We study the dynamics of capital accumulation, income inequality, capital concentration, and voting up to 1914. Based on new panel data for Prussian regions, we re-evaluate the famous Revisionism Debate between orthodox Marxists and their critics. We show that changes in capital accumulation led...

We revisit Max Weber's hypothesis on the role of Protestantism for economic development. We show that nationalism is crucial to both, the interpretation of Weber's Protestant Ethic and empirical tests thereof. For late 19th century Prussia we reject Weber's suggestion that Protestantism mattered...

This elite survey has been carried out as part of the data collection effort of the WZB bridging project "The Political Sociology of Cosmopolitanism and Communitarianism". Elites from five countries that were selected to represent five world regions (Germany, Poland, Turkey, Mexico and USA)...

This paper reflects on the classification and social categorization of ethnically diverse populations as a discursive practice in the production of knowledge by state institutions in the field of public health. It begins by providing an overview of the terms "migrant" and "ethnicity" in public...

Ten years after the initial Climate Change Convention from Rio in 1992, the developed world is likely to ratify the Kyoto Protocol which has been celebrated as a milestone in climate protection. Standard economic theory, however, casts doubt that Kyoto will go beyond symbolic policy. In this...

The economic analysis of corporate governance is en vogue. In addition to a host of theoretical papers, an increasing number of empirical studies analyze how ownership structure, capital structure, the structure of the board and the market for corporate control influence firm performance. This...