IfM Bonn News

A business-friendly environment in a region leads to more companies being established that have greater economic substance and are more likely to survive. A falling trade tax rate, for example, leads to a higher start-up intensity in the medium and long term.

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According to estimates by IfM Bonn, around 38,000 businesses are currently handed over every year because the owners retire from management due to age, illness or death. However, more businesses are planning succession.

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Many founders of innovative start-ups use equity crowdfunding to finance their business.

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Almost half of the companies in the Mittelstand are facing the challenge of a shortage of skilled workers.

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Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Friederike Welter believes that, in view of the ecological transformation, politicians should have more confidence in entrepreneurial initiatives ...

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"How can democracy escape the bureaucratic trap? – The administration as the engine room". Dr Annette Icks, Fabian Müller, Prof. Dr. Steffen Eckhard and Daniel Karais discussed this question at the beginning of November in Friedrichshafen.

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Entrepreneurs are increasingly no longer able to implement all existing bureaucratic requirements on the part of the state – but also from self-regulatory organisations in the economy, standardisation institutes or within value chains.

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Excessive regulation, a lack of realism and insufficient practical suitability are the main reasons why entrepreneurs perceive bureaucracy as an extreme burden.

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Entrepreneurs who show great passion for their company when talking to potential new employees attract proactive applicants.

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Professor Friederike Welter explained in her keynote speech at the University of Siegen's annual event in mid-October why entrepreneurship needs fresh perspectives rather than old myths, using the example of Silicon Valley entrepreneurship.

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Sebastian Schneider presented the problems faced by the Mittelstand companies when applying for public contracts at a workshop organised by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWiK) in mid-October.

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What opportunities does artificial intelligence (AI) offer for the Mittelstand? What framework conditions favor its application in companies? These questions were discussed today in Berlin by international entrepreneurship researchers together with representatives from SME policy and economy.

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Research conducted by the IfM in Bonn has shown that only a small number of the Mittelstand managers are actually seeking to relocate production sites abroad. Nevertheless, there is a tendency towards setting up additional production facilities in foreign countries.

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What kind of development potential do rural industrialised regions have? How do demographic change, digitalisation and decarbonisation affect these areas?

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Which are the location factors that favour the Mittelstand entrepreneurship? At the beginning of October, Peter Kranzusch presented an answer to this question from an academic point of view, using Cologne as an example.

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