- A-Z
- Jena Economic Resea...
- Volume 4
- How Long Does it Ta...
- Autor(in)
- Erschienen
- 17. März 2010
- Nummer des Discussion-Papers
-
2010-015
- Schlagwort(e)
-
Entrepreneurship
Germany
regional convergence
regional development
self-employment
transition
- Zusammenfsg.
-
Since the beginning of the transformation of East Germany from a socialist planned economy to a market economy, there has been an ambitious political goal of fostering entrepreneurial activity in that part of the country. One of the most-hoped for results of this undertaking is the anticipated contribution of small and new firms to solving the economic, social, and political problems of East Germany, thereby narrowing the gap between East and West Germany. This paper uses panel data from 1992 to 2005 on 97 German regions to analyze recent convergence in self-employment rates. An astonishing catching-up process is observed for East German regions during the period under study. However, the general convergence between East and West Germany observed during the first years after reunification has not been maintained. In short, some East German regions have achieved convergence with West German self-employment rates and some have not.
- article pub. typess JER
- Research article
- article languages JER
- Englisch
- JEL-Classification for JER
- L26 - Entrepreneurship ; M13 - New Firms; Startups ; O1 - Economic Development; O18 - Regional, Urban, and Rural Analyses ; O47 - Measurement of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence ; R11 - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, and Changes