In this paper we take a detailed look at the sectoral anatomy of regional growth in German regions over the period 1978-2008. In the aggregate, the German economy is characterized by a secular decline of the manufacturing sector and a rise of the modern service economy. This trend of structural...

The unprecedented economic rise of Eastern Europe and China in the last two decades has triggered concerns in developed Western market economies about adverse effects for domestic labor markets trough increased import competition. Simultaneously, exports from developed countries to these new...

In East Germany a profound demographic change has been taking place that manifests itself in the shrinkage and the aging of the population. One major cause is the drop in the East German fertility rates by about half directly after the reunification of Germany in 1990. In no other countries of...

This paper deals with the question whether firms' employment performance in the periods preceding their exit can be regarded as casting a 'Shadow of Death' on their final leaving the market. This aspect is of high relevance for politicians and other decision-makers, because by knowing more about...

This paper investigates whether labor mobility varies with the degree of agglomeration and, if so, how the differences can be explained. The theoretical basis rests on the advantages agglomerations exhibit in providing a large pooled labor market, one of Marshall's famous three sources of...

Empirical research on agglomeration and regional economic growth puts high emphasis on the impact of specialization, diversity, and competition on regional employment dynamics (Glaeser et al. 1992, Henderson et al. 1995, Blien et al. 2006, Fuchs 2009). However, Beugelsdijk (2006) and Raspe/van...

If being around smart people makes us smarter and more productive, what can regions do to attract smart people? This paper considers endogenous cultural amenities as a location factor for high-skilled workers. To overcome selection in the provision of cultural amenities, we exploit the variation...

This book rigorously explores the critical, initial stage of cluster emergence in which the seeds for further growth are sown. Whether economic growth actually occurs, however, ultimately depends on various regional conditions and the processes in place.

"The resilience and growth prospects of a region depend crucially on the extent to which industry-specific human capital can be redeployed across the industries of a regional economy. To this end, we present a toolbox to analyse a region's industrial structure, development prospects and economic...

This paper follows the industry employment histories of all individuals at some point affiliated with the dismantling Swedish shipbuilding industry 1970-2000. We analyse the situation of the individual workers leaving shipbuilding through investigating to what extent they were employed at all,...