Analysing 474 cases of firms going public in the German capital between 1892 and 1913, we show that innovative firms could rely on the Berlin stock market as a source of financing. The data also reveal that initial public offerings (IPO) of innovative firms were characterized by particularly low...

The German government introduced compulsory accident insurance for industrial firms in 1884. This insurance scheme was one of the main pillars of Bismarck’s famous social insurance system. The accident-insurance system achieved only one of its intended goals: it successfully compensated...

Reconstructing the complex supplier network of the famous JU 88 air armament programme, this article shows that outsourcing activities increased considerably in wartime Germany. The resulting inter-firm division of labour did not lead only to a quite effective protection of the German aircraft...

The German government introduced compulsory accident insurance for industrial firms in 1884. This insurance scheme was one of the main pillars of Bismarck’s famous social insurance system. The accident-insurance system achieved only one of its intended goals: it successfully compensated...

In 2009, Germany adopted a new system of regulating energy networks. The German regulatory commission (Bundesnetzagentur) now imposes price caps (RPI-X) on network charges in order to foster competition between power-supply companies. The price formula needed to calculate these price caps...

This article examines the determinants of contractual form and renegotiations in the German construction industry during the Third Reich. At the beginning of World War II, firms dealt with growing uncertainty by convincing procurement agencies either to use cost-plus contracts or to include an...

Introducing the concept of innovation capital we will analyse conditions under which a national industry is able to succeed in international Schumpeterian competition. Then we will discuss the significance of this concept for the economic development of the German plastics industry from the...