Finance, economic development and the transition: the East German case

The role of banks in the transition concerns three issues: the bad loans problem, the role of banks in providing a solution to the problems of corporate governance of privatized enterprises and the access of new enterprises to finance for investment. This paper shows how the combination of early privatization of the banking system plus financial restructuring of enterprises by the Treuhand prevented the development of a 'bad loans' problem in East Germany. The merits of banks as large stakeholders in privatized enterprises has been frequently debated in Eastern Europe. Although the role of banks as owners of non-financial companies in West Germany is frequently exaggerated, there was a widespread public expectation that they would play a considerable role in the restructuring of East German enterprises. We show that their role in acquiring stakes in privatized firms in East Germany has been negligible and suggest reasons for this outcome. East Germany is characterized by a very high level of investment and the second part of the paper investigates how the financial system can affect the relationship between investment and growth. It has been argued that the inefficiencies of both development and commercial banking in the Italian Mezzogiorno have contributed to the failure there of high levels of investment to translate into growth. The efficiency characteristics of development and commercial banking in Southern Italy are contrasted with those in East Germany. Considerable attention is given to the extent of competition in commercial banking and to the delegation by the development banks of screening and monitoring activities to the commercial banks, which characterizes the German system. It is argued that the German banking system which has been transferred to East Germany does not suffer from the inefficiencies found in Italy. Evidence is provided for the convergence of the structure of banking in East and West Germany. Nevertheless, in spite of the extensive access of East German firms to development bank finance, evidence is provided that the financial system does not foster investment in intangibles such as in marketing and in R&D. This has serious consequences for those firms which are not owned by Western firms and hence do not have access to the retained earnings of the owner, nor to the ability of the owner to guarantee loans from the banking system. -- Die Rolle der Banken im Übergangsprozeß in Mittel- und Osteuropa umfaßt vor allem drei Aspekte: das Problem fauler Kredite, ihre Rolle bei der Lösung des corporate governance-Problems privatisierter Unternehmen und das Problem des Zugangs neuer Unternehmen zur Finanzierung ihrer Investitionen. In dem Papier wird dargelegt, wie die Kombination von früher Privatisierung des Bankensystems und der Wiederaufbau einer finanziellen Basis in den Unternehmen durch die Treuhand ein Faule-Kredite-Problem in Ostdeutschland verhinderten. Die Verdienste der Banken als große Anteilseigner in privatisierten Unternehmen sind in Osteuropa viel diskutiert worden. Auch wenn die Rolle der Banken als Eigentümer von Unternehmen in Westdeutschland häufig überschätzt wird, gab es eine verbreitete öffentliche Erwartung, daß die Banken eine bedeutende Rolle bei der Umstrukturierung der ostdeutschen Unternehmen spielen würden. In der Analyse wird gezeigt, daß ihre Rolle bei der Übernahme von Anteilen privatisierter Unternehmen in Ostdeutschland sehr gering ist und es wird versucht, die Gründe für diese Entwicklung darzulegen. In Ostdeutschland herrscht ein hohes Investitionsniveau. Der zweite Teil des Papiers untersucht daher, wie das Finanzsystem die Beziehung zwischen Investitionen und Wachstum beeinflussen kann. Bezogen auf die Entwicklung im Mezzogiorno in Italien wurde häufig argumentiert, Ineffektivitäten der Förder- wie der Geschäftsbanken hätten verhindert, daß ein hohes Investitionsniveau zu Wachstum geführt habe. Die Leistungsmerkmale der Förder- wie der Geschäftsbanken in Süditalien werden mit der Situation in Ostdeutschland kontrastiert. Dabei wird besonderes Augenmerk auf das Ausmaß des Wettbewerbs im Geschäftsbankensektor gelegt sowie auf die Auswahl- und Überwachungsfunktion der Geschäftsbanken, die sie im Auftrag der Förderbanken übernehmen, eine für das deutsche System typische Konstellation. Die Analyse kommt zu dem Schluß, daß das nach Ostdeutschland übertragene westdeutsche Bankensystem nicht an den Ineffektivitäten leidet, wie sie für Italien's Mezzogiorno festzustellen sind. Die Bankenstruktur in Ostdeutschland hat sich schnell derjenigen in Westdeutschland angenähert. Es ist offensichtlich: Auch wenn jedes Unternehmen in Ostdeutschland problemlosen Zugang zu Förderbanken- Krediten hat, bleibt die Kreditwürdigkeit von Investitionen in immaterielle Aktivitäten wie Marketing oder Forschung und Entwicklung wegen mangelnder Realsicherheiten problematisch. Dies hat ernsthafte Auswirkungen für solche Unternehmen, die nicht westdeutschen Unternehmen gehören und die von daher weder auf thesaurierte Gewinne noch auf die Kreditwürdigkeit ihrer Eigentümer zurückgreifen können.

The insect nephrocyte is a podocyte-like cell with a filtration slit diaphragm.

The nephron is the basic structural and functional unit of the vertebrate kidney. It is composed of a glomerulus, the site of ultrafiltration, and a renal tubule, along which the filtrate is modified. Although widely regarded as a vertebrate adaptation, 'nephron-like' features can be found in the excretory systems of many invertebrates, raising the possibility that components of the vertebrate excretory system were inherited from their invertebrate ancestors. Here we show that the insect nephrocyte has remarkable anatomical, molecular and functional similarity to the glomerular podocyte, a cell in the vertebrate kidney that forms the main size-selective barrier as blood is ultrafiltered to make urine. In particular, both cell types possess a specialized filtration diaphragm, known as the slit diaphragm in podocytes or the nephrocyte diaphragm in nephrocytes. We find that fly (Drosophila melanogaster) orthologues of the major constituents of the slit diaphragm, including nephrin, NEPH1 (also known as KIRREL), CD2AP, ZO-1 (TJP1) and podocin, are expressed in the nephrocyte and form a complex of interacting proteins that closely mirrors the vertebrate slit diaphragm complex. Furthermore, we find that the nephrocyte diaphragm is completely lost in flies lacking the orthologues of nephrin or NEPH1-a phenotype resembling loss of the slit diaphragm in the absence of either nephrin (as in human congenital nephrotic syndrome of the Finnish type, NPHS1) or NEPH1. These changes markedly impair filtration function in the nephrocyte. The similarities we describe between invertebrate nephrocytes and vertebrate podocytes provide evidence suggesting that the two cell types are evolutionarily related, and establish the nephrocyte as a simple model in which to study podocyte biology and podocyte-associated diseases.This work was supported by Wellcome Trust grants awarded to H.S. (072441 and 079221, H.W., B.D., H.S.); Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 590) awarded to Elisabeth Knust (F.G.), ARC 1242 (H.W., B.D., H.S., F.G.); MEC grant awarded to M.R-G. (BFU2007-62201, S.P-S., M.R-G.); Fundación Ramón Areces grant to the CBMSO (M.R-G.); EC grant LSHG-CT-2004-511978 to MYORES (M.R-G.); an FPU fellowship from the MEC awarded to A.G-L.Peer reviewe

Evidence of climate change and human impact during the Holocene

The analysis of desert soils near archaeological sites allowed new insights in the environmental and living conditions of the early inhabitants of the Wadi Howar (NW Sudan) and their interactions with their environment. It also provided us with more information about the soil genesis in arid regions. Further studies should concentrate on dating the described indicators of a more humid climate in the eastern Sahara during the Holocene.Begleitende bodenkundliche Studien im Rahmen archäologischer Untersuchungen zur Besiedelungsgeschichte des Nordwest-Sudans im HolozänThe field work was possible within the scope of the Sonderforschungsbereich 389 ACACIA (Arid Climate Adaption and Cultural Innovation in Africa) of the University of Cologne, sub-project A2 »Wadi Howar: Siedlungsraum und Verkehrsweg am Südrand der Libyschen Wüste.« This project owes its funding to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG ).researc

Properties of rf-sputtered indium-tin-oxynitride thin films

Indium-tin-oxide (ITO) and indium-tin-oxynitride (ITON) thin films have been fabricated by rf-sputtering in plasma containing Ar or a mixture of Ar and N-2, respectively. The structural, electrical and optical properties of ITON films were examined and compared with those of ITO films. The microstructure of ITON films was found to be dependent on the nitrogen concentration in the plasma. Increasing the amount of nitrogen in the plasma increased the resistivity and reduced the carrier concentration and mobility of the films. The electrical properties of the ITON films improved after annealing. The absorption edge of the ITON films deposited in pure N-2 plasma was shifted towards higher energies and showed reduced infrared reflectance compared to the respective properties of ITO films. The potential of indium-tin-oxynitride films for use as a transparent conductive material for optoelectronic devices is addressed

Urban sustainability as a political instrument in the Gulf region exemplified by projects in Abu Dhabi

The states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are highly urbanised. The urban areas in the Gulf are nationally and internationally the focal point of economic development and political attention. Gulf cities are under rapid transformation and spaces of social, economic, ecological and political conflicts. While such dynamics gave rise to a differentiated debate on the political and social dimensions of urban sustainability in postindustrialised countries elsewhere, the narrative differs radically for the Gulf region. Urban sustainability in the Gulf will be discussed in this paper along three case-studies from Abu Dhabi that relate to the terminological and practical inception, adoption and transformation of the concept: The selected examples are modern residential neighbourhoods, the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030, and the eco-city model of Masdar. In combination with the general urban planning history of the city, these projects allow to trace the concept of urban sustainability in time and to understand its adoption into the Arabic language and the interrelations of the term to the Gulf regions’ specific political, ideological, and socio-cultural structures. Based on the works of Gunder (2006), Davidson (2010) and Brown (2016) the case studies reflect the concept of sustainability reduced to ‘sustainable development’. As such, it is becoming an ‘empty signifier’ that can be applied or instrumentalised by the ruling elites. This paper argues that the concept of urban sustainability in the Gulf is a foreign ‘import’ that serves in situ as a political instrument controlled by the ruling elites to stabilise the existing hegemonic power structures and to legitimise the political order