We demonstrate that almost one half of the observed wage gap between East and WestGermany reflects differences in worker, establishment, and regional characteristicsrather than differences in productivity at the establishment level. Regional price andestablishment size differentials alone...

This paper examines the extent to which sectoral diversification can act as an insurancemechanism against fluctuations in regional gross value added growth rates. I apply portfoliotheory to the growth-instability properties of German districts. Furthermore, Idefine a comprehensive...

This paper investigates whether localization economies as brought forward by Marshall(1890) or urbanization economies as mentioned by Jacobs (1970) are more decisive forregional gross value added per capita. Our novel approach is to explicitly allow forinterdependencies between these two...