Government Banking in Russia: Magnitude and New Features
Andrei Vernikov
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 13,
2011
Abstract
State-controlled banks are currently at the core of financial intermediation in Russia. This paper aims to assess the magnitude of government banking, and to reveal some of its special features and arrangements. We distinguish between directly and indirectly state-controlled banks and construct a set of bank-level statistical data covering the period between 2000 and 2011. By January 2011 the market share of state-controlled banks reached almost 54 percent of all bank assets, putting Russia in the same league with China and India and widening the gap from typical European emerging markets. We show that direct state ownership is gradually substituted by indirect ownership and control. It tends to be organized in corporate pyramids that dilute public property, take control away from government bodies, and underpin managerial opportunism. Statecontrolled
banks blur the borderline between commercial banking and development
banking. Dominance of public banks has a bearing on empirical studies whose results might suggest state-owned banks’ greater (or lesser) efficiency or competitiveness compared to other forms of ownership. We tend to interpret such results as influenced by the choice of indicator, period of observations, sample selection, etc., in the absence of an equal playing field for all groups of players. We suggest that the government’s planned retreat from the banking sector will involve non-core assets mainly, whereas control over core institutions will just become more subtle.
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University Cities: Including Universities and Research Institutes into Strategies for Urban Growth
Peter Franz
International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development,
2011
Abstract
The topic of this special issue refers to the observation that many larger and middle-sized cities dispose of a considerable potential of institutions creating and disseminating knowledge. This kind of endowment seems to be especially valuable in an upcoming knowledge-based economy. Recent strategic concepts and inter-city competitions referring to ‘knowledge-based urban development’, ‘knowledge city’, ‘creative city’, ‘science city’ or ‘entrepreneurial university’ indicate that urban planners and politicians are beginning to search for strategies to take advantage and to make use of this potential. The papers in this special issue a) present case studies of cities trying to activate their knowledge resources for local economic growth, b) deal with regulatory barriers and problems for cities applying ‘knowledge city’ strategies, c) analyze the university support for entrepreneurial activities, and d) discuss some implications of ‘knowledge city’ strategies for architecture and urban planning.
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Effects of Local Public Investment into Infrastructure for Tourism: The Example of Saxony
Albrecht Kauffmann
Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft,
No. 1,
2011
Abstract
The mass of investments into infrastructure for tourism in the so-called “New States” (Neue Länder) of the Federal Republic of Germany after 1990 was huge. They were aimed to the maintenance and recovery, respectively of competitiveness of traditional destinations, as well as to promote service-oriented structural change in industrial wastelands. A big part of these investments was supported by funds of the so called “Joint Task for Improving the Regional Economic Structure”. We analyse the effects of local public investment into infrastructure for tourism supported by investment grants on the local employment in accommodation and food service activities in the state of Saxony. The results provide evidence for correlations between special types of investment in the time period 2000–2007 and the development of employment in hospitality industry. However, this is subject to some requirements, such as the existence of complementary factors, or an existing regional touristic tradition as well.
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MNE’s Regional Location Choice - A Comparative Perspective on East Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland
Andrea Gauselmann, Philipp Marek, J. P. Angenendt
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 8,
2011
published in: Empirica
Abstract
The focus of this article is the empirical identification of factors influencing Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) in transition economies on a regional level (NUTS 2). The
analysis is designed as benchmark between three neighboring post-communist regions, i.e. East Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. Their different transition paths have not only resulted in economic differences. We can also observe today that the importance of pull factors for FDI varies significantly across the regions. This analysis shows that in comparison with Poland and the Czech Republic, East Germany’s major benefit is its purchasing power, its geographical proximity to West European markets, and its modern infrastructure. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that intra-industry linkages such as specialization and agglomeration economies are relevant factors for the location decision of foreign investors. This result can help to explain the regional divergence of FDI streams in transition economies.
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Metropolitan Area „Central Germany“: How Strong are the Commuting Flows between the Cities?
Albrecht Kauffmann
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 2,
2011
Abstract
The metropolitan area „Central Germany“ is an institutional agreement on co-operation between the bigger cities of the German Länder Saxonia, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. It is one of now eleven “European Metropolitan Areas” acknowledged by the Conference of German Ministers for Spatial Planning. In the face of the multitude of cities and the large distances between the cities at the fringe and the geographical centre of the metropolitan area “Central Germany” should be regarded as a very special case. Another peculiarity is that the hinterland of the metropolitan area has not yet been delineated. The paper analyses the networking interrelations between the eleven cities on the basis of commuting flows. Additionally, proposals for the delimitation of this metropolitan area as a polycentric functional urban area are suggested for the first time. The investigation yields that network connectivity between the cities that have shaped the former metropolitan area “Halle/Leipzig-Saxonian Triangle”, as well as the Thuringian cities is much more intensive than the commuting flows between these subareas that are well connected from history. As a functional area, the metropolitan area “Central Germany” would have a very large hinterland, but its population density would be rather small, and it would interact only with the nearest regional centres. One can conclude that the preconditions for successful cooperation are better for adjacent cities which collaboration has already a long tradition.
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How Does Industry Specialization Affect the Efficiency of Regional Innovation Systems?
Michael Fritsch, Viktor Slavtchev
Annals of Regional Science,
No. 1,
2010
Abstract
This study analyzes the relationship between the specialization of a region in certain industries and the efficiency of the region in generating new knowledge. The efficiency measure is constructed by relating regional R&D input and output. An inversely u-shaped relationship is found between regional specialization and R&D efficiency, indicating the presence of externalities of both Marshall and Jacobs’ type. Further factors influencing efficiency are externalities resulting from high R&D intensity of the local private sector as well as knowledge from local public research institutions. The impact of both the specialization and the additional factors is, however, different for regions at different efficiency levels.
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