The improvement of housing conditions in post com-munist Germany – Market Mechanisms and Subsidy Impacts

The objective of this paper is to explain the mechanisms that have lead to the remarkable improvement of the East German Housing Market during transition after the political change in 1989 and the reunification of Germany in 1990. Theoretical analysis suggests, that housing policy of the former GDR did not maximize consumer`s utility. Socialistic housing and construction policy limited the welfare with and distorted construction costs and rent control. The reason for that was not alone a lack of quantity but also a lack of quality and diversity. Therefore we argue that diversification of quality and te-nure in the post communist era enhanced the welfare of consumers. We propose that welfare on the East German Housing market was significantly increased by creating a new variety of housing types and qualities which fits better with different preferences of the households. A filtering model predicts theoretically the observable trends of seg-mentation and the development of a higher diversity of housing market segments. But additionally to the transition a bunch of subsidies were set up during transition. There-fore the paper is focused on the interdependency between housing market subsidies, the supply cost function, the qualitative development of the housing stock and the choice of demand. Empirically we observe the change and qualitative improvement of housing conditions in East Germany during transition and quantitative effects like increased vacancy risk in a shifted hierarchy of housing qualities.

What Happened to the East German Housing Market? – A Historical Perspective on the Role of Public Funding –

The paper analyses the development of the East German housing market after the reunification of the former German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990. We analyse the dynamics of the East German housing market within the framework of the well-known stock-flow model, proposed by DiPasquale and Wheaton. We show that the today observable disequilibrium to a large extend is caused by post-unification housing policy and its strong fiscal incentives to invest into the housing stock. Moreover, in line with the stylized empirical facts, we show that ‘hidden reserves’ of the housing market were reactivated since the economy of East Germany became market organized. Since initial undersupply was overcome faster than politicians expected, the implemented fiscal stimuli were too strong. In contrast to the widespread opinion that outward migration caused the observable vacancies, this paper shows that not weakness of demand but supply side policies caused the observable disequilibrium.housing market transition, housing subsidies, housing supply, east germany

„Stadtumbau Ost“ in Sachsen: Differenzierterer Einsatz der Aufwertungsförderung notwendig!

Currently, the political discussion of urban renewal in East Germany focuses more and more on new strategies to solve the problems of urban decline and vacancies on the housing market. Since 2001, the demolition of housing has been subsidized with approximately one billion Euros. Critics of this strategy argue that the continuation of demolition leads to a fragmentation of cities and a loss of urban functions. Therefore, they suggest to focus more on revitalization of residential quarters and to allocate more subsidies to improve neighbourhoods as well as residential amenities to lower housing vacancies. This article argues that on the one hand, the overall housing vacancy-rates cannot be lowered with the current instruments of urban revitalization. Even though, there is a chance to attract citizens from the periphery of cities. This means to redistribute housing vacancies instead of an overall reduction. On the other hand, this strategy needs to be clearly focused on selected cities in which a potential of immigration exists. However, empirical results from Saxony suggest a different picture: The allocation of subsidies for urban revitalization shows no identifiable pattern. Therefore, the author proposes to refocus the policy of urban redevelopment.

Im Fokus: Der lange Weg zur Energieeffizienz von Immobilien – Ergebnisse des ista-IWH-Energieeffizienzindex

Die Diskussion um eine effektive Politik zur Minderung des CO2-Ausstoßes konzentriert sich schon seit geraumer Zeit auf private Haushalte, deren Energiebedarf ungefähr 25,7% des gesamten Verbrauchs Deutschlands ausmacht. Davon entfallen rund 72% auf Raumwärme, was insbesondere eine Politik für mehr Energieeffizienz im Immobilienbestand nahelegt. Diese hat seit Ende des vergangenen Jahrhunderts auch eine politisch deutlich höhere Wertschätzung erfahren. Zahlreiche Initiativen und Fördermöglichkeiten waren seither darauf angelegt, neben den bestehenden baurechtlichen Regelungen für eine Verbesserung energetischer Standards von Immobilien zu sorgen. Tatsächlich sprechen verschiedene Kennzahlen für einen sinkenden Energieverbrauch privater Haushalte, insbesondere bei der Heizenergie. Der vorliegende Beitrag präsentiert in diesem Zusammenhang neue Erkenntnisse hinsichtlich regionaler Entwicklungen des Heizenergiebedarfs von Mehrfamilienhäusern.

Energieeffizienz im Altbau: Werden die Sanierungspotenziale überschätzt? Ergebnisse auf Grundlage des ista-IWH-Energieeffizienzindex

A core element of the European Climate Protection Policy is the reduction of Energy usage in private households. Legal instruments focus particularly on private multifamily housing. When refurbishing or building a new home, the German regulation for energy saving in buildings and building systems, Energieeinsparverordnung (EnEV 2009), thereby formulates relatively strict standards on energy conservation. But these standards mainly address the technical potentials of energy efficiency gains instead of considering market conditions and different types of housing, especially their age. Theory suggests that legal settings therefore retain owners to refurbish their homes, when returns on investment are negative, especially in regions where market conditions do not allow for higher rents or the costs of refurbishment are too high. The article presents evidence for these theoretical considerations: based on a large scale sample provided by the company ista Germany, it can be shown, that energy usage differs by the age of dwellings and by the standard of refurbishment. Data suggests that the assumed potentials of energy conservation, which are mainly motivated by technical considerations, are too high. The differences may be a result of different cost functions of refurbishment. Further evidence for this finding is provided by architectural considerations. As a result, the article suggests to legally distinguishing between different types of housing and to consider market conditions, when providing public funding for energy efficiency. It is suggested to implement a two multidimensional strategy, considering climate protection, urban development issues and the rationality of real estate investors.

Regional Entrepreneurial Opportunities in the Biotech Industry: Exploring the Transition from Award-winning Nascent Entrepreneurs to Real Start-ups

Knowledge of factors that determine the transition from nascent entrepreneurship into real entrepreneurship is of major importance for policies aiming to effectively stimulate start-ups. Whereas scholars concentrated on person-specific factors to explain transition probabilities, environmental characteristics have been fairly neglected. Given that entrepreneurship is a strongly localized phenomenon, this paper argues that regional entrepreneurial opportunities are a driving force behind the transition from nascent entrepreneurship to new venture creation. Based on unique data on 103 nascent entrepreneurs in the German biotechnology industry, we empirically assess the importance of regional entrepreneurial opportunities on transition probabilities. Further, we introduce a new approach to measure nascent entrepreneurship by capturing individuals that actively participate in start-up competitions and have won at least one competition. Controlling for technology and individual characteristics, we find strong support for our hypotheses relating to the significant impact of general regional opportunities, specific regional opportunities and the entrepreneurial environment for the probability of transition from award-winning nascent entrepreneurs to real start-ups.nascent entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial opportunities, start-ups, regional environment, biotechnology, R&D

Sharing Competences: The Impact of Local Institutional Settings on Voter Turnout

Institutions are common predictors of voter turnout. Most research in this field focuses on cross-country comparisons of voting systems, like the impact of compulsory voting or registration systems. Fewer efforts have been devoted to understand the role of local institutions and their impact on political participation. Especially the impact of divided competences in relation to public good provision and its impact on voter turnout has been widely ignored. In the present paper, we analyze the effects of different institutional settings for inter-municipal cooperation on voter turnout. We use data from local elections in Germany, held in 2003 and 2004. Overall, we analyze aggregate voter turnout of 1661 municipalities and find strong evidence for our hypothesis that local institutional settings are influential in this context. Further, our results indicate that the better competences correspond to the spatial dimension of local public goods, the higher should be the voter turnout.voter turnout, local institutions, inter-municipal cooperation

Samspillet mellem matematik og de andre fag i gymnasieskolen:Matematikfaget og reformen af de ungdomsgymnasiale uddannelser

Som en konsekvens af 2005‑reformen af de ungdomsgymnasiale uddannelser skal elevernevælge mellem de såkaldte studieretningsforløb der giver mulighed for at arbejde i en sammenhængendeperiode på 2 1/2 år med retningens fag. Reformens krav om øget samspil mellem fagene lægger op tilomfattende ændringer af de gymnasiale uddannelsers matematikundervisning. Erfaringerne med enbevidst inddragelse af matematiske kompetencer i andre fag er begrænsede. Det skyldes bl.a. at dermangler såvel en konceptuel ramme som en didaktisk model for samspillet mellem matematik og andrefag samt konkrete og veldokumenterede eksempler på undervisningsforløb med et for både lærere ogelever udbytterigt samspil. I artiklen præsenteres en række positioner vedrørende matematikundervisningensom vi lader spille sammen med en analyse af relevant forskning inden for matematikkensdidaktik der mere eller mindre eksplicit inddrager matematikfagets relationer til andre fag. På baggrund heraf udvikles et koncept for matematiks samspil med andre fag bestående af tværfaglige kompetencersom den konceptuelle ramme og en didaktisk model hvor samspillet opfattes som en iterativ bevægelsemellem (1) horisontal sammenkædning af fagene og (2) vertikal strukturering i fagene. Der gives toeksempler hvor fagoverskridende kompetencer og den didaktiske model er anvendt som et redskab tilat udvikle undervisningsforløb hvor matematik indgår i et tæt samspil med andre fag: (1) matematikog naturfagene og (2) matematik og filosofi. In August 2005 a structural reform was introduced in upper secondary educationin Denmark. The reform implies that students choose among subject packages.An important feature of each package is that the participating subjectsform a coherent program. Issues related to the interplay of mathematics andother subjects are complex and must take into account that didactical problems with the various topics have more consequences than the respective curriculamight suggest. What is needed, is a conceptual frame and a didactical modelfor integrating productive ideas from a variety of theoretical and practical perspectives on the relations between mathematics and other subjects. In the paper a discussion of pedagogical and didactical problems concerningthe interplay between mathematics and other subjects is crystallized into a concept for interdisciplinary instruction. The concept includes interdisciplinary competences as the theoretical frame and a didactical model, where interdisciplinaryinstruction in mathematics and other subjects is considered as aniterative movement between two dimensions, (1) The horizontal linking of thesubjects: Situations from other subjects are embedded in contexts which aremathematized by the students, (2) The vertical structuring in the subjects: The conceptual anchoring of the students’ constructs from the horizontal linking inthe systematic and framework of the involved subjects. Two examples of theuse of the framework for interdisciplinary activities involving mathematics arepresented: (1) Mathematics and science and (2) mathematics and philosophy

Reform kommunaler Verwaltungsstrukturen: Zentralisierung bringt nicht nur Effizienzvorteile

The question whether centralized or decentralized municipal structures are more efficient has been discussed, not only in Germany, for a long time primarily under aspects of law and administrative sciences. In this article, we use an economic approach instead. The prevailing theories on interjurisdictional competition are not conclusive about the cost and welfare effects of centralization. Therefore, using the example of Saxony-Anhalt we investigate empirically if there are any significant differences in expenses or personnel between more centralized municipal governance forms (“Einheitsgemeinden”) or rather decentralized forms (“Verwaltungsgemeinschaften”). Our cross-section analysis for selected municipal activities reveals that both types are very similar in their cost and manning structures. Significant differences can be explained rather by different population densities than by the organizational structure. Considering these results we do not recommend a forced amalgamation of the municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt. Especially, if frustration cost or the political transaction cost, which both rise with centralization, are taken into account.