In an a priori view, it is usually assumed that the business cycle of manufacturing industries leads the business cycle of the service sector. This seems to be even more plausible for the relationship between business-related services, whose high growth rates in recent years were largely due to...

This paper analyses the effects of minimum wages on competition in the German roofing sector. The case is particularly interesting since this sector is faced with a uniform minimum wage despite significant regional disparities in productivity and wages. As a control industry we take the plumbing...

Diese Dokumentation stellt einen Konjunkturindikator für einen Bereich vor, der von der amtlichen Statistik nur unzureichend erfaßt wird. Dieser Service Sentiment Indicator ermöglicht es, die konjunkturelle Situation im immer wichtiger werdenden Wirtschaftszweig unternehmensnahe...

The global economic crisis of 2008/2009 hit many firms hard. Faced with rapidly declining sales and highly uncertain economic prospects, firms had to cut costs and reconsider their business strategies. With respect to innovation, cost cutting often means to stop or underresource innovation...