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 ...

SME Development Barometer

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

18.09.2025 What harms sons' entrepreneurial self-perception

Parents doing things for their children that they could do themselves harm their sons' self-perception of their entrepreneurial competencies. Especially self-employed fathers interfere in their son’s affairs and harm the development of their son’s entrepreneurial skills.

16.09.2025 The use of artificial intelligence in SMEs

How are Mittelstand enterprises already using artificial intelligence (AI) to cover their skilled labour needs?

How corporate finance shapes SME resilience to shocks

In the focus: Minimum apprenticeship minimum wage

How public procurement can become more attractive for SMEs

All news

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.

Figure of the months

The number of trainees in micro-enterprises decreased again in 2024 by

2.6%

even though the total number of trainees grew for the second year.

Crafts entrepreneurship: A new perspective on the role of the Big Five trait "conscientiousness"

This paper presents new findings on the entrepreneurial role of the "conscientiousness" trait from the Big Five personality model, as illustrated by self-employment in the crafts sector.