According to conservative calculations, over $580 billion was spent worldwide on environmental goods and services and renewable energy technologies1 in 2004. So-called "green spending" is set for strong growth in the future on account of the long-term expansion of the global economy and mounting...

The construction volume this year will reach a value of just under euro 230 billion _ a drop as compared to 2004 of close to 3%. At approximately 1.5%, the price increase should turn out somewhat higher than the previous year, which means the real construction volume will thus shrink by a good...

After the high growth of 2006, the first quarter of 2007 also shows undiminished high construction production. Evidence of this is provided by the number of hours worked, which see growth rates in double figures in all fields of civil and structural engineering; yet it is surprising that growth...

In 2006, after years of stagnating and even significantly declining production, the construction industry finally experienced a year of strong growth (Table 1). In nominal terms, the industry expanded by 7% in 2006. After allowing for price increases, there was real growth of almost 5%, much...

Germany's economic profile gives reason to believe that the country will emerge strengthened from the current economic crisis. Germany boasts the world's highest share of value-added output attributable to (R&D) intensive goods and knowledge intensive services. At the same time, Germany...

The sharp slump of the German economy has left its mark on the building sector. Commercial construction has been especially affected by the significant decline in companies' propensity to invest - triggered by the macroeconomic downturn. However, due to the stable development of real wages and...

As a country highly specialized in the production of investment goods, Germany has been especially hard hit by the global recession. Because the production profile of German industry is technology-intensive, however, there is reason to believe that Germany will emerge from the present economic...

Germany's big cities are gaining in attractiveness both as a place for living and as a location for companies. Even as Germany's total population is declining, the population of cities increased by nearly 3 percent between 1999 and 2008. The same is true for spatial shifts in the economy: During...

Income disparities between poorer and richer households in Germany have been widening since reunification. Although this income polarisation is reduced during economically favourable periods by strong growth in employment, once the good times are over, it rises all the faster. The longer-term...