Obstacles to Modernization in the Economy and Science of the GDR (Mod-Block-DDR)

Emergence and Consequences - an inner-German comparison and a comparison to neighbouring countries in Central Eastern Europe

In the year 2017, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) published the call for project proposals in the field of “GDR Research” in order to support social scientific research about the “heritage of socialism” in the German university landscape and to strengthen the research structure in this field of expertise on a competitive basis.

The research consortium “Hurdles to modernisation in the economy and science in the GDR” (Mod-Block-DDR) was selected for funding as one out of 14 projects in total. The project will run empirical and comparative analyses focusing on the question in how far the hurdles to modernisation in the GDR impact the economic development and structures of East Germany until today. Four universities in Germany together with their international cooperation partners participate in the research consortium. Jutta Günther from the University of Bremen, Faculty of Business Studies and Economics, is head of the interdisciplinary research team. Young researchers are actively participating in the research and will be promoted through a PhD or postdoc career. Further, the results of the research will be disseminated broadly in the scientific community, policy, economy and general public. Especially the transfer of new knowledge about the GDR into society will be paid special attention.

The consortium started its work on December 01, 2018 and will be supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in a first stage until the year 2022. After positive evaluation, the second funding period of Mod-Block-DDR started on October 1, 2023 for two years.

In the context of the research project and in order to strengthen sustainable research structures, the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics of the University of Bremen filled a professorship position in economics with the specialisation “Institutional Change”. This newly established professorship is an additional action, financed by the University of Bremen and will work in close cooperation with the research consortium on complementary topics. It will particularly engage in research about institutional factors, which impact the economic catching-up process in transition economies until today.

Press release of the BMBF

Press release of the University of Bremen

16.08.2019

Interview with Michael Rochlitz and Gabor Steingart

"20 years Putin: Why China trumps Russia" is the title of the interview in which Gabor Steingart asks Bremen economist Michael Rochlitz questions about the economic conflict between Russia and China.

29.07.2019

PhD course “Innovation in Transition Economies” – Summer School Teaching by Jutta Günther

From July 21st to August 2nd 2019, the 13th Summer School on “The Economics of Innovative Change” takes place at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany. The Summer School is organized annually by the Chair of Microeconomics of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.

08.07.2019

Book publication: Federalism in China and Russia

Michael Rochlitz, newly appointed professor of institutional change at the Faculty of Economics, has published the book "Federalism in China and Russia: Story of Success and Story of Failure?", co-authored with Prof. Dr. Alexander Libman (LMU Munich).

27.06.2019

Exciting topics for master theses in the Mod-Block-DDR research project

The Chair of Innovation and Structural Economics is part of a large research network working on a project to investigate whether and to what extent socialism and transformation in the new federal states continue to shape economic structures and developments today.

27.06.2019

Attendance of the kick-off conference of the research project "Landscapes of Persecution"

On June 20, 2019, the kick-off conference of one of the 14 BMBF-funded joint projects on the subject of "DDR Research" took place. Titled "Over Life in the Dictatorship", scientists from various disciplines presented research projects on the topics of repression, legitimacy, coping and perspectives…

03.06.2019

Ann Hipp, Mareike zum Felde and Charlotta Cordes are new research associates involved in the Mod-Block-DDR project

We warmly welcome these three new employees to the project "Modernisation Blockades in Industry and Science in the GDR" at the Department of Economics.

Mareike zum Felde and Charlotta Cordes started on May 1, 2019 as research assistants and doctoral students as part of subproject 7: "Political…

21.05.2019

Jutta Günther in the “heute journal” on reconstruction in eastern Germany

On the occasion of the East German Economic Forum 2019, the ZDF produced a broadcast on the topic of the "Extended Workbench East Germany" on the 20th of May 2019. In it, people from business, politics, and science were given the opportunity to express their views. Jutta Günther explains why the…

03.05.2019

Economic Colloquium - Presentation by Prof. Dr. Lutz Schneider

On May 21st Prof. Dr. Lutz Schneider will give a presentation at our faculty titled "Can the decline of traditional industrial sites explain people's election behaviour in German regions?".

16.04.2019

Presentation by Prof. Dr. Udo Ludwig: Growth of the gross domestic product in Germany until 1945 and in the GDR from 1950 to 1989

Prof. Dr. Udo Ludwig took part in a research colloquium on the economic history of the German nation at the University of Bamberg on April 6, 2019. In this context, he reported on the measurement of economic performance and welfare in times of German dictatorships, titled: "Growth of the gross…

11.04.2019

Jutta Günther affiliated at the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS)

On April 10, 2019 the general assembly decided to affiliate Jutta Günther as a faculty member at the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS).

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