Ausmaß und Ursachen der Produktivitätslücke ostdeutscher Betriebe des Verarbeitenden Gewerbes (Analysis of differences in company productivity using the IAB establishment panel)

"The low productivity of eastern German enterprises is frequently seen as an fundamental reason for them failing to expand and consequently contributing little to easing the strain on the eastern German labour market. In this study the IAB establishment panel of 1997 is used as a basis for examining the productivity of eastern German enterprises compared with western German enterprises. It was possible to show that in the manufacturing industry the productivity of eastern German companies lies 43% behind that of western German companies. The causes of this are the inadequate market position and so-called 'soft factors', such as the company organisation and the integration into the enterprise as a whole. Of less importance are the modernity of the technical equipment in the company, the formal qualification structure of the employees and the utilisation of the production capacity." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))