Suchergebnisse

The paper investigates the recent trends in privatization by local government organizations in Germany. It comes to the conclusion that the privatization policy has been two-directional: on the one hand, municipalities have reduced their economic activities, mainly by different forms of contracting out; on the other hand, they have expanded them into profitable fields. In many cases they have preferred a phantom privatization: government bodies have only been transferred into a private-law establishment. The paper examines the barriers to privatization and provides a strategy to overcome them.

Economic restructuring in the transition from plan to market concerns the way enterprises try to achieve competitive advantage. Therefore, enterprises have to decide where to compete, that is to say with which product they should enter which markets, and how to compete, that is by which strategy they could succeed. During the seven years since unification, the eastern German economy has undergone considerable structural changes. However, the outcome is a poor market specialization: industries which sell their products mainly in local markets have remarkably increased their share in total output, while industries producing for world-wide markets have lost importance. Sailing into the safe harbour of local markets may be the need of the moment for many companies. But it is a dangerous strategy. In the long run, it may prove to be a trap without any escape. The paper provides a selective and interpretative account of the restructuring process in eastern German manufacturing. It starts with the given constraints - exchange rate and wage convergence - which constitute the wrong model for opening up a closed economy. It presents some stylized facts revealing a strong vertical differentiation between eastern and western German producers - with respect to product quality and product markets as well as with respect to technological and organizational environment. As a result, the division of labour between the eastern German economy and the rest of the world tends to be an inter-industry type rather than an intra-industry one. Finally, the paper turns to the key policy question of how to overcome these difficulties. It scrutinizes the main arguments for and against government's trade promotion towards eastern German enterprises.

The Pearl River Delta is one of the most successful cases of economic re-integration after a long period of separation. Hong Kong's traditional policy of non-interventionism and China's open-door policy have induced a rapid increase in cross-border trade, outward processing and outward investment. The paper focuses on the different modes of integration as well as on the driving forces behind. It argues that small- and medium- sized enterprises have played the pivotal role in the Delta's economic development. Their cross-border operations have been mainly facilitated through two channels: through subcontracting networks among manufacturers and through links with trading houses which are frequently small in size. The paper underlines three main keys to the Delta's economic success: a non-interventionist policy favourable for growth, a pronounced outward orientation in business which consequently exploits complementaries in comparative advantages and, last but not least, the so-called Chinese factor - the special attitudes adopted by local entrepreneurs, their adaptability and flexibility, their work ethics and their common cultural heritage. In some respects, the Pearl River Delta can serve as a model for developing border regions in Central Europe along the former Iron Curtain. Despite their great potential, these regions are integrating only slowly. The paper suggests that border regions after a long period of political and economic division are predestined to become an economic power-house.

The paper analyses the Treuhandanstalt's privatization approach by putting it in a public choice perspective. It comes to the conclusion that the Treuhandanstalt had been very successful in reaching its economic and social targets. Economists might worry that the Treuhandanstalt's operation had accumulated too much waste caused by social considerations. And politicians might lament that its strategy implied that millions of people were ,,outplaced or ,,downsized in the name of privatization. But in terms of the interaction of economics and politics the Treuhandanstalt's performance had not been so far from the optimum.

Das "Ethos des katholischen Unternehmers" - welche Chancen seiner Verwirklichung gibt es im multidependenten Gefüge des modernen Wirtschaftslebens? Eine zentrale Frage, der sich der BKU seit jeher stellt; denn daß "soziale Gerechtigkeit nicht ohne und erst recht nicht gegen die Unternehmerschaft verwirklicht werden kann" (Johannes Paul II.) ist nicht nur päpstliche Wegweisung, sondern gesellschaftliche Realität. Ziel der Arbeit ist es, das über 40jährige Wirken des Bundes Katholischer Unternehmer in Kirche, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft herauszustellen und es auf der Basis der katholischen Soziallehre sowie der wirtschafts- und sozialpolitischen Entwicklungen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland einer kritischen Beurteilung zu unterziehen. In den Blick kommen dabei die zentralen Wirkungsfelder des BKU: die "Dynamische Rente", das Miteigentum am Produktionskapital, betriebliche Mitbestimmung, Familienpolitik, Krankenversicherung, Tarifautonomie u.a.m.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is rightly considered as an engine in transforming Central and East European Countries (CEECs). Without massive inflows of capital, technology and management know-how a sustainable growth is unlikely to happen. Although governments in CEECs make more than air effort to create a favourable climate for FDI, the international investors' community has responded hesitatingly. Only the number of projects have skyrocketed, the amount of capital invested has increased only at a slow pace. Foreign investors are testing the water, but they are not rushing to jump. The paper attempts to provide an overview of the current state and prospects of FDI in CEECs. First, it briefly reviews the theoretical framework for understanding FDI. Then it focuses on the trends and patterns of FDI-flows. Finally, it draws attention to the policy towards FDI.