Germany’s proposed federalism reform has a first victim: the shop closing law. Well, to be fair, as most shops haven’t really taken advantage of the latest deregulation of the law, it remains to be seen if there will be any substantial changes. One thing that will likely end is the gas station’s near monopoly in late night food sales. But then, they do have a considerable first mover advantage and their new shiny shops are everywhere, often earning more money than gas stations make by selling gas. So I doubt we’ll see too many small shops around the corner. Interestingly, some city center retailers are joining informal agreements about opening and closing hours: too many people were confused about some shops being open while others are closed, and took their business to the Wal-Mart equivalents which usually kept their doors open as long as legally possible.

It’s an interesting case study in culturally influenced transaction costs. Via n-tv.de

Die Mehrheit der Bundesländer will nach einem Bericht des “Focus” nach der Föderalismusreform die Ladenöffnungszeiten werktags freigeben und damit den Geschäften selbst überlassen. Das hat eine Umfrage des Nachrichtenmagazins “Focus” unter den 16 Bundesländern ergeben. Elf Länder haben sich bereits weitgehend festgelegt. Von ihnen wollen zehn die Öffnungszeiten an Werktagen rund um die Uhr erlauben oder zumindest deutlich ausweiten.