Why East Germany Did Not Become a New Mezzogiorno

Economic integration is generally thought to favour convergence in the economic performance of previously separated regions; but this is far from universally true, as the experience of the members of the Eurozone testifies. The paper considers the two sharply contrasting cases of East and West German convergence following reunification and the enduring poverty of the Italian Mezzogiorno since Italian unification a century and a half ago. In both countries, political integration delivers much higher consumption in the lagging relative to the leading region than of per capita GDP. Consumption convergence can be supported by transfers but ‘production’ convergence ultimately requires catch-up in the production of tradeables. The paper demonstrates the radically different performance of the tradeable sector in the two cases, and suggests that this may be the result of differences in labour market flexibility, in investment performance and in the social norms required for the production of complex manufacturing

Effect of tape stripping and adjuvants on immune response after intradermal DNA electroporation

PURPOSE: DNA vaccines require both efficient delivery methods and appropriate adjuvants. Based on their mechanisms of action, we hypothesised that some adjuvants could enhance vaccine immunogenicity or direct the response towards Th1 profile after intradermal DNA electroporation. METHODS: After intradermal electroporation of plasmid DNA encoding luciferase, mice received hyaluronidase, imiquimod, monophosphoryl lipid A or were tape stripped in order to modulate the immune response against the encoded protein. We measured total immunoglobulin G, IgG1, IgG2a titres and the cytokines produced by splenocyte cultures to assess both humoral and cellular response. The effect of tape stripping on the response against intradermally delivered ovalbumin protein was also assessed. RESULTS: Neither hyaluronidase nor imiquimod improved the immune response against the encoded luciferase. Monophosphoryl lipid A did not modify the cytokines production but increased the anti-luciferase IgG2a titres. Tape stripping significantly increased anti-luciferase IgG2a and IFN-gamma responses. It also enhanced the humoral response after intradermal injection of the ovalbumin protein. CONCLUSIONS: Tape stripping is able to increase the Th1 immune response against both DNA and protein vaccines. Therefore, tape stripping appears to have interesting adjuvant effect on intradermal vaccination