Using firm-level panel data from the German cost structure survey over the period 1992 to 2000, our empirical analysis shows that firms that increased material inputs relative to internal labor costs performed better in terms of gross operating surplus than other firms. However, firms that...

This paper investigates the factors that explain the level and dynamics of manufacturing firm productive efficiency. In our empirical analysis, we use a unique sample of about 39,000 firms in 256 industries from the German Cost Structure Census over the years 1992-2005. We estimate the...

A joint research project at the European University Viadrina, DIW Berlin and the Polish Academy of Science has investigated how companies assess their locational conditions and whether there is a relationship between location attributes and the company performance. In both countries the majority...

Die Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder), hat zusammen mit dem DIW Berlin und dem Institut für Wirtschaftswissenschaften der Polnischen Akademie der Wissenschaft, Warschau, untersucht, wie die Unternehmen in Polen und in Ostdeutschland die Bedingungen an ihrem Standort bewerten und ob...

This paper investigates predictions of Porter's Diamond model regarding the impact of locational factors on innovativeness and performance at the firm level. We formulate a structural equation model based on the relationships between locational conditions, e.g., transportation infrastructure,...

The paper studies the persistence of profit and its determinants in emerging markets. We apply Markov chain analysis, dynamic panel GMM estimation, and quantile regression techniques to a panel of approximately 3,000 Ukrainian companies. The empirical results show a moderate level of profit...

We introduce a new two-dimensional measure for the heterogeneity of performance within groups of economic units. This measure accounts both, for the relative performance of the single units of groups and their relative size. We demonstrate that the new measure leads to a much more differentiated...