Prof. Dr. Ulrich Blum ist Präsident des Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle. Zuvor war er Inhaber des Lehrstuhls für Wirtschaftspolitik und Wirtschaftsforschung an der Technischen Universität Dresden.
Prof. Dr. Klaus F. Zimmermann ist Direktor des Instituts zur Zukunft der Arbeit (IZA) und zugleich Präsident des Deutschen Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW Berlin).

U. Cantner / A. Meder, Innovators and the Diversity of Innovation Systems - P. Baake / C. Wey, Market Integration and the Competitive Effects of Mergers - Comment: B. A. Kuchinke - T. Mennel / M. F. Viecens, Latin versus European Power; a Comparison of Market Reforms in Europe and Chile and Brazil - Comment: H. Weigt - M. Rothgang, Sectoral Innovation Systems, Corporate Strategies, and Competitiveness of the German Economy in a Globalised World - Comment: D. Fornahl - J. Günther / J. Stephan / B. Jindra, Foreign Subsidiaries in the East German Innovation System - Evidence from Manufacturing Industries - Comment: H. Graf - C. Rammer / A. Schmiele, Globalisation of Innovation in SMEs. Why They Go Abroad and What They Bring Back Home - Comment: A. Mangelsdorf

This supplement presents the contributions to the 71st Annual Meeting of the Association of German Economic Research Institutes that deal with the contentious issues of"Globalization and Competition."Increased competitive intensity does not serve as a great"equalizer"; in contrast, the book identifies various areas where organizational and institutional differences sustain - a fact, important for the success of business strategies and governmental policies. In"Innovators and the Diversity of Innovation Systems"Uwe Canter and Andreas Meder analyze the determinants of cooperative invention. Regional proximity is a main driver of cooperative innovations so that path dependencies remain important even under globalization. Pio Baake und Christian Wey show that increasing demand-side market integration leads to new anticompetitive effects of mergers. In"Latin versus European Power: A Comparison of Market Reforms in Europe and Chile and Brazil"Tim Mennel and Maria Viecens show that national approaches towards utility regulations reveal persistent differences. Michael Rothgang analyzes the diversity of innovation processes while Christian Rammer and Anja Schmiele highlight the importance of absorptive capacities when innovation processes become more international. Finally, in"Foreign Subsidiaries in the East German Innovation System"Jutta Günther and co-authors show that foreign subsidiaries are often not linked to the local innovation system.