Social Comparisons and Attitudes towards Foreigners. Evidence from the ‘Fall of the Iron Curtain’
Walter Hyll, Lutz Schneider
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 12,
2016
Abstract
We exploit the natural experiment of German re-unification to address the question whether distress from social (income) comparisons results in negative attitudes towards foreigners. Our empirical approach rests upon East German individuals who have West German peers. We use the exogenous variation of wealth of West German peers shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall as an instrument to identify the effect of distress from social comparisons on East Germans’ attitudes. We find robust evidence that East Germans expose strong negative attitudes towards foreigners, particularly from low-wage countries, if they worry about their economic status compared to better-off peers.
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Spinoffs in Germany: Characteristics, Survival, and the Role of their Parents
Daniel Fackler, A. Schmucker, Claus Schnabel
Small Business Economics,
Nr. 1,
2016
Abstract
Using a 50 % sample of all private sector establishments in Germany, we report that spinoffs are larger, initially employ more skilled and more experienced workers, and pay higher wages than other startups. We investigate whether spinoffs are more likely to survive than other startups, and whether spinoff survival depends on the quality and size of their parent companies, as suggested in some of the theoretical and empirical literature. Our estimated survival models confirm that spinoffs are generally less likely to exit than other startups. We also distinguish between pulled spinoffs, where the parent company continues after they are founded, and pushed spinoffs, where the parent company stops operations. Our results indicate that in western and eastern Germany and in all sectors investigated, pulled spinoffs have a higher probability of survival than pushed spinoffs. Concerning the parent connection, we find that intra-industry spinoffs and spinoffs emerging from better-performing or smaller parent companies are generally less likely to exit.
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Bank Market Power, Factor Reallocation, and Aggregate Growth
R. Inklaar, Michael Koetter, Felix Noth
Journal of Financial Stability,
2015
Abstract
Using a unique firm-level sample of approximately 700,000 firm-year observations of German small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this study seeks to identify the effect of bank market power on aggregate growth components. We test for a pre-crisis sample whether bank market power spurs or hinders the reallocation of resources across informationally opaque firms. Identification relies on the dependence on external finance in each industry and the regional demarcation of regional banking markets in Germany. The results show that bank markups spur aggregate SME growth, primarily through technical change and the reallocation of resources. Banks seem to need sufficient markups to generate the necessary private information to allocate financial funds efficiently.
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On the Trail of Core–periphery Patterns in Innovation Networks: Measurements and New Empirical Findings from the German Laser Industry
Wilfried Ehrenfeld, Toralf Pusch, Muhamed Kudic
Annals of Regional Science,
Nr. 1,
2015
Abstract
It has been frequently argued that a firm’s location in the core of an industry’s innovation network improves its ability to access information and absorb technological knowledge. The literature has still widely neglected the role of peripheral network positions for innovation processes. In addition to this, little is known about the determinants affecting a peripheral actors’ ability to reach the core. To shed some light on these issues, we have employed a unique longitudinal dataset encompassing the entire population of German laser source manufacturers (LSMs) and laser-related public research organizations (PROs) over a period of more than two decades. The aim of our paper is threefold. First, we analyze the emergence of core–periphery (CP) patterns in the German laser industry. Then, we explore the paths on which LSMs and PROs move from isolated positions toward the core. Finally, we employ non-parametric event history techniques to analyze the extent to which organizational and geographical determinates affect the propensity and timing of network core entries. Our results indicate the emergence and solidification of CP patterns at the overall network level. We also found that the paths on which organizations traverse through the network are characterized by high levels of heterogeneity and volatility. The transition from peripheral to core positions is impacted by organizational characteristics, while an organization’s geographical location does not play a significant role.
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Taking the First Step - What Determines German Laser Source Manufacturers' Entry into Innovation Networks?
Jutta Günther, Muhamed Kudic, Andreas Pyka
International Journal of Innovation Management,
Nr. 5,
2015
Abstract
Early access to technological knowledge embodied in the industry’s innovation network can provide an important competitive advantage to firms. While the literature provides much evidence on the positive effects of innovation networks on firms’ performance, not much is known about the determinants of firms’ initial entry into such networks. We analyze firms’ timing and propensity to enter the industry’s innovation network. More precisely, we seek to shed some light on the factors affecting the duration between firm founding and its first cooperation event. In doing so, we apply a unique longitudinal event history dataset based on the full population of German laser source manufacturers. Innovation network data stem from official databases providing detailed information on the organizations involved, subject of joint research and development (R&D) efforts as well as start and end times for all publically funded R&D projects between 1990 and 2010. Estimation results from a non-parametric event history model indicate that micro firms enter the network later than small-sized or large firms. An in-depth analysis of the size effects for medium-sized firms provides some unexpected findings. The choice of cooperation type makes no significant difference for the firms’ timing to enter the network. Finally, the analysis of geographical determinants shows that cluster membership can, but do not necessarily, affect a firm’s timing to cooperate.
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Television Role Models and Fertility: Evidence from a Natural Experiment
Peter Bönisch, Walter Hyll
SOEPpapers, Nr. 752,
Nr. 752,
2015
Abstract
In this paper we study the effect of television exposure on fertility. We exploit a natural experiment that took place in Germany after WWII. For topographical reasons, Western TV programs, which promoted one/no child families, could not be received in certain parts of East Germany. Using an IV approach, we find robust evidence that watching West German TV results in lower fertility. This conclusion is robust to alternative model specifications and data sets. Our results imply that individual fertility decisions are affected by role models or information about other ways of life promoted by media.
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Isolation and Innovation – Two Contradictory Concepts? Explorative Findings from the German Laser Industry
Wilfried Ehrenfeld, T. Pusch, Muhamed Kudic
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 1,
2015
Abstract
We apply a network perspective and study the emergence of core-periphery (CP) structures in innovation networks to shed some light on the relationship between isolation and innovation. It has been frequently argued that a firm’s location in a densely interconnected network area improves its ability to access information and absorb technological knowledge. This, in turn, enables a firm to generate new products and services at a higher rate compared to less integrated competitors. However, the importance of peripheral positions for innovation processes is still a widely neglected issue in literature. Isolation may provide unique conditions that induce innovations which otherwise may never have been invented. Such innovations have the potential to lay the ground for a firm’s pathway towards the network core, where the industry’s established technological knowledge is assumed to be located.
The aim of our paper is twofold. Firstly, we propose a new CP indicator and apply it to analyze the emergence of CP patterns in the German laser industry. We employ publicly funded Research and Development (R&D) cooperation project data over a period of more than two decades. Secondly, we explore the paths on which firms move from isolated positions towards the core (and vice versa). Our exploratory results open up a number of new research questions at the intersection between geography, economics and network research.
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Interrelationship between Industrial and Innovation Development in East Germany
Gerhard Heimpold
Region: Ekonomika i Soziologija,
Nr. 2,
2015
Abstract
The article demonstrates that the most important reason for the slowdown and stagnation of economic convergence in East Germany is the weakness in terms of research and development and innovation. It analyzes the interrelationship between industrial and innovative development in the East German federal states since 1990. The article shows how the East German industry sector and its R&D activities looked like in the late 1980s and which transition it had undergone in the course of privatization. The industrial development of the new federal states after 1990 is analyzed. The paper reveals structural shortcomings in East Germany's economy and considers their impact on the progress in R&D.
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Die Treiber der räumlichen Emergenz und Konzentration der Photovoltaik-Industrie in Deutschland
M. Breul, T. Broekel, Matthias Brachert
Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsgeographie,
Nr. 3,
2015
Abstract
The drivers of the spatial emergence and clustering of the photovoltaic industry in Germany. Following the relatedness literature, we explore to what extent related industries influenced the regional emergence of the photovoltaic (PV) industry. In addition, we shed light on factors explaining selective processes of clustering. We particularly argue that generic resources and resources of related activities have been crucial for the regional concentration in early phases of the industry life cycle. With increasing maturity, industry-specific resources became more important. Based on a unique dataset containing population dynamics of the German PV industry, the hypotheses are tested empirically. Our results partially confirm the assumed beneficial effects of related industries for the emergence of the PV industry. Moreover, we observe changes in the relative importance of factors supporting regional concentration, with industry-specific resources becoming dominant as the industry matures.
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25 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall: The Economic Integration of East Germany
Einzelveröffentlichungen,
2014
Abstract
Citizens of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) regained their civil liberties when the Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago. Since then, they have been able to travel freely and have been free to choose where to live and work. The fall of the Berlin Wall was quickly followed by preparations for German Unification at a speed unparalleled in history: the first free Volkskammer elections on 18 March 1990, the economic, monetary and social union on 1 July 1990, and finally, the unification of Germany when the GDR was included in the jurisdiction of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany. The integration of the economies of East and West Germany, however, has proven to be a drawn-out process.
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