‘Book Launch’ The German Chambers of Commerce and Industry

NCAER organised a launch of the book, The German Chambers of Commerce and Industry, held virtually, with the author, Prof Andrè Habisch of Catholic University Eichstaett-Ingolstadt. The discussion was moderated by Dr Poonam Munjal, Senior Fellow, NCAER. The discussants were Prof Santosh Mehrotra, Visiting Professor, Centre for Development Studies, University of Bath, U.K. and Dr Bornali Bhandari, Senior Fellow, NCAER.This book examines a key factor driving the enduring international success of German companies. Beyond industrial specialisation, peaceful labour relations, local financial markets, and the “Miracle of the Mittelstand”, it focuses on a characteristic aspect of governance within the German economy, symbolised by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The book emphasises important characteristics of the Chamber system, including obligatory membership for firms as well as participatory rules of their self-administration.

The book examines the institution’s self-governance, its services, and its mission regarding the general representation of interests. It also identifies the advancement of the dual system of professional education as a central element of the Chamber system. Along with an introduction about how the Chamber system works, interviews, case studies, and historical explanations help to exemplify the true spirit inherent in this form of representation. In particular, they reveal the essence of how the Chambers system contributes to the global success of German companies and fosters their corporate responsibility in a practical way.

Given its scope, the book will be of particular interest to professionals, policymakers, and researchers concerned with how an institutional organisation can support commerce and industry for the public good. The book was developed in collaboration with Laura Sasse and the Practical Wisdom Society.

Bornali Bhandari is a Senior Fellow at NCAER with a background in international economics and macroeconomics, specifically focusing on the impact of globalisation on development. Currently, she is engaged in a number of industry studies including automobiles, farm mechanisation, and technology. She is also part of the macro group at NCAER.  Her wider research interests include analysis of skilling from a 3-E perspective (education, employability and employment), e-Governance, infrastructure, particularly the roads and ICT sectors, G-20 issues like climate change financing and reserve currency, FDI and trade-related issues. She also oversees the production of the NCAER Quarterly Business Expectations Surveys.

Andrè Habisch is a Full Professor of Social Ethics at Ingolstadt Business School, Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt. He is committed to the advancement of trans-disciplinary research, education, and application of practical wisdom in Management, Social Innovation, Applied Sustainability Management, and Catholic Social Thought for Business. His main research interests are social capital theory, social policy, and economic and corporate ethics. He received his PhD from the University of Tuebingen and holds a post-doc qualification (Habilitation) from the University of Würzburg.

Santosh Mehrotra is currently Visiting Professor, Centre for Development Studies, University of Bath, UK.
He was earlier Professor of Economics, Centre for Labour Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He has a Master’s degree (with Honours) in Economics, from The New School for Social Research, New York, where he was taught by eminent economists Edward J. Nell, Robert Heilbroner, Ross Thomson, and Gita Sen. Thereafter he did his PhD in Economics from Cambridge University.

Poonam Munjal is a Senior Fellow at the NCAER. She has worked on a wide variety of studies, including the N-SIPI investment index, tourism satellite accounts, impact of investment in housing sector and a number of research studies based on input-output models. Previously, she worked as an Associate Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt Ltd. and as an Economist in the Economic Research Team of CRISIL Ltd. Her research work has been in the area of macro-economic analysis, tourism economy, national and regional tourism satellite accounts, input-output modelling, social accounting matrix, inter-industry linkages, labour market analysis, and analyses of large sample surveys to draw socio-economic linkages.