Der Freistaat Bayern hat im Jahr 1999 mit der High-Tech-Offensive als erstes Bundesland in Deutschland eine landesweite »Clusterpolitik« eingeführt, die insbesondere auf Unternehmen in fünf Technologiefeldern ausgerichtet war. Die Politikmaßnahme sollte die Infrastruktur stärken und damit...

In der letzten Welle des ifo Innovationstests wurde erstmals ein Fragenkomplex zum Kooperationsverhalten von Unternehmen im Innovationsprozess aufgenommen. Erste deskriptive Auswertungen zeigen erhebliche Unterschiede zwischen Unternehmensgrößenklassen, Regionen und Branchen. Kleinere und...

If one cluster increases local competitiveness, can politicians, by interlinking clusters, achieve an even better effect at the state level? To answer this question, the paper analyzes the "Cluster Initiative" introduced in 1999 by the Bavarian State Government. The purpose of the initiative was...

If one cluster increases local competitiveness, can politicians, by interlinking clusters, achieve an even better effect at the state level? To answer this question, the paper analyzes the “Cluster Initiative” introduced in 1999 by the Bavarian State Government. The purpose of the initiative...

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...

In light of its importance of innovation on the political agenda it is necessary to provide guidance to decision makers how innovation can effectively be fostered in practice and to disentangle and evaluate the effects of the determinants suggested by the literature. This thesis focuses on the...

Using unique panel data on German manufacturing firms this paper shows the development of the bank's willingness to lend to businesses during the financial crisis and its effect on firm innovations. Due to differences in business practices commercial banks, credit unions and savings banks in...

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...