The German financial system is characterized by lower degrees of penetration by foreign commercial banks and of (bank) disintermedation than, for instance, that of the United States. These differences between the two countries could be attributed to the fact that universal banking in Germany...

Country competitiveness is gaining importance across the world in the face of complex economic challenges. There is a need to revisit factors of competitiveness and evolve better evaluation methods. The linkage between technological and overall country competitiveness has not been sufficiently...