This paper examines the financing structure of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) inGermany and questions whether an equity gap – or, more generally, a financing gap - exists.Reviewing the literature and available data sources, we find that financing constraints seem toaffect, if at...

Innovations in the finance industry are an important tool to enhance profitability and to increase anation's wealth. It, therefore, is not astonishing that there is much empirical work on innovations infinance. Most of the work however is concerned with the design of innovative products. The...

SMEs play a crucial role for European economies. The numbers show the high importance ofSMEs for national economies. Accordingly, it is no surprise that the regulatory frameworkSMEs are imbedded in is the subject of an important political discussion. In the discussion itis frequently mentioned...

The working report looks at the actual situation of the German water market, the only infrastructuremarket the EU has not encouraged to deregulate until now. Especially importantfactors are the environmental relevance of the water market and the importance of water as afood. At the moment,...