It is well-known today that innovation activities of private firms play a significant role for economic growth in less-developed regions. There are many studies on these interrelations and on explaining how regional innovation processes are working and which factors are important for them....

Throughout the literature in regional economics, most authors agree that spatially concentrated industrial activities are important for regional economic growth. Agglomeration economies, which may occur in the context of spatial concentration and "clusters", may lead to lower costs of production...

Public sector activities are often neglected in economic approaches to analyze the driving forces of urban growth and changes in urban hierarchies. One crucial aspect of public sector activities is the institutional status of cities as regional capital. The paper is reporting on a quasi natural...

Abstract Rudolf Hrbek summarizes the arguments for the project of reforming German federalism. He describes the positions adopted at the beginning of the work of the Reform Commission set up in fall 2003 by the federal government and the state governments respectively. The Commission ended with...

In addition to the increasing rigidity of minimum requirements in regulative law, the federal government and the Länder provide a broad range of subsidy programs to force the refurbishment of those parts of a building, that determine the building’s energetic quality-level. In regard of...