Germany on the Way to Energy Efficiency in the Housing Sector: Subsidy Programs by the Federal Government and the Länder Level
Martin T. W. Rosenfeld
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 11,
2011
Abstract
In addition to the increasing rigidity of minimum requirements in regulative law, the federal government and the Länder provide a broad range of subsidy programs to force the refurbishment of those parts of a building, that determine the building’s energetic quality-level. In regard of energetic refurbishment quality, the federal government boosts investments, which exceed the minimum requirements of regulative law. Whereas the federal government – with exeption of different financing conditions of investors - applies equal funding requirements to all investors and building-types older than 15 years, the Länder focus their programs on specific regional housing market conditions. A further analysis concerning the influence of the subsidy environment on regional refurbishment output level should be topic of further research.
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Cluster Policies in the Federal States of Bavaria and Thuringia: Discrepancies between Practice and Theory
Gerhard Heimpold
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 10,
2011
Abstract
The contribution analyzes cluster policies pursued in the Federal States of Bavaria and Thuringia. The investigation is based on the exploration of government documents. In both countries cluster policy is target at strengthening competitiveness. The documents explored do not reveal an economic justification for cluster policy in the sense of eliminating market failures, e. g. externalities, information asymmetries and coordination failures. Therefore, it is unclear whether the support schemes under consideration really tie in with factors that hamper cluster evolution. Policies in both states support state-wider clusters and networks. The state-wide focus, however, might undervalue advantages of spatial proximity. As another critical point the ex-ante selection of industries or technologies eligible under cluster policy can be regarded. Despite readiness of considering new technologies etc., public administration generally suffers from a lack of information about the future development perspectives of industries and technologies. A way to mitigate the limited capability of public administration in terms of forecasting might be favoring economic support based on competition for the best concepts/projects instead of focusing on certain industries. Several support schemes offered by the Federal government in Germany are already competition-based. In Thuringia cluster policy is strongly motivated by several structural shortcomings, e. g. by the fragmented firm landscape mainly consisting of small units. Therefore, beyond cluster policy, the necessity will remain to abolish directly the structural shortcomings mentioned, especially by providing an economic environment that enhances firm growth.
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Industrial Associations as a Channel of Business-Government Interactions in an Imperfect Institutional Environment: The Russian Case
A. Yakovlev, A. Govorun
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 16,
2011
Abstract
International lessons from emerging economies suggest that business associations may provide an effective channel of communication between the government and the private sector. This function of business associations may become still more important in transition economies, where old mechanisms for coordinating enterprise activities have been destroyed, while the new ones have not been established yet. In this context, Russian experience is a matter of interest, because for a long time, Russia was regarded as a striking example of state failures and market failures. Consequently, the key point of our study was a description of the role and place of business associations in the presentday
Russian economy and their interaction with member companies and bodies of state
administration. Relying on the survey data of 957 manufacturing firms conducted in
2009, we found that business associations are more frequently joined by larger companies, firms located in regional capital cities, and firms active in investment and innovation. By contrast, business associations tend to be less frequently joined by business groups’ subsidiaries and firms that were non-responsive about their respective ownership structures. Our regression analysis has also confirmed that business associations are a component of what Frye (2002) calls an “elite exchange”– although only on regional and local levels. These “exchanges” imply that members of business associations, on the one hand, more actively assist regional and local authorities in social development of their regions, and on the other hand more often receive support from authorities. However, this effect is insignificant in terms of support from the federal government. In general, our results allow us to believe that at present, business associations (especially the
industry-wide and “leading” ones) consolidate the most active, advanced companies and act as collective representatives of their interests. For this reason, business associations can be regarded as interface units between the authorities and businesses and as a possible instrument for promotion of economic development.
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Regional Entrepreneurial Opportunities in the Biotech Industry: Exploring the Transition from Award-winning Nascent Entrepreneurs to Real Start-ups
H. Wolf, Claus Michelsen, Michael Schwartz
Abstract
Knowledge of factors that determine the transition from nascent entrepreneurship into real entrepreneurship is of major importance for policies aiming to effectively stimulate start-ups. Whereas scholars concentrated on person-specific factors to explain transition probabilities, environmental characteristics have been fairly neglected. Given that entrepreneurship is a strongly localized phenomenon, this paper argues that regional entrepreneurial opportunities are a driving force behind the transition from nascent entrepreneurship to new venture creation. Based on unique data on 103 nascent entrepreneurs in the German biotechnology industry, we empirically assess the importance of regional entrepreneurial opportunities on transition probabilities. Further, we introduce a new
approach to measure nascent entrepreneurship by capturing individuals that actively participate in start-up competitions and have won at least one competition. Controlling for technology and individual characteristics, we find strong support for our hypotheses relating to the significant impact of general regional opportunities, specific regional opportunities and the entrepreneurial environment for the probability of transition from award-winning nascent entrepreneurs to real start-ups.
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Economic Effects of the Halle Institute for Economic Research
Ulrich Blum
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 10,
2008
Abstract
The most important approach to assess the scholarly performance of an institute is to evaluate its academic output. Economic research institutes such as the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) furthermore are targeted at providing policy advice to public authorities. This adds an additional criterion, the ability to impact policy discussions in Germany and beyond.
A rarely discussed issue is the effect of an institute on the local economy. The IWH is located in a region of East Germany that is still catching up economically. Transformation problems are still very visible. In such an economic environment, the expenditures of an institute play an important role in stabilizing local demand. The analysis shows, by using input-output-methods, that the most important factor for the local economy is the demand stemming from wages earned by the employees of the institute. Especially the local area, where most of the staff lives, heavily benefits from this effect. Expenditures of about 4.6 million Euros which include the salaries of the staff of about 70 persons generates sufficient demand in the area to guarantee employment for another 35 persons. In addition, as crowding out of activities by additional demand is presently not an issue in East Germany, the taxes generated account for a considerable part of the budget.
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The Role of the Human Capital and Managerial Skills in Explaining the Productivity Gaps between East and West
Johannes Stephan, Wolfgang Steffen
Eastern European Economics,
No. 6,
2008
Abstract
This paper assess determinants of productivity gaps between firms in the European transition countries and regions and firms in West Germany. The analysis is conducted at the firm level by use of a unique database constructed by field work. The determinants tested in a simple econometric regression model are focussed upon the issue of human capital and modern market-oriented management. The results are novel in as much as a solution was established for the puzzling results in related research with respect to a comparison of formal qualification between East and West. Furthermore, the analysis was able to establish that the kind of human capital and expertise mostly needed in the post-socialist firms are related to the particular requirements of a competitive market-based economic environment. Finally, the analysis also finds empirical support for the role of capital deepening in productivity catch-up, as well as the case that the gaps in labour productivity are most importantly rooted in a more labour-intense production, which does not give rise to a competitive disadvantage.
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The Role of the Human Capital and Managerial Skills in Explaining the Productivity Gaps between East and West
Wolfgang Steffen, Johannes Stephan
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 11,
2007
Abstract
This paper assess determinants of productivity gaps between firms in the European transition countries and regions and firms in West Germany. The analysis is conducted at the firm level by use of a unique database constructed by field work. The determinants tested in a simple econometric regression model are focussed upon the issue of human capital and modern market-oriented management. The results are novel in as much as a solution was established for the puzzling results in related research with respect to a comparison of formal qualification between East and West. Furthermore, the analysis was able to establish that the kind of human capital and expertise mostly needed in the post-socialist firms are related to the particular requirements of a competitive marketbased economic environment. Finally, the analysis also finds empirical support for the role of capital deepening in productivity catch-up, as well as the case that the gaps in labour productivity are most importantly rooted in a more labour-intense production, which does not give rise to a competitive disadvantage.
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International economic development still impedes growth in Central and Eastern Europe
Axel Brüggemann
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 3,
2002
Abstract
The world wide economic slow down has increasingly affected the transition economies. Lower demand in Western Europe for exports from Central and Eastern Europe has depressed industrial production and growth in the region. Strong domestic demand has managed to offset some of the negative external influences. In total the countries in Central and eastern Europe will grow with 3,1 % in 2002 and with 4,1% in 2003. The higher growth in 2003 results from the combination of a continuing strong domestic demand and amore favourabel external environment, as the world economy starts to recover in the second half of 2002. Inflation will continue to slow, while unemployment decreases only marginally. Higher growth will also lead to higher current account deficits.
The slowdown in 2001 has increased the risk potential for financial crises in Central and Eastern Europe. The forecast is build upon the assumption that no such crisis will occur, if a crisis does errupt the forecast will have to be revised downwards. The regular anlysis carried out by the IWH regarding the development of the risk potential, indicate particular high risks for Poland and to a somewhat lesser extent also for Hungary. As the unfavourable external economic conditions will persist for the coming months, a further increase in the risk potential can be expected.
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Risk Potential for Financial Crises for the Central and East European Transition Countries still high
Axel Brüggemann, Thomas Linne
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 1,
2002
Abstract
Since the mid-nineties there have been several financial crises in Central and Eastern Europe. Among the countries affected are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Romania - all countries with which the European Union is in the midst of accession negotiations. The prevention of financial crises is also important due to the output losses which occurr in the affected countries. Additionally, contagion effects can influence the economic situation in third countries such as those of the EU. For this reason, the IWH analyses on a regular basis the risk potential of the EU-accession countries as well as for Turkey and Russia.
Since the beginning of 1999 at least two different phases in the development of the risk potential can be distinguished for the majority of the Central and Eastern European countries. The first phase is marked by an increase in the risk potential across all countries in the region because of the contagion and spill-over effects following the Russian financial crisis in August 1998. The risk potential was considerably reduced with the phasing out of these effects and a worldwide economic recovery. However, since mid-2000 a second phase has set in. The weaker international environment has again led to a sizable increase in the crisis vulnerability of several countries, where a host of signals indicate an urgent need for economic policy actions.
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The state of improvements at municipal waste water disposal systems in the New Länder
Walter Komar
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 10,
1997
Abstract
Seit der deutschen Vereinigung wurden infolge umfangreicher Baumaßnahmen deutli-che Fortschritte im Ausbau der kommunalen Abwasserinfrastruktur erzielt. Dennoch sind weiterhin Investitionen in Kanalisationen und Klärwerke erforderlich, um geltende Standards der Abwasserbeseitigung erfüllen und um das noch immer vorhandene West-Ostgefälle im Niveau der Abwasserbehandlung reduzieren zu können. Mit dem Abbau von Defiziten in der Abwasserentsorgung ging eine deutliche Erhöhung der Abwasser-gebühren einher. Regional gravierende Gebührenunterschiede für qualitativ gleichartige Leistungen weisen auf gesamtwirtschaftliche Ineffizienzen und Standortnachteile hin.
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