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Innovation And Export Performance: Adjustment And Remaining Differences In East And West German Manufacturing

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  • M. Kirbach
  • C. Schmiedeberg

Abstract

The economic situation in Germany 16 years after reunification is marked by the fading out of the adjustment process between East and West. This paper refers to this context analyzing the export behavior comparing firms in West and East Germany. Our estimates confirm a strong relationship between innovations and export performance as well as structural differences between East and West German firms. East German firms are less likely to export than firms in the West. Besides, West German medium technology firms are comparable in their export behavior to high tech firms while East German firms are more similar to the low technology sector. Labor productivity turns out to be more important in East Germany. We interpret these findings as a specialization of West German firms towards technologically-driven high-quality markets, whereas East German companies are faced with higher sunk costs and seem to operate more often in less dynamic, price-sensitive markets.

Suggested Citation

  • M. Kirbach & C. Schmiedeberg, 2008. "Innovation And Export Performance: Adjustment And Remaining Differences In East And West German Manufacturing," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(5), pages 435-457.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ecinnt:v:17:y:2008:i:5:p:435-457
    DOI: 10.1080/10438590701357189
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fryges, Helmut, 2004. "Productivity, Growth, and Internationalisation: The Case of German and British High Techs," ZEW Discussion Papers 04-79, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Ebling, Günther & Janz, Norbert, 1999. "Export and innovation activities in the German service sector: empirical evidence at the firm level," ZEW Discussion Papers 99-53, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. Katharine Wakelin, 1997. "trade and innovation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1342.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Anna Lejpras, 2015. "Knowledge, location, and internationalization: empirical evidence for manufacturing SMEs," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(8), pages 734-754, November.
    2. Alfons Palangkaraya, 2013. "On the Relationship between Innovation and Export: The Case of Australian SMEs," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2013n04, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    3. Janna Axenbeck & Patrick Breithaupt, 2021. "Innovation indicators based on firm websites—Which website characteristics predict firm-level innovation activity?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(4), pages 1-23, April.
    4. Anna Lejpras, 2019. "Determinants of export performance: differences between service and manufacturing SMEs," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 13(1), pages 171-198, March.
    5. Barbieri, Paolo & Boffelli, Albachiara & Elia, Stefano & Fratocchi, Luciano & Kalchschmidt, Matteo, 2022. "How does Industry 4.0 affect international exposure? The interplay between firm innovation and home-country policies in post-offshoring relocation decisions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4).
    6. Wu, Lichao & Wei, Yingqi & Wang, Chengang, 2021. "Disentangling the effects of business groups in the innovation-export relationship," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    7. Hitzschke, Stephan, 2011. "The optimal size of German cities: An efficiency analysis perspective," Darmstadt Discussion Papers in Economics 202, Darmstadt University of Technology, Department of Law and Economics.
    8. Christian Peukert, 2012. "External Technology Supply and Client-Side Innovation," International Studies in Entrepreneurship, in: David B. Audretsch & Erik E. Lehmann & Albert N. Link & Alexander Starnecker (ed.), Technology Transfer in a Global Economy, edition 127, chapter 0, pages 161-184, Springer.
    9. Hitzschke, Stephan, 2011. "The Optimal Size of German Cities An Efficiency Analysis Perspective," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 50741, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    10. Alfons PALANGKARAYA, 2012. "The Link between Innovation and Export: Evidence from Australia 's Small and Medium Enterprises," Working Papers DP-2012-08, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    11. Wu, Lichao & Wei, Yingqi & Wang, Chengang & McDonald, Frank & Han, Xia, 2022. "The importance of institutional and financial resources for export performance associated with technological innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    12. Lijing Tong & Ningyue Liu & Min Zhang & Liming Wang, 2018. "Employee Protection and Corporate Innovation: Empirical Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 569-589, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Export; Innovation; Manufacturing firms; Microeconometrics; JEL classfication ; F14; O31; C51;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation

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