Where are the economic development cores of East Germany? Results of a survey of the focuses of branches, enterprise networks and innovative competence fields in the East German Regions
Peter Franz, Gerhard Heimpold, Martin T. W. Rosenfeld
Regionale Strukturpolitik - quo vadis?, Informationen zur Raumentwicklung, Heft 9,
No. 9,
2006
Abstract
The contribution presents the results of an empirical study conducted by the Halle Institute for Economic Research on behalf of the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning. The study concerns the identification of “regional clusters” for all spatial planning regions in East Germany. As criteria to identify clusters, three components were taken into consideration: spatially concentrated industries, enterprise networks and innovative competence fields, whereas, for the purpose of identifying “clusters”, the networks and innovative competences have to show a co-incidence with the industry which is spatially concentrated. Cases of co-incidence of all three elements were categorised as economic development cores (or spots), i. e. as forms of spatially concentrated economic activities which show cluster-relevant qualities. For regions which possess economic development spots, the growth perspectives can be expected as more favourable in comparison with other regions. The findings show a particularly high concentration of economic development spots in the Berlin region as well as in the Federal States of Saxony and Thuringia, where the cities of Dresden, Leipzig, Erfurt and Chemnitz form delineating points within which a particularly high number of economic development spots are existent. As a consequence, the study might initiate a debate in favour of a stronger spatial concentration of regional policy measures instead of spreading the resources by “watering can principle”.
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Growing heterogeneity in the human capital endowment of the German federal states
Bianca Brandenburg
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 8,
2006
Abstract
Die Unterschiede in der Qualifikation der erwerbsfähigen Bevölkerung in den deutschen Bundesländern sind in der Zeit von 1991 bis 2002 größer geworden. Die günstigste Qualifikationsstruktur weisen momentan die ostdeutschen Bundesländer, Berlin sowie Hamburg, Hessen und Baden-Württemberg auf. Mit Ausnahme der fünf neuen Bundesländer wird dies auch zukünftig so bleiben. Zu den qualifikationsschwachen Bundesländern gehören das Saarland und Niedersachsen sowie zukünftig auch Sachsen-Anhalt und Brandenburg. Eine Annäherung der formalen Qualifikation hat zwischen den ost- und westdeutschen Bundesländern stattgefunden. Die selektive Abwanderung von Hochqualifizierten und die teilweise stark gesunkene Bildungsbeteiligung haben in Ostdeutschland zu Verlusten in der formalen Qualifikation der erwerbsfähigen Bevölkerung geführt, während in allen westdeutschen Bundesländern ein Trend zu höheren Bildungsabschlüssen zu verzeichnen ist und einige auch von der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter aus den neuen Bundesländern profitierten. Es besteht ein Zusammenhang zwischen der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung einer Region und dem Anteil der Hochqualifizierten an der Bevölkerung im erwerbsfähigen Alter. Eine geringe Arbeitslosigkeit und hohe Löhne sind meist mit der Zuwanderung Hochqualifizierter und einer starken Bildungsbeteiligung verbunden. Allerdings ist dieser Zusammenhang nicht zwingend. Es finden sich ebenso Beispiele, in denen ein hoher Anteil an Hochqualifizierten mit relativ geringen Löhnen und einer hohen Arbeitslosigkeit einhergeht. Dies ist insbesondere dann der Fall, wenn die betreffende Region über eine reichhaltige Bildungslandschaft im tertiären Bereich verfügt. Gleichzeitig wurde offenbar, daß zukünftig mit einem höheren Anteil von Hoch- aber auch von Geringqualifizierten zu rechnen ist. Die Bedeutung des dualen Ausbildungssystems in der beruflichen Bildung hat im betrachteten Zeitraum stark abgenommen. Der steigende Anteil von Geringqualifizierten ist im Hinblick auf die verminderten Erwerbschancen und starken Einkommensunsicherheiten in diesem Bereich bedenklich.
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Gesamtwirtschaftliche Effekte der Förderung regenerativer Energien, insbesondere der Biomasse - Eine kritische Beurteilung vor dem Hintergrund modelltheoretischer Konzeptionen
Götz Zeddies
Zeitschrift für Umweltpolitik und Umweltrecht 2/2006,
No. 2,
2006
Abstract
Renewable energies are largely promoted in the Federal Republic of Germany by means of political instruments by the federal government as well as by the federal states. However, the effects of promoting renewable energies on growth and employment are politically controversial. On the part of the scientists, the macroeconomic effects of the promotion of renewable energies were already analysed in different studies by various authors. At first sight, even the scientific results do not allow definite conclusions. The reasons for this may be seen in the diversity of the applied empirical methods and models with respect to their closeness and the model assumptions. Against the background of these difficulties, the aim of this paper is to discuss the general problems of macroeconomic policy analyses, to formulate methodical model requirements and to examine important existing scientific studies with respect to these requirements and to evaluate their results.
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Wie steht es in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern um die Ballung wirtschaftlicher Aktivitäten? - Eine Untersuchung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Städte des Landes
Gerhard Heimpold, Martin T. W. Rosenfeld
Rostocker Beiträge zur Regional- und Strukturforschung, Heft 18,
No. 18,
2006
Abstract
Urban and regional economics put great emphasis on urban spaces and, in general, on the importance of agglomeration forces, which is of great importance for the development perspectives of structurally weak regions. This in mind, the contribution investigates the extent and the structures of economic agglomeration characteristics, using the example of the cities in the Federal State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In this context, the question is raised whether the potential given there might be better used to achieve economic progress. The contribution starts with a brief theoretical overview on the importance of agglomeration forces for urban and regional development. The empirical section comprises, first, an analysis how the cities under consideration are endowed with factors being regarded as important for economic growth; second, two essential elements of agglomeration of economic activities are investigated more in-depth: spatially concentrated industries and business networks. The investigation is based on a method which was already in use within an East-Germany wide study on Economic Development Spots (project on behalf of the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning - BBR, finished in 2004). Finally, the contribution draws implications for the economic policy at the Laender level as well as at the municipal level.
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Revenue Boosting Instruments in Municipal Finance from a Public Choice Perspective
Peter Haug
Diamond, J. (ed.), Proceedings. 98th Annual Conference on Taxation, Miami, Florida, November 17-19, 2005 and Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the National Tax Association, Thrusday, November 17, 2005,
2006
Abstract
German municipalities are currently struggling with growing budget deficits, decreasing revenues, and rising expenditures. We argue that from a public choice perspective local politicians under financial pressure might prefer fiscal instruments that minimize the local voters' resistance and create fiscal illusion. According to Germany, suitable sources of additional revenues include the reallocation of revenues from the local business tax between the levels of government and increased profitability of local public utilities. Revenue Data from 1992 to 2004 indicate that changes in the relative significance of the net local business tax revenues are rather caused by changes in the share of the federal government in the revenues ('Gewerbesteuerumlage') than by changes in the local tax multipliers. Furthermore, we find a significant rise in profits of local public utilities in large German cities.
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Network investment and the threat of regulation: avoiding monopoly or infrastructure extension
Christian Growitsch, Niels Krap
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 5,
2006
Abstract
In summer 2005, Deutsche Telekom announced its plans for the buildup of a new fiber glass network. At the same time, it formulated the condition that this network was not to be regulated concerning pricing or use by other providers (network access). In order to make this investment possible, in its coalition treaty the big coalition agreed to exclude the new network from the ex-ante regulation and to include this freedom from regulation in the telecommunication law. The question is now how investments can be facilitated and, at the same time, welfare losses through monopoly gains can be avoided. Applying game theory, it can be shown that a regulation authority like the ‘Bundesnetzagentur’, which is responsible for German telecommunication sector, should signal an increasing tolerance for deviations from its calculated and determined regulatory price in the face of increasing uncertainty concerning expected cost and returns. Thus, the threat of regulation alone leads to tolerable prices, without the actual regulation taking place. In the future, the ‘Bundesnetzagentur’ should reduce information asymmetries and the optimal level of tolerance in order to achieve a more precise intervention price and a more effective threat of regulation. The effectiveness of such a threat decreases if the legislation prevents the regulation authority from using this instrument by law. Against this background, the recent Federal Government resolution from March 17th 2006 noveling the telecommunication law heads for the economically right direction but it has to prove its incentive compatibility in the daily legal practice.
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Workplace Equipment and Workplace Gap by Gender in East and West Germany
Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch, Johann Fuchs, Cornelia Lang
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 9,
2006
Abstract
The paper investigates (a) the number and structure of available jobs by gender in East and West Germany, (b) the gap between the supply and demand of jobs by gender in both regions and (c) the reasons for the wider “job gap” in East Germany compared with West Germany. The paper uses data from the Regional National Accounts and the Federal Labor Office. The analysis shows no significant difference in the number of jobs per 1000 persons in working age between East and West Germany. For women, the East German economy offers more jobs. Nevertheless, the gap between labour demand and the supply of jobs is wider in East Germany. This is caused not only by problems concerning the production structure, but also by the significantly higher partizipation rate of women in the labor market. Reasons are the traditional behaviour of East German woman and – compared with West Germany – the considerably lower household income.
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Incentive-Compatible Grants-in-Aid Mechanisms for Federations with Local Tax Competition and Asymmetric Information
Martin Altemeyer-Bartscher, T. Kuhn
Proceedings. 98th Annual Conference on Taxation, Miami, Florida, November 17-19, 2005 and Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the National Tax Association,
2006
Abstract
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The coalition treaty from a fiscal point of view
Kristina vanDeuverden
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 12,
2005
Abstract
After weeks of negotiations the coalition finally agreed on the conditions for their political work. Not surprisingly, the coalition agreement is complex and intransparent – with a multitude of single measures far away from a precise definition. Quantifying the programme and estimating resulting cash flows is currently difficult; official calculations are – if at all – only partly available. Anyhow, the contract will form the basis for economic policy during the next four years; therefore its evaluation by now is indispensable. The thin red line of the agreement – not astonishingly when considering the precarious financial situation of the public sector – is consolidation. However, more than 80% of the consolidation volume results from the revenue side. Though one third of this is due to the cutback of tax exemptions, the lion’s share comes from raising tax rates, mainly the VAT standard rate. In contrast, cutting back public expenditure is minor and the agreement clearly comes short of the Koch/Steinbrück proposal; even new tax reliefs are created. The consolidation is almost completely borne by private households. Enterprises as a whole are barely hit. However, they have to wait until 2008 for a reform of company taxation – one of the most pressing problems in this legislative period. To reduce the companies tax burden until the reform starts the conditions for tax depreciation are temporarily relaxed. Anyway, from an international point of view the statutory tax rate is an important signal to enterprises deciding where to invest. Lowering effective tax rates by changing depreciation conditions is intransparent and, thus, will be less effective. Furthermore savings within the public sector are planned to accomplish consolidation; 10 billion Euro should result from efficiency gains and reduced expenditure. Consolidation measures mainly focus on the budget of the federal government. However, Länder and communities will participate in the additional tax revenues. In contrast, social securities will loose – and therefore also the share of employment that is subject to social insurance contribution. Particularly the unemployment insurance will be burdened by the decrease of its premium rate. Besides, the federal government will reduce its grants to the pension funds and most notably the health system. The contract is dominated by fiscal constraints. Cyclical requirements are considered only cursory and pressing structural reforms are put off. The reforms of company’s taxation, of fiscal federalism, of the health system as well as a proceeding reform of the labour market are only proposed. How and when measures in these fields are realised will determine whether fiscal policy can set a new course.
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The (never) ending story of the truck toll system – a contract theory view
Niels Krap
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 11,
2005
Abstract
After long-lasting negotiations, representatives of the Federal Government and the consortium Toll Collect signed a 17,000 pages contract on 20 September, 2002. It was fixed that Toll Collect had to develop and afterwards operate a system for the automatic collection of a satellite-supported distance-based truck toll until the end of August 2003. However, technical difficulties in the development of the new system led to delays to an unexpected extent. In this article, it is examined whether the results of the renegotiations that followed were consistent to the economics of contract theory. It can be shown that both contracting parties were bound to the contractual relation, so that the preliminary termination of the contract by the Federal Minister of Transport on 17 February, 2004 became void by an agreement only few days later. Additionally, it could be identified that the contract set correct incentives for both parties, Federal Government and Toll Collect, and covered the possibility of efficient renegotiation.
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