In 2006, after years of stagnating and even significantly declining production, the construction industry finally experienced a year of strong growth (Table 1). In nominal terms, the industry expanded by 7% in 2006. After allowing for price increases, there was real growth of almost 5%, much...

Innovation potential is not only an elementary precondition for economic efficiency and affluence for nations, but also for regions. Measured on R&D employment in the manufacturing industry, regional concentration has continued to remain high since 1998. The regions of Munich and Stuttgart lead...

In 2006 about 155 000 Germans left their country - more than ever before apart from the postwar wave of emigration in the 1950s. However, many recent German emigrants return to their home country. Although the question of why this rise has occurred is now arousing much attention from the general...

Much work awaits the new U.S. president. The U.S. has been financially depletedby the Iraq war, economic programs and necessary financial system restructuringcosts. The current financial crisis requires a government that takes an active hand ineconomic matters; at the same time, however, the...

Much work awaits the new U.S. president. The U.S. has been financially depletedby the Iraq war, economic programs and necessary financial system restructuringcosts. The current financial crisis requires a government that takes an active hand ineconomic matters; at the same time, however, the...

Parallelsacht. "OSS Adaption" war Hauptsachtitel der 1. Version, die 14 Tage lang im Netz stand. It is no secret that open source software (OSS) is gaining ground, yet the drivers for OSS adoption still seem rather unclear. This report aims to compare various industries within select countries...

About the end of 2006, Microsoft began delivering its new Windows Vista PC operating system to large commercial customers, followed by final users and small businesses. Even before the product reached the market, the dominant provider of PC operating systems worldwide was accused over and over...

Seeking to play a pioneering role in climate protection, the European Union has decided to pursue a reduction of at least 20% in greenhouse-gas emissions (on 1990 levels) by the year 2020. Moreover, Europe has declared its willingness to commit itself to emission reductions of 30% over the same...

Income poverty in Germany has reached its highest level for twenty years. This statistic is often seen as proof of the existence and growth of a 'decoupled underclass'. In other scenarios large sections of society appear to be facing collapse into poverty. If the duration of individual phases of...

After the high growth of 2006, the first quarter of 2007 also shows undiminished high construction production. Evidence of this is provided by the number of hours worked, which see growth rates in double figures in all fields of civil and structural engineering; yet it is surprising that growth...