The consolidation in the German banking sector will continue in the future. Especially German savings banks and mutual savings banks will close additional branches. On the contrary, foreign private banks will…
During the past months, the oil price reached new weekly record highs. For the coming six months, the situation in the crude oil market is going to stabilise, while a further price increase in natural gas is…
For around three quarters of the people in Germany saving for building purposes, the public promotion of savings dedicated to homeownership (the so-called Bausparen) through housing bonuses is a major reason…
Driven by the good economic situation, German companies have increasingly invested in innovation. In 2006, the innovation expenditures of the German economy saw a strong six per cent growth and amounted to…
Competition for customers has not only increased during the past two years but will also toughen in the future. These are the findings of a recent survey by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW),…
According to the assessment of leading financial experts from 18 banks, surveyed by ZEW on a quarterly basis, interest rates in the euro zone will slightly fall during the coming months. No significant changes…
Mergers and acquisitions not only increase concentration in product markets and therefore reduce competition to the detriment of consumers, they also result in a bundling of important technologies of corporate…
For the leading indexes of the German and the U.S. stock markets, Dax and Dow Jones, a rather lower potential for growth can be expected until the end of 2008. At the same time, the Euro will maintain its…
On the whole, 58 per cent of German companies partially or entirely outsource business processes such as, for instance, human resources or accounting to external service providers. First in line are retail…
