Firm level determinants of innovation: small firms with high potential in East Germany
Jutta Günther, Philipp Marek
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 7,
2011
Abstract
Innovations in the sense of new products and production processes are crucial drivers of the economic development in advanced economies. After a phase of massive technological renewal in East Germany, characterized by much a higher rate of innovators in East than in West Germany, firms in East Germany have to compete with original innovation activities. The paper outlines the innovation activity in East and West Germany and investigates the determinants of product and process innovation within a multivariate analysis using the IAB establishment panel.
The empirical study shows that firms in manufacturing industry in East Germany are quite active in innovation activities in the year 2008. As regards the share of innovative firms there are no substantial differences between East and West Germany. The regression analysis shows that R&D is a significant determinant of innovation in East and West for all types of innovation. In East Germany, further education activities for employees also show a statistically significant impact on innovation. A major difference between East and West could be found for the firm size. In East Germany size has no significant impact on innovation while in West Germany size clearly matters. Different from West Germany, small firms (10 up to 49 employees) in the East have a significantly positive impact on product innovations in the sense of market novelties.
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ICT Adoption and Heterogeneity in Production Technologies: Evidence for Chilean Retailers
Gaaitzen J. de Vries, Michael Koetter
Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics,
No. 4,
2011
Abstract
The adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) can have far-reaching effects on the nature of production technologies. Because ICT adoption is incomplete, especially in developing countries, different groups of firms will have different production technologies. We estimate a latent class stochastic frontier model, which allows us to test for the existence of multiple production technologies across firms and consider the associated implications for efficiency measures. We use a unique data set of Chilean retailers, which includes detailed information on ICT adoption. We find three distinct production technologies. The probability of membership in a more productive group is positively related to ICT use.
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Determinants of the Efficiency of Regional Innovation Systems
Michael Fritsch, Viktor Slavtchev
Regional Studies,
No. 7,
2011
Abstract
Determinants of the efficiency of regional innovation systems, Regional Studies. This paper analyses differences in the efficiency of regional innovation systems. Alternative measures for the efficiency of regional innovation systems based on the concept of a knowledge production function are discussed. The empirical findings suggest that spillovers from within the private sector as well as from universities and other public research institutions have a positive effect on the efficiency of private sector research and development. It is particularly the intensity of interactions between private and public sector research and development that increases the efficiency. It is found that regions dominated by large establishments tend to be less efficient than regions with a lower average establishment size.
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New IMF Lending Facilities and Financial Stability in Emerging Markets
J. John, Tobias Knedlik
Economic Analysis and Policy,
No. 2,
2011
Abstract
In the light of the current global financial and economic crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has undertaken some major reforms of its lending facilities. The new Flexible Credit Line and the High Access Precautionary Arrangements differ from what has been in place so far, by allowing for ex ante conditionality. This paper summarizes preconditions for effective last resort lending and evaluates the newly introduced measures, concluding that the Flexible Credit Line comes very close to what has been called an International Lender of Last Resort. The main obstacles are the low demand and slow progress in complementary reforms.
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MNE’s Regional Location Choice - A Comparative Perspective on East Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland
Andrea Gauselmann, Philipp Marek, J. P. Angenendt
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 8,
2011
published in: Empirica
Abstract
The focus of this article is the empirical identification of factors influencing Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) in transition economies on a regional level (NUTS 2). The
analysis is designed as benchmark between three neighboring post-communist regions, i.e. East Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. Their different transition paths have not only resulted in economic differences. We can also observe today that the importance of pull factors for FDI varies significantly across the regions. This analysis shows that in comparison with Poland and the Czech Republic, East Germany’s major benefit is its purchasing power, its geographical proximity to West European markets, and its modern infrastructure. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that intra-industry linkages such as specialization and agglomeration economies are relevant factors for the location decision of foreign investors. This result can help to explain the regional divergence of FDI streams in transition economies.
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Africa and the Global Financial Crisis - Impact on Economic Reform Processes
R. Adelou Alabi, J. Alemazung, Achim Gutowski, Robert Kappel, Tobias Knedlik, O. Osnachi Uzor, Karl Wohlmuth, Hans H. Bass
African Development Perspectives Yearbook, Vol. 15,
2011
Abstract
In volume XV of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook, the Research Group on African Development Perspectives investigates the impact of the GFC on economic reform processes in Africa. The analysis is structured in such a way so as to reflect the opportunities and dangers of policy reversals in the face of the GFC. The impact of the crisis on different types and forms of governance in the region is considered. The first question is therefore which macro-economic policy instruments have to be applied in order to overcome the crisis and to continue with sustainable development. The second question is how the GFC has affected Africa's external economic relations and if the path of opening up to the world markets is continued. The third question raised is how the crisis has affected social cohesion, impacted on poverty alleviation strategies and the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). All these questions are discussed in the various contributions which comprise general studies and country case studies. The authors also looked into the role of international financial institutions during and after the crisis. The volume XV of the African Development Perspectives Yearbook is structured into three Units. Unit 1 addresses general issues regarding the impact of the GFC on reform processes in Africa. Unit 2 presents case studies from countries and sub-regions. Unit 3 presents reviews and book notes of current literature focusing on issues of African development perspectives.
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Analyse der Patentaktivitäten in den öffentlichen Wissenschaftseinrichtungen des Freistaates Sachsen im Auftrag des Sächsischen Staatsministeriums für Wissenschaft und Kunst (SMWK)
Iciar Dominguez Lacasa, Katja Wilde
One-off Publications,
2010
Abstract
This study analyses patenting activities by public research organizations (PROs) in the Free State of Saxony in the period 2002-2007 in order to shed some light on the strategies of PROs for industrial exploitation of scientific research results as well as on PROs-industry interaction. The analysis is based on published patent applications at the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) in the period 2002-2007. The study shows that in the period of analysis (2002-2007) the number of patent applications by PROs in Saxony has risen almost continuously. Institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the Technical University of Dresden have played a major role in this development. The results for PROs in Saxony are compared with patenting by PROs located in the states of Thuringia, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Overall, the comparative analysis shows positive results for the industrial exploitation of scientific research results by PROs in Saxony. In what concerns the networking of PROs with private companies through co-patenting, there are no significant differences between the PROs of the four states considered. The results suggest that PROs in Saxony could further improve their performance in PROs-industry interaction. These results should however be interpreted with caution since the underlying patent statistics (co-patenting) do not capture all forms of PROs-industry interaction for the industrial exploitation of research results.
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Where Are Global and U.S. Trade Heading in the Aftermath of the Trade Collapse: Issues and Alternative Scenarios
Filippo di Mauro, Joseph Gruber, Bernd Schnatz, Nico Zorell
FRB International Finance Discussion Paper,
No. 1017,
2011
Abstract
Global and U.S. trade declined dramatically in the wake of the global financial crisis in late 2008 and early 2009. The subsequent recovery in trade, while vigorous at first, gradually lost momentum in 2010. Against this backdrop, this paper explores the prospects for global and U.S. trade in the medium term. We develop a unified empirical framework ? an error correction model ? that exploits the cointegrating relationship between trade and economic activity. The model allows us to juxtapose several scenarios with different assumptions about the strength of GDP growth going forward and the relationship between trade and economic activity. Our analysis suggests that during the crisis both world trade and U.S. exports declined significantly more than would have been expected on the basis of historical relationships with economic activity. Moreover, this gap between actual and equilibrium trade is closing only slowly and could persist for some time to come.
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Central and Eastern European Countries in the Global Financial Crisis: A Typical Twin Crisis?
Diemo Dietrich, Tobias Knedlik, Axel Lindner
Post-Communist Economies,
No. 4,
2011
Abstract
This paper shows that during the Great Recession, banking and currency crises occurred simultaneously in Central and Eastern Europe. Events, however, differed widely from what happened during the Asian crisis that usually serves as the model case for the concept of twin crises. We look at three elements that help explaining the nature of events in Central and Eastern Europe: the problem of currency mismatches, the relation between currency and banking crises, and the importance of multinational banks for financial stability. It is shown that theoretical considerations concerning internal capital markets of multinational banks help understand what happened on capital markets and in the financial sector of the region. We discuss opposing effects of multinational banking on financial stability and find that institutional differences are the key to understand differing effects of the global financial crisis. In particular, we argue that it matters if international activities are organized by subsidiaries or by cross-border financial services, how large the share of foreign currency-denominated credit is and whether the exchange rate is fixed or flexible. Based on these three criteria we give an explanation why the pattern of the crisis in the Baltic States differed markedly from that in Poland and the Czech Republic, the two largest countries of the region.
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Flow of Conjunctural Information and Forecast of Euro Area Economic Activity
Katja Drechsel, L. Maurin
Journal of Forecasting,
No. 3,
2011
Abstract
Combining forecasts, we analyse the role of information flow in computing short-term forecasts up to one quarter ahead for the euro area GDP and its main components. A dataset of 114 monthly indicators is set up and simple bridge equations are estimated. The individual forecasts are then pooled, using different weighting schemes. To take into consideration the release calendar of each indicator, six forecasts are compiled successively during the quarter. We found that the sequencing of information determines the weight allocated to each block of indicators, especially when the first month of hard data becomes available. This conclusion extends the findings of the recent literature. Moreover, when combining forecasts, two weighting schemes are found to outperform the equal weighting scheme in almost all cases. Compared to an AR forecast, these improve by more than 40% the forecast performance for GDP in the current and next quarter.
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