

Dossier Challenge climate change
In Germany, climate neutrality is to be reached by 2045. In this dossier you will find information on the extent to which Mittelstand companies are already aware of the risks of climate change - and how they are tackling the challenge of operating more sustainably.
IfM-Position Paper
Daring to be more reliable
The recent sale of the Viessmann family-owned Climate Solutions division to the US company Carrier has caused a furore. Prof. Dr Martin Viessmann and his son Maximilian Viessmann have repeatedly emphasised that the sale would be the best way to secure their employees' jobs in the long term.
This move confirms what a survey by the Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn already clearly expressed in 2014: In addition to their independence and the safeguarding of their income and assets, the satisfaction of their employees and the preservation or creation of jobs are essential to family entrepreneurs – significantly more than executives in manager-led companies.
Figure of the months
47.4 %
of managers in Germany fear that geopolitical crises and conflicts will threaten everyday business in the next 5 years.
Policy Brief "Entrepreneurship in Focus"
How the Online Gig Economy Challenges the Education-Income Paradigm
It is a well-established finding in the social sciences that workers with higher educational qualifications have higher average incomes.