In an influential paper Mankiw, Romer, and Weil (1992) argue that the evidence on the international disparity in levels of per capita income and rates of growth is consistent with a standard Solow model, once it has been augmented to include human capital as an accumulable factor. In a study on...

Wirtschaftsleistung und Produktivität sind in Deutschland regional sehr unterschiedlich verteilt. Insgesamt ist das Effi zienzniveau in Ballungszentren höher als in ländlichen Gebieten. Das gilt für Ostdeutschland wie für Westdeutschland. Ostdeutschland ist aber deutlich stärker ländlich...

Die Produktivität wächst in vielen Industriestaaten mit abnehmender Rate. Gleichzeitig entwickelt sich die Produktivität zwischen einzelnen Unternehmen auch in eng begrenzten Wirtschaftsbereichen unterschiedlich. Gibt es zwischen diesen beiden Entwicklungen Zusammenhänge? Es zeigt sich, dass...

The paper concentrates on the question whether the low level of productivity in East Germany can be explained by deficits in the stock of human capital. It is shown that figures on ?formal? qualifications yield a too optimistic view on human capital endowments; in fact, the effective stock on...

This paper argues that regional variation in the efficiency of labor allocation among German manufacturing plants plays a critical role in explaining regional disparities in productivity. In fact, we show that over 50% of the East-West productivity gap is associated with a less efficient labor...

This paper studies the effect of financial booms and extreme asset valuations on the relative demand for skills and the wage structure. The substantial rise in wage inequality in the U.S. since the late 1970s has been accompanied by a major expansion of financial services, a series of asset...

Building on the canonical model of skill-biased technical change to incorporate differential effects of technology and international trade on the skill composition of occupations, the paper employs a task-based approach to analyze structural changes in regional employment within a rich...

The paper analyses the recent supply side developments in France, Germany, and Italy by employing a non-parametric approach to estimate potential GDP. The analysis reveals marked heterogeneity among the three countries with regard to the contribution made by labour input. Where similarities can...

Nach dem aus historischer Perspektive außergewöhnlich starken Rückgang des weltweiten Bruttoinlandsprodukts im Jahr 2009 ist eine Diskussion darüber entbrannt, inwieweit die derzeitige Finanzkrise Einfluss auf die mittelfristigen Wachstumsperspektiven einer Volkswirtschaft hat. So war der...

Recent pre-crisis growth accounting exercises attribute strong productivity growth toincreased investments in information and communication technologies (ICT), especiallyduring the mid-1990s. EU-wide stylized facts about a growing US-EU productivity gapare confirmed for Germany, particularly...