While this book presents the results of comprehensive and cooperative international reseirch, this effort would not have been successful without the assistance of various institutions and personalities. Financial support for the conference was received from the Volkswagen Foundation, Germany, and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) which is gratefully acknowledged. The Deutsche Ralffeisenverband kindly contributed to hosting the international group of researchers in Bonn. For their valuable comments we also thank: Uwe Eiteljorge, Johannes Jutting, Amim Kuhn, Witold-Roger Poganietz,...

While this book presents the results of comprehensive and cooperative international reseirch, this effort would not have been successful without the assistance of various institutions and personalities. Financial support for the conference was received from the Volkswagen Foundation, Germany, and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) which is gratefully acknowledged. The Deutsche Ralffeisenverband kindly contributed to hosting the international group of researchers in Bonn. For their valuable comments we also thank: Uwe Eiteljorge, Johannes Jutting, Amim Kuhn, Witold-Roger Poganietz,...