The question whether international openness causes higher domestic growth has been subject to intense discussions in the empirical growth literature. This paper addresses this issue using the fall of the Berlin wall in 1990 as a natural experiment. We analyze whether the slow-down in convergence...

We investigate to what extent convergence in production levels per worker has been achieved in Germany since unification. To this end, we model the distribution of GDP per employee across German districts using two-component normal mixtures. While in the first year after unification, the two...

Das Angebot an Akademikern hat eine große Bedeutung für die regionalen Wachstumsperspektiven in Deutschland. Aufgrund des demografischen Wandels wird in den kommenden 15 Jahren mit einer deutlichen Zunahme des demografischen Ersatzbedarfs an Akademikern gerechnet. Die zu erwartende Anzahl an...

Die deutsche Vereinigung brachte für die Menschen das Versprechen einer baldigen Angleichung der Lebensverhältnisse zwischen Ost- und Westdeutschland. Zwar wurde recht schnell deutlich, dass gleiche (materielle) Lebensverhältnisse bestenfalls langfristig erreichbar sein würden; gleichwohl...

Since the beginning of the transformation of East Germany from a socialist planned economy to a market economy, there has been an ambitious political goal of fostering entrepreneurial activity in that part of the country. One of the most-hoped for results of this undertaking is the anticipated...

We analyse the convergence and heterogeneity of living standards between East and West Germany since unification. Based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), we compare total individual income of permanent adult residents, including retirees and the unemployed, of East and West...