Innovation, Entrepreneurship und Demographie

The German economy is highly specialized in incremental innovations. A number of high-technology industries have established themselves in Germany only slowly over the last decades. Innovation policy has tried to support the startup of high technology enterprises, e.g., by improvements for certain types of finance, incentives for founders and the reform of technology commercialization at universities. However, these measures have been counteracted by the German tax system which affects innovation adversely in some parts. Moreover, the emerging shifts in the age structure of the German population could affect innovation incentives and entrepreneurship negatively. Another important demographic aspect is the dominance of men in science and technology. Stronger participation by women in male-dominated scientific and technical professions could compensate partially for the effects of changes in the age structure. Copyright 2008 der Autor Journal compilation 2008, Verein für Socialpolitik und Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

INTERNATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM: THE NEED FOR COMPREHENSIVE MICRO-COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Microcomparison, or single-component analysis, of health care systems offers a potentially better basis for reform than traditional macrocomparison analysis of aggregate elements. Using macroanalysis, available evidence shows that Germany provides cheaper but more effective hospital care than the United States. To find the causes for this outcome, we developed a microanalytic model of hospital administrators' perceptions, financial ratios, medical outcomes, and pharmaceutical costs. However, only data on pharmaceutical costs were available and similar in both countries. Our significant outcome was development of a microcomparative model that gives world medical care providers new criteria for analyzing and improving cost to care rafios. Copyright 2000 by The Policy Studies Organization.