The Role of the Human Capital and Managerial Skills in Explaining the Productivity Gaps between East and West
Wolfgang Steffen, Johannes Stephan
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 11,
2007
Abstract
This paper assess determinants of productivity gaps between firms in the European transition countries and regions and firms in West Germany. The analysis is conducted at the firm level by use of a unique database constructed by field work. The determinants tested in a simple econometric regression model are focussed upon the issue of human capital and modern market-oriented management. The results are novel in as much as a solution was established for the puzzling results in related research with respect to a comparison of formal qualification between East and West. Furthermore, the analysis was able to establish that the kind of human capital and expertise mostly needed in the post-socialist firms are related to the particular requirements of a competitive marketbased economic environment. Finally, the analysis also finds empirical support for the role of capital deepening in productivity catch-up, as well as the case that the gaps in labour productivity are most importantly rooted in a more labour-intense production, which does not give rise to a competitive disadvantage.
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Wie hoch ist die Unterbeschäftigung in Ost- und Westdeutschland? Arbeitsplatzausstattung und Arbeitsplatzlücke nach Geschlechtern in Ost- und Westdeutschland
Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch, Johann Fuchs, Cornelia Lang
Wirtschaftspolitische Blätter,
No. 2,
2007
Abstract
The paper investigates the number and structure of available jobs by gender in East and West Germany, the gap between the supply and demand of jobs by gender in both regions and the reasons for the wider “job gap“ in East Germany compared with West Germany. The analysis shows no significant difference in the number of jobs per 1000 persons in working age between East and West Germany. For women, the East German economy offers more jobs. Nevertheless, the gap between labour demand and the supply of jobs is wider in East germany. This is caused not only by problems concerning the production structure, but also by the significantly higher participation rate of women in the labour market. Reasons are the traditional behaviour of East German women and - compared with West germany - the considerably lower household income.
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Humankapital und Produktivität in Ostdeutschland
Joachim Ragnitz
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 6,
2007
Abstract
The paper shows that East Germany has a significant lower endowment with human capital compared to West Germany when actual professional activities are taken into account. This is by equal means due to a smaller share of human capital intensive industries and a lower human capital intensity in most industries. As a consequence, people with higher qualifications face severe difficulties to find a job in East Germany. This again is one reason for migration flows to West Germany, leading to a still worsening human capital endowment in the new Laender. It can be shown that lower human capital intensity is one reason for the still existing human capital gap between East and West Germany. Convergence prospects are therefore not as good as often supposed.
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Firm-Specific Determinants of Productivity Gaps between East and West German Industrial Branches
Johannes Stephan
East-West Journal of Economics and Business,
2006
Abstract
This research assesses the firm-specific reasons for lower producitivity levels between West and East German firms. The study is based on a unique data-base generated by field-work in the two particularly important sectors of machinery manufacturers and furniture manufacturers. Our results suggest that the quality of human capital plays an important role in explaining lower productivity levels, as well as particularly networking activities, and the use of modern technologies for communication. Classifying those as management-functions beyond the organisation of the production process itself, we identify management deficits as the main specific determinants of productivity gaps between West and East German firms.
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Can EU Policy Intervention Help Productivity Catch-Up?
Johannes Stephan, P. Holmes, J. Lopez-Gonzales, C. Stolberg
Closing the EU East-West Productivity Gap - Foreign direct Investment, Competitiveness, and Public Policy,
2006
Abstract
"A product of the Framework V research project, this book addresses one of the key problems facing the EU today: Why is the ‘new’ EU so much poorer than the ‘old’, and how will EU enlargement help to solve the problem? Focusing on the productivity problems underlying the East-West gap, it looks in particular at the role that foreign investment and R&D can play in closing it. Against that background, the book assesses what role proactive development policy might play in attacking the roots of low social productivity. Concluding that there will be a clear-cut process of convergence between East and West, albeit an incomplete one, it finishes with an assessment of the patterns of competitiveness, East and West, that are likely to emerge from this process of incomplete convergence."
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EU-Integration and the Prospects for Catch-up Development in CEECs - The Determinants of the Productivity Gap
Johannes Stephan
Endbericht des EU-Projekts HPSE-CT-2001-00065,
2004
Abstract
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Workplace Equipment and Workplace Gap by Gender in East and West Germany
Hans-Ulrich Brautzsch, Johann Fuchs, Cornelia Lang
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 9,
2006
Abstract
The paper investigates (a) the number and structure of available jobs by gender in East and West Germany, (b) the gap between the supply and demand of jobs by gender in both regions and (c) the reasons for the wider “job gap” in East Germany compared with West Germany. The paper uses data from the Regional National Accounts and the Federal Labor Office. The analysis shows no significant difference in the number of jobs per 1000 persons in working age between East and West Germany. For women, the East German economy offers more jobs. Nevertheless, the gap between labour demand and the supply of jobs is wider in East Germany. This is caused not only by problems concerning the production structure, but also by the significantly higher partizipation rate of women in the labor market. Reasons are the traditional behaviour of East German woman and – compared with West Germany – the considerably lower household income.
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Zur Diskussion um den Produktivitätsrückstand Ostdeutschlands
Joachim Ragnitz
One-off Publications,
No. 7,
2005
Abstract
Ostdeutschland steht als Investitions- und Produktionsstandort in scharfer Konkurrenz zu anderen Regionen der Welt. Zur Beurteilung der Konkurrenzfähigkeit des Standorts wird dabei neben den standortspezifischen Kosten häufig als weiterer Indikator die in Ostdeutschland verwirklichte Produktivität herangezogen. Dabei spielt die Arbeitsproduktivität, also die erreichbare Bruttowertschöpfung je Erwerbstätigen bzw. je Erwerbstätigenstunde, eine besondere Rolle.
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Progress reports from the project "Productivity Gap"
Johannes Stephan
One-off Publications,
No. 3,
2004
Abstract
The project assesses the roles played by determinants of productivity gaps between Accession Countries in Central East Europe and the more advanced countries in Western Europe. The focus is on the respective weights of determinants and their influence on the potentials for future productivity catch-up.
The convenient feature about assessing productivity levels is that they inform us about the narrowing or divergence of income gaps, provide an indication of international competitiveness, and the sustainability of growth paths (technological development).
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Is East Germany successful in catching up? An empirical investigation of the technological capability in manufacturing industry
Jutta Günther, Harald Lehmann
VEST Journal for Science and Technology Studies,
No. 1,
2004
Abstract
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