Investitionen in den „Goldenen Jahren“ der Weimarer Republik

Abstract

Abstract The article attempts to examine the so-called Borchardt-thesis, according to which investments were depressed during the Weimar Republic by excessive wages. The precondition for this view is that investments were financed through retained profits. Using a simple econometric model, it emerges that investment behaviour was determined by interest rates, and not by profits. Hence, Knut Borchardt’s initial argument is refuted, while the competing explanation, proposed by Carl-Ludwig Holtfrerich, is corroborated