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Information on Mittelstand enterprises

  • practice-oriented
  • interdisciplinary
  • applied research

 

Geopolitical challenges

For many decades, the multilateral dismantling of trade barriers and broad trade policy stability contributed ...

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SME Development Barometer

IfM Bonn uses the "Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises", to report semiannually on the current ...

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IfM Bonn News

Insolvency increase has slowed down

Although the number of corporate insolvencies filed rose to 12,000 in the first half of 2025, the increase was less significant than compared to the first six months of 2024 and 2023.

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What pregnancy and parental leave mean for self-employed women

Pregnancy and early motherhood have a significant impact on women's self-employment, according to research by the IfM Bonn.

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IfM-Position Paper

The impact of the provisional US-EU trade agreement on Mittelstand enterprises

On 27 July 2025, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump settled on a preliminary trade agreement. Of particular relevance to Mittelstand enterprises is that US import tariffs on most goods will only rise to 15% instead of the 30% previously anounced.

In other areas, such as the pharmaceutical industry, the level of customs duties remains unclear, while tariffs of 50% will continue to be levied on steel and aluminium imports into the US.

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Figure of the Month

SMEs generate more than 

28%

of the total turn over companies in Germany.

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Policy Brief "Entrepreneurship in Focus"

Psychological costs as a key component of the bureaucratic burden on companies

Compliance costs measured in terms of time and financial resources significantly underestimate the bureaucratic burden on companies.

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Cooperation with University of Siegen

Zukunftspanel Mittelstand

Zukunftspanel Mittelstand

NUI region ranking

Offensive Mittelstand

Data of the IfM Bonn

Data of the IfM Bonn

Third party research