Using a unique, large panel of German firms, we examine whether participation in business groups reduces the sensitivity of investment to cash flow. The main finding is that the reduction in the sensitivity is small for small firms and negligible for medium and large firms. We argue that by virtue of the continental business model, gains from business groups should be in better contract enforcement ...
Economic disparities between the regions of the European Union are of constant concern both for policy and economic research. In this paper we examine whether there are overlapping trends of regional development in the EU: overall convergence on the one hand and persistent or even increasing spatial concentration (agglomeration) on the other. Kernel density estimation, Markov chain analysis and cross-sectional ...
Die schlechte wirtschaftliche Situation vieler Zeitungs- und Zeitschriftenverleger spiegelt nicht nur konjunkturelle Einflüsse wider, sondern ist auch begründet in spürbaren Strukturverschiebungen auf Pressemärkten, zu denen nicht zuletzt die zunehmende Bedeutung des Internets für die Befriedigung der Informationsbedürfnisse der Verbraucher gehört. Vor diesem Hintergrund sind wichtige Änderungen des ...
A new approach in German innovation policy organizes contests of proposals for developing innovation networks. Based on an overview of the different programs, we investigate the advantages and problems of such an approach. We find that this type of policy may have a relatively large impact and can, therefore, be regarded as a rather efficient instrument of innovation policy. Compared to conventional ...
A new approach in German innovation policy organizes contests of proposals for developing innovation networks. Based on an overview of the different programs, we investigate the advantages, problems and limitations of such an approach. We find that this type of policy may have a relatively large impact and can, therefore, be regarded as a rather efficient instrument of innovation policy. Compared to ...