In the process of the German unification and especially after the formal unification in October 1990, Eastern Germany was supported by West Germany by a lot of measures. The main purposes were to improve the infrastructure, to stimulate private investment and to alleviate the adjustment process...

Germany is the laggard of Europe, yet the country is world champion in merchandise exports. The paper tries to solve this theoretical and empirical puzzle by diagnosing a "pathological export boom" and a "bazaar effect". Excessively high wages defended by unions and the welfare state against the...

Based on a description of the German system of taxes and transfers, the incentives to work are analyzed for several groups of the labor force. The effects of the ?Hartz IV? reform (effective from 2005 onwards) on the incentives receive particular attention. It turns out that the marginal...

As shown in Sinn and Wollmershäuser (2012a), during the European balance-of-payments crisis, inter-governmental credit and Target credit granted by core-country central banks have replaced private international capital flows in financing the crisis countries' current account deficits, and even...

Table of Contents: I. External Challenges 12 1. The Transformation of Central and Eastern Europe 12 a. Trends in Central and Eastern Europe's Emerging Market Economies (EMEs) 12 b. The Impact on Germany 14 c. Political Consequences 14 2. Migration Pressures 16 a. The European Perspective 16 b....