Die deutsche Wirtschaft ist im Jahr 2012 nur schwach gewachsen. Das Bruttoinlandsprodukt (BIP) stieg im Jahresdurchschnitt um 0,7 %, im Jahresverlauf sogar nur 0,4 %. Die Aussichten für den Prognosezeitraum sind verhalten optimistisch. Die Weltkonjunktur wird sich vorerst nur allmählich...

The German economy achieved only a weak growth performance in 2012. GDP grew by 0.7 % on annual averages and by just 0.4 % over the course of the year. The prospects during the forecast period are mildly optimistic. The global economy will initially pick up only slowly, but the growth dynamic is...

This paper provides a survey of the effects of market competition in the transition economies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The pivotal element of the transition was inter-firm competition, which replaced economic planning as the method to identify demand. Pro-competitive policies that...

The empirical literature on mergers, market power and collusion in differentiated markets has mainly focused on methods relying on output and/or panel data. In contrast to this literature we suggest a novel approach that allows for the detection of collusive behaviour among a group of firms...

Mit dem seit 2013 gültigen Fiskalpakt und seiner Umsetzung hat die Politik in der EU wesentliche Forderungen der ideologischen Hauptgegner des Europäischen Sozialmodells, der "Schule von Chicago", übernommen. Erstens wird mit dem Pakt die Fiskalpolitik noch enger an Regeln gebunden,...

It is frequently claimed that high levels of generalised trust are conducive for economic reforms. In contrast, the "traditional view" on institutional and political constraints on the executive (IPCE) postulates that high IPCE tend to paralyse the decision-making process, thus blocking required...

Recent research has shown that the degree to which people feel they are in control of their lives is an important correlate of individual happiness, where those that feel more in control are also found to be systematically happier. In turn, the economic sources of perceived life control are only...

The promotion of Inland Waterway Transport (IWT) is one of the political priorities of the "European Union Strategy for the Danube Region". A growing share of IWT within the regional freight transport market is expected to raise the sustainability of the transport system and provide beneficial...

The mitigation of (anthropogenic) climate change requires an extensive decarbonisation of production and consumption activities and thus a major transformation of societal processes and energy systems. In order to monitor and evaluate the transformation path en route to the long-term climate and...

The prevailing view in the banking industry is that increased bank capital requirements drag down bank lending. This is because capital is assumed to impose higher funding costs on banks than debts. The leading scholarly view in finance maintains the contrary. We are able to present...