We estimate the effect of broadband infrastructure, which enables high-speed internet, on economic growth in the panel of OECD countries in 1996-2007. Our instrumental variable model derives its non-linear first stage from a logistic diffusion model where pre-existing voice telephony and cable...

We ask whether and what kind of unique factors influence the innovativeness of firms in clusters across geographic regions and industrial sectors. We provide evidence for the driving forces of firm innovativeness in different cluster types. Distinguishing between hierarchical clusters of mature...

The internationalisation of research and development (R\&D) is continuously increasing and will also take on steadily growing importance in the future. Firms are very mobile when deciding upon their R\&D locations and choose locations where they can profit from local knowledge. In the light of...

This paper combines the empirical finding of a functional specialization of cities with regional dynamics.We distinguish between cities dominated by headquarters and service firms (urban agglomerations), those with large stand-alone production plants in one sector (industrial agglomerations),...

Globalization has had an enormous impact on traditional industrial structures. It almost seems that everything is everywhere the same. And yet, in reality, some regions in a single industrialized country enjoy rapid economic growth while others are downsizing or stagnating. Thus there must be...

After World War II, about 8 million ethnic Germans - so called expellees- were forced to leave their homelands and settle within the new bordersof West Germany. Subsequently, a law (Federal Expellee Law) wasintroduced to foster their labor market integration. We evaluate thislaw by comparing the...

We provide empirical evidence that the experience of a socialist regime leads to a lack of self-reliance by comparing East and West Germans conditional on regional differences in current economic development. This meaningful lack of self-reliance persists after the regime’s breakdown and...

Can local industrial policies increase local firm competitiveness? Cluster-oriented policies targeted at selected industries have just such a goal and are very popular among politicians, despite the controversy surrounding these policies in academia. Thus, it would appear useful to discover if...