Results of comprehensive research projects are published in the book series ifo Dresden Studien. The titles of the issues give a reasonably full account of the research profile of the ifo Dresden Branch.
This study focuses on the progress achieved in eastern German since unification. It provides a comparison of the economic situation in eastern Germany in 2008 with the initial position of the GDR in 1989. The typical monetary measurements used for economic comparisons can only be used to a limited extent because of the currency reform of 1990 and the different methods of compiling statistics. For this reason the study relies primarily on measurements from the "real economy". To some extent recourse must be taken to data for the phase immediately after reunification. The study shows that the material living conditions have strongly improved in eastern Germany compared to 1989. In an overall view of the positive and negative aspects of economic and social developments since 1989, the progress clearly dominates so that German unification, despite all the problems that still exist, must be seen as a success. The results also underscore the great importance of market economy ordering principles for the success of the project "Reconstruction East". The study also examines the contribution of policy-makers, who set up the framework conditions for economic development, for the economic successes in the new federal states in eastern Germany.
Department conducting the study: Dresden Branch
Bestandsaufnahme der wirtschaftlichen Fortschritte im Osten Deutschlands 1989 bis 2008 by Joachim Ragnitz, Simone Scharfe and Beate Schirwitz,ifo Dresden Studien No. 51 Munich: Ifo Institute for Economic Research, 2009; 65 pp.; 15,- EUR. ISBN 13: 978-3-88512-489-4
