive impact on product innovations in the sense of market novelties.

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Old Age Poverty and Satisfaction with Living Conditions in East and West Germany, 1995 and 2009

L. J. Zhu Anja Weißenborn Herbert S. Buscher

in: Wirtschaft im Wandel, No. 7, 2011

Abstract

The current contribution presents poverty indicators for West and East Germany for the years 1995 and 2009. The analysis is based on the two corresponding waves of the GSOEP. We only consider households with at least one senior citizen aged 65 or above. Furthermore, we distinguish between male and female pensioners. In the first part the weighted equivalized household income is calculated as well as various statistical measures such as the 20%- and 80%-percentile, the 80/20-ratio and the 90/10-ratio of the income distribution of senior citizen households. In an additional step we also present and discuss the main sources of income such households have. In the second part of the contribution we focus on social indicators with respect to the satisfaction with income and the current living conditions as well as the expected situation in five years. As the results show, old age poverty has increased in both parts in Germany with East German women being an exception. With respect to the future, most elder people look optimistically into the future.

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IWH-Bauumfrage im Juni 2011: Aufwärtsbewegung bleibt bestimmend

Brigitte Loose

in: Wirtschaft im Wandel, No. 7, 2011

Abstract

Die 300 vom IWH befragten ostdeutschen Bauunternehmen bleiben auch im Juni ausgesprochen optimistisch. Ihre Geschäfte laufen sowohl gegenüber der vorangegangenen Befragung im April als auch gegenüber Juni 2010, der etwa den Beginn des aktuellen Aufschwunges darstellt, deutlich besser. Das gilt nicht nur für die laufenden Bauleistungen im Juni; auch für die bis zum Jahresende erwarteten Geschäfte bleiben die Bauunternehmen ausgesprochen zuversichtlich.

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East German economy in 2011: Despite overall Economic Growth no Progress in Catching Up

Udo Ludwig Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch Franziska Exß Brigitte Loose

in: Wirtschaft im Wandel, No. 7, 2011

Abstract

All in all, the IWH expects that GDP of East Germany will increase by 2.8% this year. With this forecast, the growth gap with the West will indeed reduce significantly, but the growth rate remains once again behind the West. The reason is not only that the East German federal states have to consolidate their budgets. The weaker increase in aggregate output is also due to export and innovation weakness, the lack of large enterprises, the aging and declining population.

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