Several theoretical approaches to explaining economic growth focus on externalities arising from interactions between economic agents. A frequently discussed source of such externalities is regional diversity of the industry structure. A large number of empirical studies support the argument...

This paper deals with the question whether firms' employment performance in the periods preceding their exit can be regarded as casting a 'Shadow of Death' on their final leaving the market. This aspect is of high relevance for politicians and other decision-makers, because by knowing more about...

The present paper analyses whether and how the affiliation of a firm to a business group affects its productivity. Based on novel data consisting of official firm data from the German Business Register including ownership information from Bureau van Dijk's MARKUS database and from the Cost...

The question whether agglomeration effects are of importance for regional development has a long tradition in regional science. This paper asks if regional characteristics and specifically ag-glomeration effects influence the performance of plants in Germany and, if so, in which direction....

This paper assesses the extent to which cooperation impacts innovation performance of firms in rural regions characterized by a solid economic performance despite a low-technology industrial structure. Particular emphasis is placed on the spatial and functional dimension of cooperation. Generic...

Empirical research on agglomeration and regional economic growth puts high emphasis on the impact of specialization, diversity, and competition on regional employment dynamics (Glaeser et al. 1992, Henderson et al. 1995, Blien et al. 2006, Fuchs 2009). However, Beugelsdijk (2006) and Raspe/van...

This study analyzes empirically the effects of import competition on firm productivity (TFPQ) using administrative firm-level panel data from German manufacturing. We find that only import competition from high-income countries is associated with positive incentives for firms to invest in...

Several empirical studies showed that it is not the level of entrepreneurial activity itself, but the (long-term) survival and growth of new firms that determine the direct and indirect contribution of new businesses to regional employment. To this end, the aim of this paper is to analyze the...