The merger of the two German states brings together countries with divergent economic systems, different trade orientations and a rift in terms of wealth. Transforming the East German system into a social market economy raises enormous internal and external adjustment problems in a period in...

The 1980s have witnessed the globalization of markets and an intensified international competition. The rise of the newly industrializing countries and the growth of multinational enterprises-developing parallely to foreign direct investments-have contributed considerably to this trend. However,...