Researchers in Germany have nowadays access to confidential micro-data compiled from official statistics in a way that could not have been dreamt of just a few years ago. This article describes the new institutions that grant data access most importantly the research data centers located inside...

Using quantile regression and a rich cross section data set for German manufacturing plants this paper documents that the impact of plant characteristics on export activities varies along the conditional size distribution of the export/sales ratio. For example, firm size is statistically...

While it is a stylized fact that exporting firms pay higher wages than non-exporting firms, the direction of the link between exporting and wages is less clear. Using a rich set of German linked employer-employee panel data we follow over time plants that start to export. We show that the...

This paper uses a newly available comprehensive panel data set for manufacturing enterprises from 2001 to 2005 to document the first empirical results an the relationship between imports and productivity for Germany, a leading actor an the world market for goods. Furthermore, for the first time...

Using newly available representative longitudinal data for German manufacturing enterprises over the period 1999 to 2006 this study presents the first comprehensive empirical evidence on subsidized and non-subsidized firms in East and West Germany. The share of subsidized firms in all firms was...

A recent survey of 54 micro-econometric studies reveals that exporting firms are more productive than non-exporters. However, previous empirical studies show that exporting does not necessarily improve productivity. One possible reason for this result is that most previous studies are restricted...