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In November 2000 the 10th annual conference of the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE) took place in Berlin. The meeting drew together 164 academics and researchers from America, Asia and Europe. The conference was organized with the title "Economics and Social Sciences: Complements, Competitors, Accomplices?". As well addressing its central theme, the conference was opened to different economic topics. In this paper, three participants present selected sessions and papers which are of interest for and related to spatial perspectives, that is 'Technology', 'Economy, Society and Territory', 'The Firm', 'Culture and Technology', 'Economics and Social Sciences', 'Borrowing Ideas from the Social Sciences', 'Economic Methodology', 'Conceptual Frameworks' and, in addition to these sessions, Michael Storper's opening keynote address on 'Economic Geography in the Internet Age'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Spatial Economic Analysis is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Matuschewski A. (2006) Regional clusters of the information economy in Germany, Regional Studies 40, 409–422. In Germany, similar to other countries, enterprises that belong to the information economy (IE) tend to concentrate in a few regions. The paper takes a closer look at the reasons and driving forces for regional clustering within the IE. It is based on the analysis of three German IE clusters: Hamburg, Dresden and the Technology Region Karlsruhe. The analysis follows an explorative, actor-oriented approach using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative empirical methods. The paper concentrates on selected aspects of clustering, questioning the relevance of different theoretical concepts for regional clusters within the IE. It confirms that regional clusters rely on sectoral and regional factors that shape specific regional development paths. Matuschewski A. (2006) Regional clusters of the information economy in Germany, Regional Studies 40, 409–422. In Germany, similar to other countries, enterprises that belong to the information economy (IE) tend to concentrate in a few regions. The paper takes a closer look at the reasons and driving forces for regional clustering within the IE. It is based on the analysis of three German IE clusters: Hamburg, Dresden and the Technology Region Karlsruhe. The analysis follows an explorative, actor-oriented approach using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative empirical methods. The paper concentrates on selected aspects of clustering, questioning the relevance of different theoretical concepts for regional clusters within the IE. It confirms that regional clusters rely on sectoral and regional factors that shape specific regional development paths. Regroupements régionaux, Sentiers de croissance, Economie de l'information, Allemagne Matuschewski A. (2006) Regional clusters of the information economy in Germany, Regional Studies 40, 409–422. In Germany, similar to other countries, enterprises that belong to the information economy (IE) tend to concentrate in a few regions. The paper takes a closer look at the reasons and driving forces for regional clustering within the IE. It is based on the analysis of three German IE clusters: Hamburg, Dresden and the Technology Region Karlsruhe. The analysis follows an explorative, actor-oriented approach using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative empirical methods. The paper concentrates on selected aspects of clustering, questioning the relevance of different theoretical concepts for regional clusters within the IE. It confirms that regional clusters rely on sectoral and regional factors that shape specific regional development paths. Regionale Cluster, Entwicklungswege, Informationswirtschaft, Deutschland Matuschewski A. (2006) Regional clusters of the information economy in Germany, Regional Studies 40, 409–422. In Germany, similar to other countries, enterprises that belong to the information economy (IE) tend to concentrate in a few regions. The paper takes a closer look at the reasons and driving forces for regional clustering within the IE. It is based on the analysis of three German IE clusters: Hamburg, Dresden and the Technology Region Karlsruhe. The analysis follows an explorative, actor-oriented approach using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative empirical methods. The paper concentrates on selected aspects of clustering, questioning the relevance of different theoretical concepts for regional clusters within the IE. It confirms that regional clusters rely on sectoral and regional factors that shape specific regional development paths. Aglomeraciones regionales, Vías de desarrollo, Economía de la información, Alemania [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a patent search strategy for photovoltaics which allows distinguishing patents of the photovoltaic system into sub-trajectories. Identifying and analyzing sub-trajectories is of particular importance for understanding micro patterns of technological change. The proposed search strategy is modular and replicable. It performs similar to benchmark search strategies and allows us to distinguish three cell sub-trajectories and two system components. The identified sub-trajectories allow a more detailed economic analysis previously not possible. Descriptive analyses reveal that inventive activity differs between sub-trajectories and countries. The market dominating silicon wafer cell sub-trajectory shows hardly any patented inventive activity even though it dominates the market. Furthermore, there are shifts in relative patenting activity between sub-trajectories, previously unnoticed at the trajectory level. Country comparison reveals that Asian countries focus on the emerging cell sub-trajectory, fostering their competitive advantage. The USA focuses on the established thin-film sub-trajectory, and inventive activity in Germany focuses on module components. The results have several implications for policy, for example, questioning the effectiveness of demand pull policies for inventive activity, and economic theory. The empirical assessment of sub-trajectories can increase understanding of technological change and uncover dynamics not observable at the trajectory level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Spatial Economic Analysis is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper aims at measuring the general state intervention in rental housing market in Germany from 1913 through 2015. Four policy classes are considered: Incentives for social housing, tenant protection, housing rationing, and rent controls. Based on a legislation analysis, for each class an index measuring the degree of regulation is constructed. The indices reflect dramatic increases in regulations during and after the World Wars. The 2010s are characterized by a surge in all classes of regulations related to the growing housing scarcity in large cities due to interregional migration leading to a geographical mismatch between housing supply and demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the intellectual and structural change that German economics experienced after the Second World War. This development often was described as ‘Americanisation’, since it seemed to rest upon the influences of the American occupation regime. In contrast, the paper applies another meaning of ‘Americanisation’. It is considered a ‘discourse’ that serves to structure the disciplinary procedures to produce progress. As it can be shown by the adoption of Keynesianism and neoclassical microeconomics, the change of the discipline was not primarily driven by direct American influences. Rather, in some respect the German reception took a path of its own. That contradiction can be solved by a theoretical modification of the classical concept of ‘Americanisation’. ‘Americanisation’ there meant a change of the operational procedure of German economics to generate progress. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Only a few studies so far have tried to assess the role of HRM-flexibility in cross-national location decisions. None of these, however, investigates a potential heterogeneity across multinationals in terms of their specific needs concerning different types of flexibility in HRM. In this paper, I theoretically and empirically analyse the impact of HRM-flexibility on the type of investment being attracted. The theoretical implications are based on a real options framework and are derived in the context of a British-German comparison. They are confronted with data from an original survey on US-multinationals with manufacturing subsidiaries in Germany and the UK. The analysis reveals that in UK subsidiaries, investments in R&D are significantly lower, and technological uncertainty is significantly felt less strongly than in their German counterparts. Both results are compatible with the implications derived from the real options framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tests for business cycle symmetry in G7 countries during the post-World War II period using a number of tests, each reflecting alternative definitions of business cycle asymmetry. The tests are applied to monthly coincident economic indicators of business cycles. This found that business cycles in the US are characterized by both longitudinal (deepness) and transversal (steepness and sharpness) asymmetries: further, it is found that asymmetric transition probabilties and time irreversibility are due to nonlinearities. On the contrary, business cycles in Germany exhibits a symmetric behaviour. Between these extremes are the other countries, for which at least one of the tests here considered rejects the null of cyclical symmetry. Particularly, business cycle is characterized by deepness and sharpness in Canada, asymmetry in persistence in France and Japan, and asymmetric transition probabilities in France and United Kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing the number of tertiary graduates has been a priority on the political agenda of the EU for some years. The focus has mainly been on academic courses though, with less emphasis on the role of vocational education and training. International educational statistics indeed show a clear increase in the number of persons completing tertiary education programmes in recent years. In overall terms, this development is referred to as ‘academisation’. The present paper provides a critical analysis and uses examples from Germany, Austria and France to show that this interpretation is neglecting two crucial facts. One is that various academic programmes in fact are combining academic with vocational learning. The other is that there are vocational programmes in the tertiary education sector that are not adequately visible in international education statistics. This understanding is important in relation to future policy-making as well as individual decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Assuming that migration and integration have lasting effects on economic and social processes, this paper analyses if a diverse cultural environment has a positive impact on labour market success. We expect that culturally diverse labour markets provide new opportunities through an open and tolerant climate, thus contributing to overall economic growth. We test this assumption by analysing the successful transition from education to work depending on the regional distribution and ethnic mix of the foreign population in Germany (cultural diversity). To account for variation within Germany, cultural diversity is observed at small administrative units. We analyse a cohort of young adults at the time of the successful completion of their apprenticeship in Germany and follow them through the beginning of their career. The concentration on a homogenous group regarding occupational certificates enables us to focus on the effects of the local and social environment as well as individual characteristics such as their national background on finding a job (or not). We apply an instrumental variable design to disentangle the effects of cultural diversity and share of foreigners. The results show that both young foreigners and Germans face significantly lower barriers for employment entry in culturally more diverse German regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using longitudinal data, this paper analyses the effect of different forms of social capital on the likelihood of employment and the occupational status of first generation immigrant men in Germany. This allows me to examine to what extent social capital of the bonding and the bridging types yield different returns. The study considers how contacts with natives, co-ethnic ties and family-based social capital are beneficial to the economic position of immigrant men. Random effects and fixed effects models show that strong inter-ethnic ties are beneficial both for employment and occupational status. There is no effect of co-ethnic ties and family-based social capital. It is concluded that, when using panel data, bridging social capital contributes to a better economic position and bonding social capital does not. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Germany, there are as yet rather few cities that have given the idea of a city-region meaningful expression and institutional form. Stuttgart is one of them, having developed a unique system of regional institutions and governance structures as well as policies and initiatives to fill them with life. This paper outlines the context and development of metropolitan governance in the Stuttgart region. It analyses its structures, actors, policies and processes, and reflects on the perceived dual challenge - and tensions - of strengthening international competitiveness while enhancing natural environment and quality of life in a sustainable way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the role of the extensive vis-a-vis the intensive margin of labour adjustment in Germany and in the United States. The contribution is twofold. First, we provide an update of older US studies and confirm the view that the extensive margin (i.e. the adjustment in the number of workers) explains the largest part in the overall variability in aggregate hours. Second, although the German labour market structure is very different from its US counterpart, the quantitative importance of the extensive margin is of similar magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beginning with the current global and European imbalances and crises and consideration of the German reaction to them, the paper explores the political economy origins of the conservative German policy stance. It emerges that an export-oriented economy was a deliberate decision of the German elite after World War II and that the external constraint may be regarded as appropriately designed for internal discipline and efficiency in a self-reinforcing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article extends Ball and Mankiw (2002) and applies the Hodrick-Prescott filter (1997) to estimate the time-varying NAIRU for Germany. The slope estimate of the Phillips curve is insignificant when the widely used lagged inflation rate πt-1 is selected as a proxy for the expected inflation rate. The average inflation rate in past 4 years is a better proxy for the expected inflation rate. Estimated NAIRUs with λ = 1000 show a steady rising trend. The estimated NAIRU of 9.84% with λ = 1000 in 2005 is slightly higher than the actual unemployment rate of 9.70% in 2005, suggesting that monetary easing or large deficit spending may cause the inflation rate to accelerate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

German educational spending per student has dramatically declined since the early 1970s. In this paper, we develop a theory of fiscal opportunism and argue that state governments exploit higher educational policies as an instrument of active labour market policy. By 'opening' universities to the masses and the extensive propagation of broader university enrolment during times of economic distress, state governments have an instrument at their disposal for lowering unemployment without generating negative budgetary implications. Thereby, the government pockets voter support not only by diminishing unemployment, but also by providing public goods particularly to the socially disadvantaged. At the same time, the state government risks a deterioration of educational quality owing to decreasing educational spending per student. We test our theoretical claims for the German states in a period ranging from 1975 to 2000 by means of panel fixed-effects models. The empirical results robustly support the hypothesis that rising unemployment ratios lead to increased university enrolment, but also significantly reduce the spending per student. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports on studies of return predictability of stock indexes of blue-chip firms and high-technology firms in Germany, France and the UK during the second half of the 1990s. Return predictability was measured in terms of first-order autocorrelation coefficients, and evidence was found for the return predictability of stock indexes of high-technology firms, but not for the return predictability of stock indexes of blue-chip firms. These findings suggest that a candidate for explaining the economic sources of the return predictability of these stock indexes of high-technology firms is transaction costs in the form of the costs of gathering and processing information in new technological fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In pursuing an historical and comparative approach, the article aims at exploring the relation between local government and ‘local community’. For comparative purposes, the paper draws primarily on the UK/England, Germany and Sweden as pertinent examples. The explicitly historical approach of the article promises to recognise (and perhaps even rediscover) the distinct and, at the same time, symbiotic and dialectic development and relation which have existed between local government and local community throughout their evolution—from the ‘founding period’ of modern local government during the 19th century, through its development under the (centralised) welfare state in the (mid) 20th century, to the present-day. The historically educated perception should be helpful to identify and assess the dynamics and perspective of the recent ‘rise’ of the local (political, social and economic) community and its impact on redefining and recalibrating the relation and balance between local government and what, in the current social science debate, is called ‘governance’—with the ‘re-emerging’ local community and its manifold political, social and economic actors becoming part-and-parcel of the expanding and multiplying networks of (non-public) actors that are captured under the term and concept ‘governance’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of F.B.W. Hermann's Staatswirthschaftliche Untersuchungen and of major German, Austrian and Swedish contributions to public economics, two specific claims with regard to the Germanic influence in the development of public expenditure theory are put forward in this paper. It is contended that the German achievements concerning the conceptual clarification of public goods are: (i) important as conceptual ingredients of the modern ‘micro-based’ theory of the public sector: (ii) less closely linked to some historical and intellectual German Sonderweg (culminating in historism, a collectivistic view of social entities and a mystical glorification of the State) than is often suggested. It is argued that these achievements rather were to a large extent inspired by the more cosmopolitan tendencies in German thought. An important influence is Kantian liberalism. Kant construed a kind of foundational interdependence between the public and the private sector. This prepares the ground for a framework of complementary institutions instead of explaining public institutions in terms of a market failure-perspective based on non-excludability: the view developed in German Idealism gives non-rivalry the pivotal role: the explanation of public institutions systematically hinges upon the existence of goods, the benefits of which are necessarily universal and hence are necessarily made available in a non-rival mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kronthaler F. (2005) Economic capability of East German regions: results of a cluster analysis, Regional Studies 39 , 739–750. This paper analyses the economic capability of East German regions compared with West German regions. Based on new growth theory and new economic geography, and using relevant empirical literature, regions are clustered according to a set of growth factors. The clustering results find little evidence that the economic capability of East German regions is already comparable with West German regions. Economic disadvantages are particularly rooted in lower technical progress, a lack of entrepreneurship, lower business and industrial concentration, and a loss of human capital. However, there are a few East German regions with a high economic capability, but even those suffer from economic disadvantages such as lower technical progress, lower industrial activity and a poorer regional accessibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on the use of the mean-variance (MV) portfolio model to test the quarterly wealth of the German private sector. Examination of the MV model; What empirical work on financial markets has established; Factors contributing to the consistently poor performance of the MV model; How the system of asset demand equations is derived; Findings of the test.

This paper discusses the extent to which the so-called German Keynesians, in particular Lautenbach, Neisser and Röpke, can be credited with anticipating the key theoretical elements of the Keynesian revolution. After justifying the choice of these three economists as representatives of German Keynesianism the theoretical foundations of expansionist programmes, in particular the distinction between primary and secondary depression are examined. A list of crucial elements of Keynes's General Theory is then established, which is used in the main section for testing the claim of anticipations. The conclusion is that the policy prescriptions were based on different foundations so that with regard to theory such a claim is not warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

JENSEN-BUTLER C. and MADSEN B. (1999) An eclectic methodology for assessment of the regional economic effects of the Femern belt link between Scandinavia and Germany, Reg. Studies 33, 751–768. The paper describes a theoretically eclectic methodology developed for assessment of the regional economic effects of the proposed fixed link between Denmark and Germany, across the Femern Belt. The methodology is compared with alternative modelling frameworks. Estimates of the regional economic effects of this fixed link are presented, including evaluation of the synergy effects of this link seen in relation to two other fixed links in the Western Baltic. The short and medium term regional economic effects of this infrastructure investment appear to be limited and perhaps greater in regions somewhat more distant from the link. JENSEN-BUTLER C. et MADSEN B. (1999) Une méthodologie éclectique pour évaluer les retombées économiques régionales du Chenal de Femern qui va relier la Scandinavie et l'Allemagne, Reg. Studies 33, 751-768. Cet article présente une méthodologie théoriquement éclectique qui a été développée afin de permettre une évaluation des retombées économiques régionales de la liaison fixe qui va relier le Danemark et l'Allemagne à travers le Chenal de Femern. La méthodologie se voit comparer à d'autres structures de modélisation. On présente des estimations des retombées économiques régionales de cette liaison fixe, y compris une évaluation de la synergie de cette liaison par rapport à deux autres liaisons fixes situées dans la Baltique occidentale. Il semble que les retombées économiques régionales à moyen terme de cet investissement sont limitées et sont d'autant plus importantes que les régions sont plus éloignées de la liaison. JENSEN-BUTLER C. und MADSEN B. (1999) Eine eklektische Methodik zur Einschätzung regionalwirtschaftlicher Auswirkungen der Fehmarn Beltverbindung zwischen Skandinavien und Deutschland, Reg. Studies 33, 751–768. Dieser Aufsatz beschreibt eine theoretisch eklektische Methodik, die zur Einschätzung der regionalwirtschaftlichen Auswirkungen der geplanten festen Verbindung zwischen Dänemark und Deutschland über den Fehmarn Belt entwickelt worden ist. Die Methodik wird mit alternativen Rahmenmodellen verglichen. Es werden Schätzungen der regionalwirtschaftlichen Auswirkungen dieser festen Verbindung vorgelegt, einschließlich der Bewertung synergetischer Wirkungen dieser Verbindung in bezug auf zwei andere feste Verbindungen in der westlichen Ostsee. Die mittelfristigen regionalwirtschaftlichen Auswirkungen dieser infrastrukturellen Investierung scheinen begrenzt zu sein, jedoch möglicherweise größer in Gebieten, die weiter von der Verbindung entfernt liegen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have witnessed major changes to German migration policy, including most notably policy concerning labour migration. The restrictive approach associated with the end of active recruitment in 1973 has been gradually abandoned. Since 2000, a variety of liberalisation measures have been pursued, facilitating legal labour migration and making German skilled migration provisions fairly liberal by international comparison. Though this would appear to mark a radical departure from the past, unlike the post-war era, the focus rests firmly on the recruitment of skilled immigrants. This article adopts a comparative political economy (CPE) angle in analysing recent policy developments, arguing that employer preferences typical of a coordinated market economy (CME) are being articulated and help shape the policy agenda. A brief comparison of the CMEs in Austria and Sweden is pursued to explore the promise of a CPE approach. In empirical terms, the article seeks to address the question in what fashion organised business manages to shape the agenda. In theoretical terms, the article seeks to assess the utility of a CPE-inspired approach for the study of migration policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Previous research has shown that the way people spend their money is as important to happiness as how much money people earn. Specifically, it has been shown that spending money on others contributes more to an individual’s happiness than spending money on oneself. In the present study, we investigated this effect and examined the role of the money’s origin. Students were randomly assigned either to spend a small amount of money on themselves or to spend the money on others. Moreover, half of the participants received the money as a wage, whereas the other half received the money as a windfall. The results replicated previous research indicating that prosocial spenders report greater happiness than do selfish spenders. However, the happiness effect was unaffected by the source of the money (i.e. wage vs. windfall). Implications for well-being and happiness are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

What happens when governments that have benefited from 'solidarity' programs to redistribute money from richer to poorer states are faced with the prospect of being redefined as a 'richer state' themselves? After communism, such a situation has confronted the traditionally poorer states of Western Germany and the traditionally poorer nations of the European Union. Yet funding was far more generous in the East German case than in the Central and Eastern European case. Why? The strong institutional positions of the traditionally poorer states meant, in both cases, that the key factors shaping the outcomes were the electoral exposure of the respective central governments and the presence or absence of hard budget constraints on that political centre. High exposure and low constraint marked the German case while low exposure and high constraint characterized the EU case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cluster concept in economics contributes to new research on the forest sector's role in national and regional economies, yet incompatible cluster definitions and a variety of methodologies impede an objective comparison of findings. However, governmental statistical reporting systems are not well suited for a direct assessment of the forest sector due to classificatory and methodological shortcomings. This research presents a more standardized approach in the form of a statistics-based method for forest sector benchmarking and monitoring. The specification of the method included an extended cluster definition based on the Classification of Economic Activities in the European Union (NACE) and the validation of two suitable national statistical reporting systems. Testing the method in a case study for Germany demonstrates its capacity to provide consistent socioeconomic information on forest and wood-based industries in a sectoral, spatial and temporal dimension. In 2004, the German forest cluster accounted for 100,000 companies, 150 billion Euro gross turnover and over 900,000 employees (approximately 3.5% of the national economy) and ranked among the strongest manufacturing sectors. Individual wood-based industries indicated regional concentrations in federal states of Germany. Over the past decade, the forest sector was marked by considerable losses in turnover and employment, which increasingly deviated from the overall economic development of Germany. The research contributes to a more standardized, empirical understanding of the forest sector's role in national and regional economies, supporting rational decision making in cluster policy and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Since the mid-1990s EU institutions and EU policy-making outcomes have had a considerably more noticeable bearing on the regulation and subsequent development of sport than in the first four decades of European integration. While the developments at European level are relatively well documented, the actual impact of EU law and policy-making on the domestic arena has so far largely escaped thorough academic attention. This essay will give a brief overview of the increased attention that sport has received in EU politics and policy, before embarking on an analysis regarding the result this may have for domestic sport. Our empirical focus is on German football, particularly on three sub-cases: (I) the nationality issue related to the Bosman ruling, (II) the transfer rules resulting from Bosman, and (III) the issue of broadcasting rights. Our (comparative) empirical analysis suggests that domestic level actors can influence the impact of EU level decisions to (quite) some extent. Hence, outcomes depend both on the strength of EU level pressures for domestic change and on domestic level counter-reactions. We argue that the interplay of these levels has led to different outcomes: 'system transformation' (Case I), 'heavy adjustment' (Case II) and 'partial adjustment' (Case III). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Spatial Economic Analysis is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The authors fundamentally question the claims that institutional sclerosis explains the present economic stagnation in Germany. Instead, they argue that the combined effects of restrictive monetary policies, restrictive and sometimes pro-cyclical fiscal policies, and overly moderate wage policies in Germany since the mid-1990s explain the stagnation. Finally, they recommend more expansive fiscal and monetary policies in the short run, and conditions that allow for real wage growth in Germany based on long-run national productivity growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents an application of the Generalized Error Correction Model (GECM) for heterogeneous factor demands based on the quadratic cost function. Using data for 26 West German manufacturing industries over the period 1976-1995, it turns out that less general specifications such as the partial adjustment and the static AR(1) model are rejected. Furthermore, both short-run and long-run labour demands of different skill classes are inelastic. Unskilled labour is found to have a somewhat higher wage elasticity in absolute terms than medium-skilled labour. A small part of the shift in demand away from unskilled labour can be explained by the substitutability relationship between intermediate materials and unskilled labour. Between 6 and 13 percent of the observed shift towards high-skilled labour can be explained by capital accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a network approach, we investigate the determinants of intra-EU migration flows between all 28 EU member states in the years 2001, 2005, 2008 and 2013. Our descriptive analysis of the networks of intra-EU migration flows shows that the EU migration space is dominated by two core destination countries (Germany and United Kingdom). The results of our cross-sectional exponential random graph models (ERGM) reveal that the status of Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) as core destination countries remains a robust characteristic of the network of intra-EU migration flows over time, even when controlling for GDP, unemployment rates or shared geographical borders between destination and source countries. Furthermore, our results point to the differentiated effects of national economic performance on outgoing and ingoing flows: GDP per capita mainly affects intra-EU inflows, while unemployment rates tend to influence outmigration. Lastly, regulatory linkages – measured with the accession to the EU of source countries and the opening of the labour market of destination countries – exert a moderate effect on intra-EU migration flows when taking into account the national economic performances of source and destination countries, the core status of Germany and the United Kingdom, and the shared borders between destination and source countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a dynamic decision model of the firm with a delayed adjustment of employment and investment is developed. Special attention is devoted to dynamic inefficiencies, i.e. underutilizations of the capital stock and labour hoarding. Market disequilibrium is introduced by allowing for a sluggish adjustment of wages and prices. The model of the firm is complemented by explicit aggregation, and the aggregate model is estimated for the FRG for the period 1960 to 1989. The empirical results reveal that dynamic adjustment constraints for employment and capital contributed to the persistence of unemployment in Germany in the 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tests the influence of culture on group decision-making behavior among respondents in Korea and Germany. For our field experiment we are using an ultimatum game design, played among participants in Korea and in a benchmark experiment in Germany. We find evidence that taking the mosaic view of culture and making subjects aware of shared affective ties, based on age, educational-institution and regional origin, leads to differences in economic decisions, contrary to what neoclassical economic theory would suggest. Our results indicate that awareness of common group membership in some cultural contexts orients decision-makers toward upholding social norms that induces a greater preference for more selfless, in-group interested decisions, while anonymity makes personal identity salient and promotes more self-interested economic decisions. These effects are more pronounced in Korean participants compared with German participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, the European defence industry has had to respond to increasing pressures of reduced defence spending, exacerbated more recently by removal of the immediate military threat from the former Soviet Union. Under the "Options for Change", the UK has abandoned certain weapons programmes, while Germany has had the additional economic and social problems brought on by re-unification. The industry's options comprise conversion, diversification or specialization, thus continuing to face structure change and competition from defence imports and "off-the-shelf" systems and equipment. Given the high exit barriers and past "cushioning" of the industry by governments, the presence of skills and know-how to compete effectively is questionable. The case for strategic marketing approach for those suppliers remaining is clear; as buyer (monopsonistic) power strengthens, the threat of new entrants increases and the associated competitive rivalry intensifies. However, the ingrained "defence culture" in many supplier organizations may be an impediment to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical divisions between North and South are coming increasinglyundone in the field of global health. Settings in the global North, such asBerlin, are becoming linked up to those in the global South in manifoldways. In this article, I show through discourse analysis and ethnographicresearch how tuberculosis and its meanings have been transfigured inWestern Europe through the worldwide circulation of the disease and itsdefinition as a global health epidemic returning to the North from theSouth through global migration routes. I then draw attention to theways in which public health professionals in Berlin make sense of locallyimplemented economic processes of debt and austerity that have beenin effect since the early 2000s. Such processes of indebtedness andprivatisation render the strong public health infrastructures thatcharacterise the global North increasingly fragile, and are comparable tothe structural adjustment policies that have been imposed uponcountries in the global South. I argue that economic processes ofausterity in Berlin complement the meaning of TB as an immigrants'disease, while older meanings of TB as a disease of poverty resurface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We sharpen tests for ‘discouragement’ and ‘added worker’ effects by splitting the explanatory variable – the unemployment rate – into a short-term component and a long-term component. While short-term unemployment (STU) might not result in additional workers on a large scale, long-term unemployment (LTU) reduces household income more, increasing the need for additional income. On the other hand, it may discourage older workers for psychological and sociological reasons. Applying our model to the German labour market, these hypotheses could be confirmed. Even for men, about whom only a few empirical studies on this issue are available, distinguishing between STU and LTU reveals added worker as well as discouragement effects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose: Important goals of cardiac rehabilitation maintenance programs (CMP) are to increase leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Elderly patients with cardiac disease and low exercise capacity are simultaneously the most severely affected and have the most to gain from exercise-based rehabilitation. Individualized combined exercise (ICE) may be an effective modality to achieve these goals. We compared six months of ICE to CMP in their effects on LTPA and HRQoL. Methods: Sixty patients (70 ± 9 years, 39% female) with cardiac disease and low exercise capacity (<6 MET) were randomly allocated to six months of once-weekly ICE or CMP. The patients in ICE performed moderate endurance and resistance exercise on machines, based on intensities from individual peak exercise testing. Patients in CMP performed weekly sessions of calisthenics, flexibility, coordination and relaxation activities. LTPA and HRQoL were assessed with accelerometry and questionnaires at baseline and six months. Results: Sixty patients completed the trial. ICE increased vigorous PA (ICE: Δ +12 MET-min/d, CMP: Δ -5 MET-min/d, p = .02) and steps per day (ICE: +1586 steps/d, CMP: -838 steps/d, p < .01) compared to CMP after six months. ICE significantly improved in several components of HRQoL (vitality, emotional health, social health, positive and negative affect (all p < .05) compared to CMP. Conclusions: ICE resulted in significant improvements in physical activity levels and health related quality of life in moderate to high-risk patients compared to CMP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Germany, exits from the Catholic and Protestant churches have fluctuated considerably over the last 60 years. Much of the observable variation in these exits can be explained by exogenous shocks such as unpopular encyclicals by the Pope, German reunification, sexual abuse cases and financial scandals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managers predict the sales of new entertainment products prior to their release using comparables, such as similar books from the same author or movies with the same actors. In this study, the authors analyze whether diffusion models for media products provide helpful support in the management task of predicting prelaunch sales of the first distribution channel for three different product categories. They compare the performance of predictions based on (a) simple success factor regressions (OLS) and (b) diffusion models against real management predictions. Based on samples covering the German music, film, and the literary market, we show that model-based forecasts outperform the forecasts of management teams for the majority of the products. In contrast, management is superior in forecasting top sellers. This is due to unobserved factors arising from more management attention attached towards super stars. The authors do not find substantial prediction differences between simple success factor regressions and more complex diffusion models. Thus, managers interested in total sales estimates can easily rely on OLS based success factor predictions. Advertising and product differentiation factors with respect to quality (e.g., star power, critics, or country of origin) are across all 3 industries highly relevant for sales predictions, whereas others variables (e.g., price, distribution power, season, or competition) differ across industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the effects of higher bodymass index (BMI) or obesity on different labourmarket outcomes. Weextend the present literature by investigating the effect of obesity on (i) promotion likelihood and (ii) unemployment duration, in addition to the effect on (iii) wages and (iv) probability of being employed. Wefind an obesity penalty on wages,employment likelihood, promotion likelihood and unemployment duration among females in Germany taking into account of endogeneity of BMI and sample selection. We are also able to identify an unexplained effect of obesity on wages, employment and promotion likelihood for females using decomposition techniques that can be attributed to weight discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the uncertainty of outcome in sport, predicting the outcome of sporting contests is a major topic in sport sciences. This study examines the accuracy of expert predictions in the German Bundesliga and compares their predictions to those of sports economists. Prior to the start of each season, a set of distinguished experts (head coaches and players) express their subjective evaluations of the teams in school grades. While experts may be driven by irrational sentiments and may therefore systematically over- or underestimate specific teams, sports economists use observable characteristics to predict season outcomes. The latter typically use team wage bills given the positive pay-performance relationship as well as other factors (average team age, tenure, appearances on national team, and attendance). Using data from 15 consecutive Bundesliga seasons, the predictive accuracy of expert evaluations and sports economists is analysed. The results of separate estimations show that relative grade and relative wage bill significantly affect relative points, while age, tenure, appearances, and attendance are insignificant. In a joint model, relative grade and relative wage bill are still statistically significant, suggesting that the two types of predictions are complements rather than substitutes. Consequently, football experts and sports economists seem to rely on completely different sources of information when making their predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two years of progress in foreign-policy leadership have left unanswered a crucial question: what is German power for? [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Spanish political economy experienced a profound decadence during the second half of the nineteenth century. Such period of isolation came to an end during the early twentieth century. The most outstanding economists of that period such as Flores de Lemus, Bernis or Torres were persuaded that Spanish economic development was strongly linked to a tax system reform. At the same time, numerous writings on public finance were published by secondary authors and a wide range of foreign handbooks were translated into Spanish. Consequently, public finance became an outstanding channel for the introduction of marginal theory and German Historicism into Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The application of robot technology in the field of surgery has grown rapidly in recent years. Also in Europe, robot-assisted surgery has become increasingly popular, predominantly in the fields of urology and gynecology. Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) is widely practiced in North America after receiving FDA approval in 2009. This technique was also adopted and is being practiced at specialized institutions in various European countries, including Germany. Due to significant differences in the health-care system and divergent developments of the use of transoral surgery in the treatment of laryngeal and pharyngeal malignancies in the last decade between North America and Europe, there are unique barriers and challenges to introducing TORS in these two parts of the world. This article describes experiences in developing a TORS program at an academic hospital in Germany. Specifically, steps that were required to obtain institutional approval and financial support, as well as to train surgeons and allied health-care personnel, and to establish a sufficient and adequate technique for reprocessing the used instruments are presented. Introducing a TORS program in Europe is still a challenge in regard to financial issues, acceptance, and practicability and therefore it is only practiced in specialized centers, although systems are widely available and often used in the same hospital by urology departments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]