Methods and Problems of Regional Economic Projections
Maike Irrek, Oliver Holtemöller
Flächennutzungsmonitoring IV. Genauere Daten – informierte Akteure – praktisches Handeln. IÖR-Schriften 60,
2012
Abstract
Regional economic projections are fundamental for political decision-making in several fields, including land use. Residential as well as commercial land use is affected by regional economic growth. This article describes the methodology and problems of regional economic projections using the example of a medium and long-term projection model for the economic development in Germany and the German states. The model utilizes the production function approach and updates the factors of production, labor and capital, as well as productivity via time series econometric methods. The results for Germany as a whole show that gross domestic product will continue increasing during the time period of 2011 to 2025 despite the demographically caused decline of hours worked. However, the varying forms of demographic change in the German states will lead to regional growth differentials. This is exemplified by a comparison between Saxony and Baden-Württemberg.
Read article
Regional Determinants of MNE’s Location Choice in Post-transition Economies
Andrea Gauselmann, Philipp Marek
Empirica,
No. 4,
2012
Abstract
This article focuses on the impact of agglomeration and labour market factors on the location choice of MNEs in post-transition economies. We compare data from 33 regions in East Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland using a mixed logit model on a sample of 4,343 subsidiaries for the time period between 2000 and 2010. The results show that agglomeration advantages, such as sectoral specialization as well as a region’s economic and technological performance prove to be some of the most important pull factors for FDI in post-transition regions.
Read article
East Germany: Number of subsidized employment has declined significantly
Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 11,
2012
Abstract
The share of subsidized employment on total employment has declined significantly. But it is still well above the West German level. The decline in subsidized employment is compensated by a sharp increase in non-supported employment. The decline in unemployment has flattened out.
Due to the lower economic growth in the forecasting horizon the number of employees will increase only slightly. Subsidized employment will further decline, also because of more efficient use of labour policy instruments this year. The unemployment rate will amount to 10.4% in 2012 and to 10.2% in 2013.
Read article
Federal grants for local development to stop economic decline? – Lessons from Germany
Peter Haug, Martin T. W. Rosenfeld
Consequences of the International Crisis for European SMEs – Vulnerability and resilience. Routledge Studies in the European Economy, Routledge,
2012
Abstract
The chapter analyses theoretically and empirically the supply-side effects of the public investments funded by the German „Economic Stimulus Package II“(Konjunkturpaket II), which was implemented in 2009. In the theoretical part, we address the distortionary effects of investment grants on public capital provision and local economic development. According to the theoretical literature on the efficient provision of public goods, public inputs and economic growth, conditional investment grants have several negative allocation effects: First, they distort the relative factor prices for the local government stimulating excess public capital stocks and Pareto-inefficient provision of public goods. Second, long-term growth-enhancing effects of debt-financed public investment could only be expected for public inputs, which either directly increase the productivity of the private sector or increase factor productivity, especially by increasing the stock of human capital. In the empirical part, we find that despite of the recent increase in municipal investments in the German state of Saxony our regression results do not confirm a connection with the ESPII funds. Furthermore, no relationship between the municipal fiscal strength and the amount of ESPII grants received could be found. All in all, due to the focus of the grants on public consumption goods rather than public inputs only marginal future growth effects can be expected from the subsidized investments.
Read article
Vierteljährliche Konjunkturberichterstattung für das Land Sachsen-Anhalt – Die gesamtwirtschaftliche Lage im 2. Quartal 2012 –
Brigitte Loose, Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch, Franziska Exß
One-off Publications,
No. 2,
2012
Abstract
Das Bruttoinlandsprodukt in Sachsen-Anhalt hat im ersten und zweiten Quartal dieses Jahres deutlich nachgegeben. Erhebliche Rückgänge im Verlauf haben die Industrie und auch das Baugewerbe hinnehmen müssen, während die Verluste im Dienstleistungsbereich eher gering gewesen sein dürften. Sachsen-Anhalt bleibt damit im ersten Halbjahr 2012 deutlich hinter der Entwicklung in Deutschland zurück. Ein wesentlicher Teil der Eintrübung beruht auf der Ausrichtung der Produktion in Sachsen-Anhalt auf Standardprodukte und auf Regionen in Westeuropa sowie dem demographischen Faktor. So profitiert Sachsen-Anhalt aufgrund seiner Produktstruktur nur wenig von den Wachstumstreibern Deutschlands, die zuletzt vor allem aus dem Ausland und hier besonders von Ländern außerhalb Westeuropas sowie von der gestiegenen Nachfrage der privaten Haushalte nach höherwertigen Konsumgütern kamen.
Read article
Delineation of City Regions Based on Commuting Interrelations: The Example of Large Cities in Germany
Albrecht Kauffmann
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 4,
2012
Abstract
The comparison of cities with regard to their economic or demographic development may yield misleading results, if solely the cities in their administrative borders are the object of consideration. Frequently, historical borders of cities neither conform to the contemporary settlement structures, nor do they consider the mutual dependencies between cities and parts of their hinterland. Therefore, it is often claimed to use city regions as objects of comparison or for the sake of urban planning. Commonly, the delineation of functional regions is based on commuting flows from the municipalities in the hinterland of the core cities directed to the cores. A municipality is regarded as belonging to a certain city region if the share of out-commuters from this municipality to the respective core in the total mass of those employees who reside in that municipality is the largest one, and if this share exceeds a certain threshold value. However, commuting flows in the opposite direction are not considered. The method presented here delineates city regions on the base of bidirectional commuting flows. Hereby, various modifications regarding the characteristics of the employment base, the possibility of overlaps of regions, the formation of polycentric city regions, and of the minimum threshold value of mutual connectivity are applied to the sample of 81 German cities with more than 100 000 inhabitants. Finally, the effects of different kinds of regionalisation on the coefficients of regional specialisation of these cities and city regions are demonstrated.
Read article
Vierteljährliche Konjunkturberichterstattung für das Land Sachsen-Anhalt – Die gesamtwirtschaftliche Lage im 4. Quartal 2011 –
Udo Ludwig, Brigitte Loose, Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch, Franziska Exß
One-off Publications,
No. 4,
2011
Abstract
Das Bruttoinlandsprodukt in Sachsen-Anhalt hat im Schlussquartal des vergangenen Jahres nach dem starken Anstieg im dritten Quartal in etwa stagniert. Die Industrie erlitt vor dem Hintergrund der konjunkturellen Eintrübung in der Welt und der Risiken im Zusammenhang mit der Schuldenkrise Umsatzverluste. So haben rückläufige Ausfuhren, zum Teil aber auch eingeschränkte private Konsumausgaben und zurückhaltende Investitionen der Unternehmen zu einer Kontraktion der Industrieproduktion geführt. Im Dienstleistungsbereich blieb die Bruttowertschöpfung unter diesem Einfluss nur etwa auf dem Niveau des Vorquartals. Das Baugewerbe legte dagegen aufgrund der milden Witterung und anhaltender Baunachfrage am Jahresende zu; sein deutlicher Zuwachs reichte, um die Rückgänge in der Industrie in etwa auszugleichen. Sachsen-Anhalt bleibt damit im vierten Quartal 2011 hinter der Entwicklung in Deutschland (0,4%) zurück. Allerdings war die konjunkturelle Grundtendenz in Sachsen-Anhalt im Vorquartal wegen der Aufholeffekte nach dem technisch bedingten Ausfall in der Mineralölverarbeitung im zweiten Quartal überzeichnet. Eine schwächere Entwicklung war somit in der Industrie zu erwarten gewesen.
Read article
Central Bank, Trade Unions, and Reputation – Is there Room for an Expansionist Manoeuvre in the European Union?
Toralf Pusch, A. Heise
A. Heise (ed.), Market Constellation Research: A Modern Governance Approach to Macroeconomic Policy. Institutionelle und Sozial-Ökonomie, Bd. 19,
2011
Abstract
The objective of this reader is manifold: On the one hand, it intends to establish a new perspective at the policy level named 'market constellations': institutionally embedded systems of macroeconomic governance which are able to explain differences in growth and employment developments. At the polity level, the question raised is whether or not market constellations can be governed and, thus, whether institutions can be created which will provide the incentives necessary for favourable market constellations.
Read article