"After years of declining employment and high unemployment, the situation on the East German labour market changed profoundly in the middle of the 2000s. Given the more pronounced demographic change it is expected that in East Germany the recruitment of skilled workers will become more difficult...

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....

We examine job creation and destruction in Eastern and Western Germany for the period of 1999 to 2004, using a large dataset, which enables us to capture clearly entries and exits. There are pronounced differences between the two parts of Germany in terms of magnitude and composition of gross...

EU enlargement offers significant welfare gains to old and new member states. However, these welfare gains do not come automatically but have to be earned by appropriate adjustments in domestic policies. This is particularly relevant for Germany's New Laender, which could benefit from the...

This paper investigates the potential for a further increase in trade between the fifteen old EU members and the twelve new countries having joined in 2004 and 2007 that results from a convergence of the new members' institutions towards the level of the EU-15 in accordance with the Acquis...

Between East and West German plants there are still large differences in export behaviour in spite of the continuous adjustment process. Based on the IAB establishment register from 2001 to 2010, this paper investigates which plant characteristics determine the decision to export and the export...

In East Germany a profound demographic change has been taking place that manifests itself in the shrinkage and the aging of the population. One major cause is the drop in the East German fertility rates by about half directly after the reunification of Germany in 1990. In no other countries of...

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...

"We analyze the relation between population aging and the decline of unemployment in East Germany for the years from 1996 to 2012. To this we scrutinize both a direct and an indirect effect of aging on unemployment. The direct effect includes a decomposition of the East German unemployment rate...