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....

This paper examines whether the different macroeconomic performances of the German economy in two post-war decades provide evidence for the theory (first advanced by Mancur Olson) that sharp institutional breaks are conducive to economic growth because they destroy the existing network of...

The essays collected in this volume discuss the life and work of Herbert Giersch, who was President of the Institute of World Economy Kiel and a founding member of the German Council of Economic Experts. (Published in German.)

In the last two decades, most industrialized western nations, have experienced a marked increase of government intervention in economic affairs. This peculiar historical trend is followed by a growing professional interest among economists in the impact which public expenditure and taxation may...

The subject of the paper is the persistent labour productivity gap between western and eastern Germany, almost two decades after German re-unifi cation. The paper shows that labour productivity in manufacturing is still roughly one quarter lower in the East than in the West. It explains this...

This paper presents and evaluates two interpretations of the eastern German labour market. These interpretations are called 'wage gap' and 'innovation gap'. The former follows standard neoclassical thinking and regards high eastern German unemployment as the consequence of too high a wage level....

Economic theory and empirical evidence suggest that governments might usefully intervene in high-technology competition in two ways: First, they could act as a neutral agent that creates the necessary credibility, commitment and mutual trust among private companies so as to facilitate...