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Purpose: This paper analyses three strategies in customers' use to afford consumption in a developed and an emerging market for different product groups. The strategies are: (1) usage of loyalty cards, (2) usage of credit cards and (3) usage of long-term credits. Design/methodology/approach: Mall intercept surveys conducted in Poland (emerging market) and Germany (developed market) provide data for testing a set of hypotheses using ANOVAs. Findings: Results show that customers in emerging markets show no differences in the usage of loyalty cards for product categories with high shopping frequency (groceries) compared to developed markets, while in all other product categories loyalty card usage is stronger. Results show further that in low price categories, customers in emerging markets use credit card payments more often compared to customers in developed markets. In high price categories, they use credit cards less often, but long-term credits more often. Research limitations/implications: Results have implications for the design of loyalty programs and payment options in different markets. Results have also implications for public policy regarding concerns about increasing private debt in emerging countries. Originality/value: This paper suggests a cost-benefit framework where customers in emerging countries perceive benefits of loyalty cards and credit options higher, while they are willing to bear higher costs. As a result, effects of product category characteristics on usage that are observable in developed markets do not exist in emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine whether economic growth enhances life satisfaction. It provides a conceptual solution to the heavily debated Easterlin paradox which states that aggregate income positively relates to life satisfaction in one-time international comparisons but not in longitudinal analyses. First empirical results are presented for Germany. Design/methodology/approach - The present study uses path analysis to capture not only direct but also mediated effects of economic growth on life satisfaction. Findings - The paper finds that economic growth does enhance life satisfaction over time. The effect is not direct but mediated via consumer confidence, customer satisfaction, income satisfaction, health satisfaction and job satisfaction. Modeled by consumer confidence, adaptive expectations reduce this effect but cannot entirely compensate for it, as suggested by literature. In addition to this negative compensatory effect which is mediated by customer satisfaction, consumer confidence has a positive direct influence on life satisfaction. Research limitations/implications - Since the history of aggregate customer satisfaction measurement is still young, this empirical analysis should be seen as pioneer work. Future research on the Easterlin paradox should utilize future data, model mediated relationships and time lags, and integrate customer satisfaction and consumer confidence. Practical implications - Economic growth strategies are successful in raising life satisfaction. Governments should not only pay attention to quantitative but also to qualitative growth. Collective optimism can improve life satisfaction. Originality/value - This study contributes to solving the Easterlin paradox. Unlike the extant literature on the Easterlin paradox, this paper integrates national customer satisfaction and consumer confidence into a sociologic model and explicitly accounts for mediated effects. National customer satisfaction is used to model qualitative aspects of economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the high rates of economic growth of the US economy and the remarkable acceleration of productivity growth since the mid-1990s which is widely attributed to the modern information and communication technologies (ICTs). Design/methodology/approach After identifying three key factors for Solow's productivity puzzle and examining ICTs as a general purpose technology, three main channels of ICTs' impact in the economy are discussed: the first transmission channel is direct and consists of the effects generated by rapid technical progress within the ICT-capital goods producing sector. The second one is due to the increasing accumulation and application of ICT goods and services in the user sectors. ICTs' positive spillover effects comprise the third transmission channel, i.e. they lead to "disembodied" increases in efficiency in the sense of "learning by doing" in the end-user sector. Findings - The diffusion of ICTs requires investment in all industries, i.e. the improvement of competitiveness on the macro level is strongly linked to investment activities and skill qualifications on the micro level. Research limitations/implications The paper concludes with some comparisons between the US and the German economy where the acute need for infrastructure investment in East Germany in the 1990s limited the possibilities for investment in ICTs exactly at a time of high-technological dynamism at the start of an upswing of a new Kondratieff cycle. Although some comparisons with the EU are made the impact of ICTs in other countries except the USA and Germany is not discussed more intensively. Practical implications A very useful source of information for graduate students and policy makers alike on the theoretical and empirical impact of new technologies on economic development. Originality/value - This paper fulfils an information need for comparing growth in international perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, it studies whether output volatility and growth are linked at the firm-level, using data for German firms. Second, it explores whether the link between volatility `and growth depends on the degree of credit market imperfections. Design/methodology/approach — The authors use a novel firm-level' dataset provided by the Deutsche Bundesbank, the so-called Financial Statements Data Pool. The dataset has time series observations for German firms for the period 1997-2004, and the authors use information on the debt-to-assets or leverage ratio of firms to proxy for credit-constraints at the firm-level. As additional proxies for the importance of credit market imperfections, we use information on the size and on the legal status of firms. Findings — The authors find that higher volatility has a negative impact on growth for small and a positive impact for larger firms. Higher leverage is associated with higher growth. At the same time, there is heterogeneity in the determinants of growth across firms from different sectors and across firms with a different legal status. Practical implications — While most traditional macroeconomic models assume that growth and volatility are uncorrelated, a number of microeconomic models suggest that the two may be linked. However, it is unclear whether the link is positive or negative. The paper presents additional evidence regarding this question. Moreover, understanding whether credit market conditions affect the link between volatility and growth is of importance for policy makers since it suggests a channel through which the credit market can have long-run welfare implications. The results stress the importance of firm-level heterogeneity for the effects and effectiveness of economic policy measures. Originality/value — The paper has two main novel features. First, it uses a novel firm-level dataset to analyze the determinants of firm-level growth. Second, it analyzes the growth-volatility nexus using firm-level data. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper, which addresses the link between volatility, growth, and credit market imperfections using firm-level data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The aim of the paper is to assess the determinants and impact of employer sponsored further training on wage growth in West Germany over the period 1992 to 2002. Design/methodology/approach - Following a descriptive narrative on further training and wages in Germany, data derived from the West German sub-sample of the German Socio-Economic Panel is being utilised, which has the main advantage of providing detailed information about the respondents' labour market histories prior to and after 1992. The information provides powerful predictors, controlling for the endogeneity of the training participation decision when estimating a wage growth equation. To assess the impact of training on wages, Heckman selectivity corrected wage equations are used, with the selection being based on a probit model for the probability that an individual receives firm-sponsored training. Findings - The analysis provides details of significant gender differences in both, the incidence and earnings impact of further training. The results show that further training has a strong positive effect on wages. However, gender inequality issues remain a salient feature of the German training system, which further training only reinforces. The analysis also suggests that the economic conditions during Germany's post-unification period may have mitigated some of the potential benefits of further training on wage growth. Originality/value- Despite its growing importance, the determinants and earnings impact of employer-sponsored, further training have attracted little attention in the empirical literature. Even less is known about the impact of further training during Germany's post-unification period. This paper adds value by contributing to this fledgling field of investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to review the factors in Germany’s economic growth and attributes these to the Mittelstand model driven by Hidden Champions.Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.Findings Germany’s economic growth can be attributed to the “Mittelstand” model combined with the core strategies of the “Hidden Champions” – manufacturing high quality premium products to dominate market niches, creating and sustaining a highly-skilled labor force and investing in science and technology to maintain a sustained competitive advantage.Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a research study which focuses on chemical related industrial parks in Germany. It mentions that development of industrial parks leads to economic development by attracting establishment of new companies and hence has been utilized by both public and private sector. It focuses on the role played by performance measurement systems in successful implementation of business strategies and states that performance measurement should be linked with benchmarking for better results.

Germany and Japan are two countries with enviable records of success in economic growth and new technology. Firms from both countries have penetrated foreign markets, often with harsh consequences for the local companies. This article looks at the development and handling of relationships between suppliers and customers in both countries. Buyer-seller relationships are at the heart of the marketing and purchasing of industrial goods and can be studied using the interaction approach. This approach provides a framework for analyzing buyer-seller relationships and thus for comparing the differences between Germany and Japan. Such comparative marketing studies can make an important contribution to the development of a theory of marketing systems. They can provide a stimulus for examining the universality or specificity of various marketing concepts, under different types and ranges of environmental factors and settings. They can help to refine or develop marketing concepts, and improve the methodologies used for comparison.

The article reports on the Conference "Towards a Sustainable Knowledge Society - the Nordic Experience" at GÖteborg Germany of the European Union(EU) 10 results, that aims to encouraged the Baltic States to adapt the best practice concerning developments with the support of structural funds.

The article reports on the hosting of the first Center of Excellence on Education for Sustainable Education in Europe in Germany's second largest City of Hamburg, a Free and Hanseatic City. The move will be part of the European Reference Point for Technology Transfer for Sustainable Development based at Tu Tech Innovation in Hamburg. The UNESCO's effort on the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development is supported by the role played in the Center of Excellence on Education for Sustainable Development in Europe which it provides training's, workshops, seminars, produce reports and books.