DIW Econ has examined the economic significance of the gypsum industry in the southern Harz region. The study, commissioned by the Bundesverband der Gipsindustrie e.V. (Federal Association of the Gypsum Industry), concludes that the three locations of the companies CASEA GmbH (Ellrich), Knauf Deutsche Gipswerke KG (Rottleberode) and Saint-Gobain Formula GmbH (Walkenried) provided a gross value added of more than 92 million euros as well as more than 1,300 jobs in the Southern Harz region in 2014.
SME Survey 2015
Companies rate the business climate with the best value since 2005!
The SME survey 2015 was conducted from August to September on behalf of Berliner Sparkasse / Landesbank Berlin. The responses of almost 1,000 representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises from the region were evaluated and led to the result that the economic situation and future prospects in the Berlin and Brandenburg region continue to be optimistic from a business perspective.
The East German economy is too fragmented
DIW Weekly Report 82 (2015), 35, pp. 764-772
Almost 25 years after reunification, the East German economy has not yet caught up with the West German economy. Compared to West Germany, the per capita economic output of the East German Länder reached only slightly more than 70 per cent in 2013. Even in the short or medium term, the new federal states will not catch up with the west German level because their growth dynamics are too low.
The fragmented nature of the East German economy
The lack of larger business units is often cited as one of the reasons for lower growth dynamics in eastern Germany. For example, large companies are often more productive than average, important for a region’s innovation performance, pay above-average wages and are significantly better able than small companies to tap into international markets. They are also important anchor points for the development of clusters and regional value chains.
University as an economic factor in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
The Landeshochschulkonferenz Hamburg has commissioned DIW Econ to study the economic factor of higher education in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
In 2013, the six higher education institutions under consideration generated a gross value added of 1,356 million euros and an employment effect of 22,634 employees (including affiliated companies). This corresponds to a share of 1.4 % of Hamburg’s economic output. These figures underline the importance of the universities for Hamburg’s economy.