Suchergebnisse

Der deutsche Vereinigungsprozess wird aus verschiedenen Perspektiven unterschiedlich beurteilt. Die Darstellungen reichen von kaum vorstellbaren Erfolgen bis bin zu einer Traumatisierung der Bevölkerung der östlichen Bundesländer. Sechs Thesen sollen die gesellschaftliche und wirtschaftliche Transformation im Zuge der deutschen Vereinigung verdeutlichen. ; This article outlines the political events related to German unification on the occasion of its 30th anniversary. The revolutionary upheaval of 1989-90 led to the formulation of common economic and social models in the former Eastern bloc countries. The implementation of these transformation goals proved difficult in former socialist countries and met with little success. It became apparent that the political challenges of transforming centrally planned socialist economies into market economies governed by the rule of law were largely underestimated by politicians. In East Germany, the Treuhandanstalt (privatisation agency) made an indispensable, albeit highly conflictual, contribution to solving this problem. The economic and social transformation of East Germany took place with its accession to the German Constitution. The fall of the 'Iron Curtain' gave the process of globalisation a considerable acceleration, which in turn made strengthening competitiveness a growing challenge for German politics.

Das Ruhrgebiet ist seit den 1980er Jahren Zielregion regionaler Fördermaßnahmen von Land, Bund und EU. Bis heute hat die Regionalpolitik allerdings keine Trendwende bewirkt. Die multizentrische Region nahm nicht am Aufschwung der urbanen Räume seit der Jahrtausendwende teil; sie verlor Einwohner und fällt in der Wirtschaftskraft hinter den anderen großen Agglomerationen des Landes zurück. Mit 16 % industriellem Wertschöpfungsanteil liegt die ehemals führende Industrieregion erheblich unter dem deutschen Durchschnitt, ohne dass sich moderne Dienstleistungen bisher zu einem alternativen Wachstumstreiber entwickelt hätten. ; The Ruhr Area is Germany's biggest agglomeration with more than five million inhabitants. Its ongoing structural problems with high unemployment and sluggish growth are therefore not only a burden on the state of North Rhine Westphalia, but for the country as a whole. The multicentre region did not participate in the boom of German urban regions, which started in 2000; instead it has continued to lose inhabitants until the immigration surge in 2015. The region's economy is not as strong as the German average, which holds also for its value added in manufacturing, despite being the former industrial powerhouse of Germany. While the Ruhr Area was still prosperous in the 1960s after the first coal mining crisis (and therefore was not entitled to regional subsidies), it became a target region for federal support in the 1980s. But even 30 years later, regional policy wasn't able to bring about more dynamic change.

Regionalpolitik wurde lange Zeit wenig beachtet. Zurzeit weisen ihr jedoch viele eine hohe Bedeutung zu, weil regionale wirtschaftliche Unterschiede für gesellschaftliche Probleme verantwortlich gemacht werden. Daher hat die Bundesregierung im Herbst 2018 die Kommission "Gleichwertige Lebensverhältnisse" einberufen. Die genauere Betrachtung der Regionalpolitik erweist sich als vielschichtig, wobei die Forderung nach der Regionalisierung der Regionalpolitik verbindend bleibt. Zentral ist die Ertüchtigung der Kommunalfinanzen. ; For a long time regional policy has received little attention. At present, however, this has changed because regional economic differences are blamed for societal problems. For this reason, the Federal Government convened a joint political and expert commission, "Equivalent Living Conditions" in autumn 2018. A closer look at the multi-layered regional policy proves to be a disappointing historical experience in Germany. The traditional demand for regional policy remains binding. Upgrading municipal finances is central to the discussion.

Die unterschiedliche Wirtschaftskraft und Entwicklung von Städten und ländlichen Räumen steht derzeit im Mittelpunkt vieler ökonomischer Diskussionen. Aus diesem Kontext wird zumeist eine strukturelle finanzielle Benachteiligung ländlicher Räume abgeleitet. Die Autoren untersuchen, inwieweit sich wirtschaftliche Potenz auch in den kommunalen Steuereinnahmen widerspiegelt. Inwiefern generiert die Hebe satzpolitik der kreisfreien Städte tatsächlich Mehreinnahmen und welche Implikationen ergeben sich daraus für bestehende Verteilungskonflikte auf kommunaler Ebene?

Die räumlichen Ungleichheiten in Deutschland und ihre politischen Auswirkungen haben die öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit wieder verstärkt auf die Gleichwertigkeit der Lebensverhältnisse gelenkt. Nachdem in den letzten Jahrzehnten der 'Aufbau Ost' ein zentraler Schwerpunkt war, öffnet sich nunmehr eine gesamtdeutsche Diskussion, die auch die Abkoppelung finanzschwacher Städte in Westdeutschland einschließt. Damit gewinnt die fiskalische Seite der Gleichwertigkeit an Bedeutung. ; The spatial inequalities in Germany have once again drawn public attention to the equivalence of living conditions. While the 'reconstruction of the East' has been a central focus over the last few decades, a Germany-wide discussion is now evolving that also includes the decoupling of financially weak cities in West Germany. This means that the fiscal side of equivalence is gaining in importance. In addition to state aid for heavily indebted municipalities, the mix of tools used to address problems should also include financial relief in the social sector.

In Deutschland bestehen regional große Unterschiede. Neben dem Ost-West-Gefälle ist auch ein Nord-Süd-Gefälle zu beobachten. Das Grundgesetz fordert von der Politik, gleichwertige Lebensverhältnisse herzustellen. Im Koalitionsvertrag für die 19. Legislaturperiode wird dieses Ziel sowie die Entwicklung eines gesamtdeutschen Fördersystems für strukturschwache Regionen explizit aufgenommen. Für die Erreichung dieses Zieles kommt der Bund-Länder-Gemeinschaftsaufgabe 'Verbesserung der regionalen Wirtschaftsstruktur' im Rahmen einer regelgebundenen Regionalpolitik eine zentrale Rolle zu. ; There are large regional differences in Germany. In addition to the west-east gradient, a north-south gradient can also be observed. The German basic law (Grundgesetz) requires politicians to create equal living conditions. The coalition agreement for the 19th legislative period explicitly includes this goal as well as the development of a Germany-wide support system for structurally weak regions. In order to achieve these goals, the joint Federal (Länder) task of 'improving the regional economic structure' within the framework of a rule-based regional policy is of central importance.

Maßnahmen zugunsten von Regionen mit Entwicklungsrückstand sind oft nur dann erfolgreich, wenn eine Region bereits mit einigen notwendigen "Zutaten" für Wachstum ausgestattet ist - Geschichte zählt! Es wäre sinnvoller, ärmere Regionen und Kommunen in die Lage zu versetzen, eigene Strategien für den Aufholprozess zu entwickeln und umzusetzen, als dies zentral zu verordnen. Verschiedene Maßnahmen zur Unterstützung solcher dezentralen Prozesse werden aufgezeigt. ; Although there are good reasons to support metropolitan areas with strong economies, this article focuses on measures that favour regions that lag behind. After a short description of a wide range of regional policy measures in Germany, the article focuses on traditional assistance to poorer regions. These measures are often only successful if a region is already equipped with some necessary "ingredients" for growth. It may be better to enable the poorer regions and local units to develop and implement their own strategies for catching up. The decentralization processes is discussed.

Die Bedeutung von Städten wächst. Vor diesem Hintergrund analysieren die Autoren die Entwicklung der 30 größten Städte Deutschlands seit 2010. Basis der Untersuchung ist das HWWI/Berenberg-Städteranking, mithilfe dessen gezeigt wird, dass sich die untersuchten Städte in den letzten Jahren auf langfristigen Pfaden in relativ stabilen Gleichgewichten fortbewegten. Offenbar wirken sich wirtschaftspolitische Entscheidungen nur langsam und mit großer zeitlicher Verzögerung auf die Entwicklung von Städten aus. ; The dynamics of cities is subject to structural path dependence. The authors demonstrate - using the HWWI/Berenberg Städteranking - that the socio economic development of most German cities is relatively constant in time. This has consequences for regional politics since structural changes depend on long-term planning, and therefore the results of political decisions can be observed only with a delay.

The Protocol for Socially Responsible Territory is the result of a local sustainability management experience, which has demonstrated the importance of public administration in social innovation. This article describes the process through which such protocol was obtained, its characteristics and its principles as well as the strengths that this protocol offers. The definition of Socially Responsible Territory (TSR) is presented as a contribution to the theoretical development of a new research area, whose prospects are favored by the potential practical effects on public and corporate alliances locally. This protocol offers competitive advantages to governments who are preparing to seize the opportunities from the Europe 2020 Strategy for Growth.

"Urbanization and Decentralization: The changing urban-rural linkages and opportunities of decentralization of services" Joachim von Braun, Center for Development Research (ZEF) University of Bonn, Germany This paper explores the relations between urbanization and decentralization. Ever stronger linkages between urban and rural areas represent a challenge for sustainable development. Until now, the widespread view in the economic policy and research, categorizing "rural" as more "remote farming areas" and urban as "crowded cities", has led to their separate treatment, missing important sustainability footprints and poverty-reducing inter-linkages between them. The reality is different. In fact, the farming areas (the very rural) and the megacities (the very urban) co-evolve along a continuum with multiple types of flows and interactions. These dynamics are bringing the two spaces ever closer in space and livelihood patterns, leading to the loss of traditional distinctions between them. This gives an important potential role to decentralization of government, and decentralization of services in particular. Decentralization is an instrument for efficient and participatory governance. It has emerged as one of the most important governance reforms in recent history: Approximately 80 percent of all developing and transition countries have implemented this reform in past three decades. Based on a systematic review of country experiences this paper highlights the need for new attention to the spatial dimensions of development and to urban-rural linkages for sustainable development and reviews the evidence of synergies and pitfalls between urbanization and decentralization with concepts of economic geography, and institutional economics. There is evidence that the poorer segments of societies often do not benefit as much from decentralization as the better-off, and in some cases, decentralization even makes matters worse for them. An important reason for this mixed experience is the fact that the impact of decentralization on poverty depends on design- and context-specific factors. Institutional arrangements that work in one situation may not be appropriate for another, which has led to the appeal to move "from best practice to good fit." Against this context, this paper addresses the specific question: how to guide urban-rural linkages toward sustainable development. Strong linkages enhance people's welfare and growth because they facilitate the flow of resources to where they have the largest net economic and social benefits. However, such linkages cannot be taken for granted in development; they must be optimally invested in to help reduce transaction costs related to the linkages of diverse types and stimulate positive externalities and spillover effects. Urban-rural linkages need more policy attention, which requires that adequate institutional and organizational structures be put in place, necessitating appropriate coordination mechanisms between central and local governments.

Despite the process of economic integration, recently we have been witnessing divergence of regions in their economic performance and development, resulting in considerable differences income, employment and welfare. This is neither socially nor politically desirable. Markets, like the labour market, which are relatively rigid, are seen as an obstacle for economic convergence. We suspect that divergence is also caused by other factors. All kind of intangibles, such as the legal structure, the public administration can lead to comparative dis- / advantages. These intangibles are part of the institutional setting of a region and have public good characteristics. In this paper we analyse the effects of differences in institutional setting in the process of economic integration. The paper is organized as follows. First, in section 2, we introduce the model we use to analyse the integration process. We use an OLG model with a log?linear utility and production function. The production function is a neo-classical production function with public capital, private capital and labour, characterized by diminishing returns to scale for public, private capital and labour. Public capital exhibits positive externalities. Both public and private capital is fully depreciated during its period of use. In section 3 we look at the economic development of the regions separately, the autarchy case. Different institutional settings, results in difference productivity and different economic development of the regions. In section 4 we introduce economic integration, and assume mobility of private capital, labour, but immobility of public capital. Labour commutes; if the wage rate in the other region is higher, but workers will spend their income in their resident region. In section 5 the effects of integration are analysed. Integration increases overall efficiency and the overall economic development of the two regions. However capital moves from the less productive region to the more productive one, resulting from a difference in return on private capital. As a result, return on private capital decreases for the more productive region together with return on public capital, but output increases. For the less productive region the reverse happens: return on private and public capital increases but output decreases. This arbitrage process continues until the private returns on capital between the two regions equalize. Integration leads to divergence in the economic development of the two regions compared with the autarchy situation. There is no incentive for the losing region to co-operate.