Im Jahre 2003 hat sich fast eine Viertelmillion vormals Arbeitsloser mit Unterstützung des Arbeitsamtes selbstständig gemacht. Gut drei Fünftel davon starten mit Hilfe des Überbrückungsgeldes (§ 57 SGB III). Die restlichen fast 93.000 Geförderten gründen eine Ich-AG, die seit Anfang 2003...

Knapp zwei Jahre lang wurde im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für Arbeitund Soziales die Wirksamkeit der Instrumente analysiert, die die KommissionModerne Dienstleistungen am Arbeitsmarkt im Jahre 2002 vorgeschlagenhatte, und die nachfolgend als „Hartz-Reformen“ umgesetzt worden...

We assess the experiences of Eastern European Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in order to deriverecommendations for their Western European counterparts. In particular, six dimensions arediscussed: (1) building a supportive stakeholder environment, (2) defining a marketing strategy, (3)using...

We analyze the link between R&D, innovation, and productivity in MSMEs with a special focus on micro firms with fewer than 10 employees; usually constituting the majority of firms in industrialized economies. Using the German KfW SME panel, we examine to what extent micro firms are different...

Italy has yet to recover from the economic consequences of the financial and sovereign debt crisis that began more than a decade ago. In addition to losing 1.4 million jobs across the manufacturing and construction sectors, new industries driving growth across the EU, such as knowledge-intensive...

Economic convergence is a major aim of the EU. Innovation and investment in economically weaker regions are key steps to foster convergence • Public institutions and the regulatory environment for investments differ substantially across EU member states and increase economic disparities •...

Private businesses’ nominal value added in Greece has fallen by 38 percent over the last ten years. Micro firms were hit particularly hard. Despite efforts to stabilize the macroeconomic environment, there are only weak signs of recovery. Future prospects are not much better, as—with the...

A rich literature links knowledge inputs with innovative outputs. However, most of what is known is restricted to manufacturing. This paper analyzes whether the three aspects involving innovative activity - R&D; innovative output; and productivity - hold for knowledge intensive services....

A rich literature links knowledge inputs with innovative outputs. However, most of what is known is restricted to manufacturing. This paper analyzes whether the three aspects involving innovative activity - R&D; innovative output; and productivity - hold for knowledge intensive services....