Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

That German has a special word – Mittelstand – for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is an indication of their role at the core of the German economy. SMEs – defined as having a workforce of between 50 and 500 –provide more than three quarters of all jobs and eight out of ten vocational training places.

Berthold Busch ·
IW-Trends ·
25 Jul 2017

The Network of Production and Supply Links between British Industries, the EU and Germany

If the British government has its way, when the United Kingdom (UK) withdraws from the European Union (EU), it will also leave the internal market and the customs union. This means that trade between the two economic areas will in future be hobbled by non-tariff trade barriers and, if the worst comes to the worst, by actual tariffs. This may not only mean additional costs for the ultimate consumers, but also affect those companies in the UK and the EU which are linked by value chains.

Christoph Schröder ·
IW-Trends ·
20 Sep 2016

An International Comparison of Industrial Labour Costs

In 2015 labour costs in western German manufacturing industry were 40.90 euros per employee-hour, putting the region sixth out of a total of 44 countries in the IW labour cost comparison. Its labour costs are almost a quarter higher than the average for highly industrialised nations.