IfM Bonn News

Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche has appointed Professor Friederike Welter as a member of the SME Advisory Board at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

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According to estimates by the IfM Bonn, a succession will be due in around 186,000 companies over the next five years, as their owners are expected to step down from management because of age, illness or death.

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Representatives of the Organisation for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Regional Innovation and the Japan External Trade Organisation met with Dr Christian Schröder, Dr Jonas Löher und Dr Sebastian Schneider at the end of November to discuss the progress of digital transformation in Germany.

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Researchers of the IfM Bonn presented their results in three presentations at this year's "Research in Entrepreneurship and Small Business" (RENT) conference in mid-November in Enschede, Netherlands.

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The academic study of social change and challenges has repeatedly influenced and advanced the development of entrepreneurship research in the past.

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Many working women generally reduce their working hours after giving birth, which is associated with a loss of income.

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The IfM Bonn's latest SME Barometer shows that turnover and profits of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) fell again in the third quarter. By contrast, the positive trend in investment continued.

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In the same way that life circumstances, such as unemployment, influence women's decisions to become entrepreneurs, personal experiences also influence the further development of women-led businesses.

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Entrepreneurs prefer to pass on their life's work within the family. Dr André Pahnke, Dr Rosemarie Kay and Dr Susanne Schlepphorst have examined in a study whether and, if so, how the performance of the company influences the owner's decision on succession.

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Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Friederike Welter made a plea for "everyday entrepreneurship" at the SME Assembly 2025 in Copenhagen in mid-November as part of the Schumpeter Lecture "Innovation in Enterprise"

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Investments in infrastructure and insurance help to mitigate the negative consequences of extreme weather events.

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What are currently the biggest challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises? How do the US tariffs affect companies?

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How do companies in the mechanical and plant engineering sector see the current bureaucratic burden? How do they respond to it? Answers to these questions can be found in the latest IfM video.

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"Small and medium-sized enterprises remain the backbone of North Rhine-Westphalia's economy", reported Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Friederike Welter in her keynote speech at the North Rhine-Westphalia SME Advisory Council in early November.

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Does the self-perception of sons' entrepreneurial skills suffer when parents do things for their children that they could do themselves? According to research by Dr. Stefan Schneck, this is the case.

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