Abstract
Economic activity in the Federal Republic of Germany is subject to more numerous government interventions than is generally believed. For instance, large parts of the private sector are directly or indirectly regulated, through subsidies and tax allowances and, also, incentives for capital formation in specific industries and branches. Moreover, state investment companies exist.
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Notes And References
Dorothea Meyer, Entwicklung und Motive der nichtfiskalischen (insbesondere der wirtschaftspolitisch orientierten) Besteuerung in Deutschland auf der Ebene des Zentralstaates von 1871 bis 1969 (Münster: Universität Münster, 1977).
See Wissenschaftlicher Beirat beim Bundeswirtschaftsministerium, Selbstfinanzierung bei verlangsamtem wirtschaftlichen Wachstum, Gutachten vom 16. Februar 1963 (Göttingen: Vandenhoek und Ruprecht, 1966) pp. 41–5;
and Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung, Stabiles Geld — Stetiges Wachstum, Jahresgutachten 1964 (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1965).
In 1967 for instance, a research project carried out on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economics was completed which. investigated national and international experience with various types of investment corporation. The authors suggest that a decentralised system of public utility investment companies be established with companies able to buy equity capital with cheap, government-subsidised credit. See Karl Hax, Kapitalbeteiligungsgesellschaften zur Finanzierung kleiner und mittlerer Unternehmungen (Köln and Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1969).
This becomes evident from the various papers delivered, among others, by government officials at the Deutsche Genossenschaftstag 1965 (1965 Meeting of the German Association of Cooperatives), devoted to the financing of small and medium-size enterprises. See especially Franz Coester, ‘Finanzierungsprobleme der Klein- und Mittelbetriebe wirtschaftspolitisch gesehen’, Blätter für Genossenschaftswesen Bonn, Vol. 111, 1965, pp. 286–91; and papers delivered by other authors in the same volume.
For 1969 ten privately financed equity capital investment companies are mentioned as operating in the Federal Republic of Germany. Friedrich K. Feldbausch, ‘Die Kapitalbeteiligungsgesellschaft in Deutschland’, Zeitschrift für das gesamte Kreditwesen Frankfurt (M), Vol. 9, 1969, pp. 353–6.
Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung, ‘Vorbereitung der Gründung einer ERP-Kapitalbeteiligungsgesellschaft’, Bulletin Bonn, No. 114, 1969, p. 976.
Karl Schiller, ‘Handwerk hat Zukunft’, in Text 7, Reden zur Wirtschaftspolitik (Bonn: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, 1970).
For more details see Der Bundesminister für Wirtschaft, ‘Bekanntmachung der Allgemeinen Bedingungen für die Vergabe von ERP-Mitteln sowie der Richtlinien zur Gewährung von ERP-Darlehen vom 21. Juli 1976’, Bundesanzeiger Bonn, 1976, Vol. 28, No. 139, pp. 1–5 and in particular Anlage 6 (Annex 6).
As has been mentioned by a member of the board of managing directors of the Landesbank of the Rhineland-Palatinate, the companies subordinate their own policies for capital acquisition when higher ranking state policies play a role. See Paul Skonieczny, ‘Grundsätze und Probleme der Beteiligungspolitik der Girozentralen — dargestellt am Beispiel der Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz’, Beiträge zu aktuellen Problemen des deutschen Kreditwesens, Mainz, Vol. 6, 1975, pp. 83–95.
Besides manufacturing, a number of other important Federal — and also state or local — enterprises exist, which enjoy either monopolies or advantageous regulations and mostly receive (Federal large Federal railway system, postal services). Structu- ral policy aims are formulated and pursued specifically for these enterprises. Mostly, however, these aims concern social or regional policy (for example, the railway system) and sometimes it is claimed that public monopolies are necessary in order to avoid private monopolies (postal services, electricity distribution). See Klaus-Werner Schatz, ‘La Experiencia Nationalizadora En Ale-mania Federal’, in James M. Buchanan, Enrique F. Quintana, Herbert Giersch et al. (eds), El Sector Publico En Las Economias De Mercado (Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1979) pp. 344–54.
The term subsidy refers to direct financial assistance (excluding tax privileges) without any material equivalent from the subsidised enterprise. For details of the comprehensive study covering subsidies of various sorts in the Federal Republic of Germany, see Karl Heinz Jüttemeier et al., Auswirkungen der öffentlichen Haushalte auf sektorale Investitionsentscheidungen im Industrie und Dienstleistungsbereich, Forschungsauftrag des Bundesministers für Wirtschaft, Endbericht (Kiel: Institut für Weltwirtschaft, 1977)
Karl Heinz Jüttemeier and Konrad Lammers, Subventionen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Kiel Discussion Paper No. 63/64 (Kiel: Institut für Weltwirtschaft, 1979).
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© 1983 Trade Policy Research Centre
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Jüttemeier, K.H., Schatz, KW. (1983). West Germany: Managing Without a State Investment Company. In: Hindley, B. (eds) State Investment Companies in Western Europe. Trade Policy Research Centre. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-06895-1_8
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