A stochastic model of the evolution of the firm population in a regionand industry is developed. This model is used to make predictions about theexpected probability distribution of the firm number in regions and their dynamics.Data on the spatial distribution of firms in Germany is used to...

[...]This paper builds primarily on research on agglomerationeconomies. Much of the empirical work on agglomeration hassought to estimate the effect on productivity of anestablishment’s local environment. The estimation hassometimes involved direct estimates of productivity(Henderson 2003) and...

Das 1962 gegründete Nordiska Afrikainstitutet in Uppsala ist ein Zentrum für Forschung, Dokumentation und Information über das heutige Afrika für die skandinavischen Länder. Es wird von den skandinavischen Ländern gemeinsam finanziert und wird geleitet durch einen Forschungsrat, der aus...

This paper explores the rationale for area targeting and the growth ofnew area-based initiatives. The author examines the geographicalconcentration of deprivation, the extent, and whether there is apolarisation between areas. The evidence confirms that there is a clearrationale for area-based...

Several countries have recently abolished or significantly reduced their taxes on bequests.Bequest taxes, on the other hand, were among the first to be introduced when modernsystems of taxation were developed at the end of the nineteenth century. We propose anexplanation for these facts which is...

Douglass North gehört zu den führenden Sozialwissenschaftlern des 20. Jahrhunderts.Er wurde für seine bahnbrechenden Leistungen auf dem Gebiet der ökonomischenGeschichtstheorie mit dem Nobelpreis ausgezeichnet. Dieser Aufsatz rekonstruiert (a)seine kliometrische Diagnose der Moderne, (b)...

The paper discusses some major lessons to be learnt from the application of bankruptcy law in a post-communist environment. Its focus is on East Central Europe because elsewhere bankruptcy law is of rather limited practical relevance. The incentives and the selection of trustees turn out to be...

The study of predictors of entrepreneurial activity at the country level has been dominated by economic influences. However, the relative stability of differences in entrepreneurial activity across countries suggests that other forces such as institutional and/or cultural factors are at play....

Persistent differences in the level of business ownership across economically developed nations have attracted the attentiion of scientific as well as political debate. Cultural rather than economic influences are assumed to play a decisive role. This paper deals with the influence of cutlural...