Wissenskomplementarität und Produktivitätswachstum in ausländischen Tochterunternehmen in Mittel- und Osteuropa

Multinationale Unternehmen haben sich in Mittelund Osteuropa angesiedelt, um zum einen am Markt präsent zu sein und zum anderen den Standort als Basis für den internationalen Handel zu nutzen. Marktpräsenz hat sich als Motiv für Neuansiedlungen weitestgehend erschöpft. Zeitgleich konkurriert Mittel- und Osteuropa verstärkt mit asiatischen Ökonomien als Produktionsstandort. Die Ressource Wissen stellt ein zusätzliches entscheidendes Motiv für Investitionen dar. Multinationale Unternehmen übertragen spezifisches Wissen an einen anderen Unternehmensteil, damit dieser seine Funktion innerhalb des Konzerns erfüllen kann. Der effiziente Transfer kann durch die Beschaffenheit des Wissens, geographische und sprachliche Barrieren aber auch durch unzureichende absorptive Kapazität im Tochterunternehmen behindert werden. D. h., Tochterunternehmen müssen komplementäres Wissen und Fähigkeiten besitzen, um das externe Wissen produktiv absorbieren zu können. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht anhand eines Mikrodatensatzes in fünf EU-Beitrittsländern den Zusammenhang zwischen komplementärem Wissen und Produktivitätswachstum. Es kann festgestellt werde, daß ausländische Tochterbetriebe von direktem Wissenstransfer profitieren und lokales Wissen ebenfalls einen positiven Effekt auf das Produktivitätswachstum hat. Es werden zwei dominierende Typen der Wissenskomplementarität identifiziert. Bei Typ (I) transferiert der ausländische Investor technologisches Kernwissen und das Tochterunternehmen besitzt komplementäres Wissen in der Anwendung. Bei Typ (II) ist technologisches Kernwissen auf Mutter- und Tochterunternehmen komplementär verteilt. Aus der Forschung kann geschlußfolgert werden, daß es für die Länder Mittel- und Osteuropas von Bedeutung ist, die Humankapitalbasis ausreichend zu entwickeln, um in Zukunft nicht vom technologischen Wissenstransfer durch ausländische Investitionen ausgeschlossen zu werden.

Foreign Subsidiaries in the East German Innovation System – Evidence from Manufacturing Industries

This paper analyses the extent of technological capability of foreign subsidiaries located in East Germany, and looks at the determinants of foreign subsidiaries’ technological sourcing behaviour. The theory of international production underlines the importance of strategic and regional level variables. However, existing empirical approaches omit by and large regional level factors. We employ survey evidence from the “FDI micro data- base” of the IWH, that was only recently made available, to conduct our analyses. We find that foreign subsidiaries are above average technologically active in comparison to the whole East German manufacturing. This can be partially explained by the industrial structure of foreign direct investment. However, only a limited share of foreign subsidiaries with R&D and/or innovation activity source technological knowledge from the East German innovation system. If a subsidiary follows a competence augmenting strategy or does local trade, it is more likely to source technological knowledge locally. The endowment of a region with human capital and a scientific infrastructure has a positive effect too. The findings suggest that foreign subsidiaries in East Germany are only partially linked with the regional innovation system. Policy implications are discussed.east germany, regional innovation system, foreign direct investment

Innovationen als Treiber der Wissensgesellschaft – Begriffserläuterungen und aktuelle Erklärungsansätze –

In response to the question what secures Europe’s future competitiveness, it is often in the context of “knowledge society” referred to location advantages for research and development (R&D), innovation and knowledge. Respective point of view is not only represented by decision makers of high-duty industrial countries, but also by so called catching up economies in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Asia. The present article deals against the background of current innovation theoretic approaches with the question of what indeed constitutes the abstract notion of the knowledge society, which actors play a role and how R&D and innovation are geographically distributed. Systemic approaches are outlined, which place emphasis on the relation among different knowledge generating actors, in particular among science and economy. In effort to elucidate the geographical distribution of R&D and innovation the authors refer to the regional economic theory, which constitute the reasons why such processes are marked by spatial concentration. Thereby, the hypotheses are competing in associating the spatial concentration with either sectoral specialization or diversification. The article shows the domination of multinational companies of research and development (R&D) in the private sector and that these businesses connect regional centers of innovations beyond national borders. Based on the theory of technological accumulation and internationalization of companies, the globalization of R&D and innovation processes are explained. Thereby, it must be recognized that a hierarchy of regional innovation systems is emerging in which the disparities are increasing both at home and abroad.

Multinationale Investoren in den Neuen Ländern: Wandel in der Motivlage und differenzierte Wahrnehmung der Standortqualität

The article analyses the general motives of MNEs for investment in East Germany as well as the quality of selected locational factors in East Germany from multinational affiliates’ point of view. In contrast to existing studies for East Germany the article dedicates particular attention to the role of MNEs’ heterogeneity. The research draws from the third survey of the IWH FDI-Micro database in 2009, which offers a representative sample of multinational affiliates of the East German economy. The results show a fundamental shift in the relative importance of investment motives during the transition process of East Germany. Since the mid 1990s East Germany attracts increasingly investors that target economies of scope of local technological advantage rather than low-cost advantages of local production factors as the case in the early transition period. It can be demonstrated that the investment motives depends on the country of origin, the type and timing of market entry as well as the sector of the multinational affiliate. Amongst the given locational factors affiliates value the quality of the socio-cultural context highest. This group of soft factors is followed by locational aspects related the potential for technological cooperation, the availability of labour, and finally the extent of fiscal and financial incentives. There exist significant differences in the judgment about quality of different locational aspects depending on the country of origin and the underlying investment motive. Finally the article identifies possible policy measures in the area of skilled labour, technology and investment policy in order to sustain the attractiveness of East Germany as investment location in the future.

EU-Kommission, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft und IWH diskutieren Innovationspolitik in Transformationsregionen

On February 17, 2009, the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) and the Leibniz Association (WGL) held the final conference of the EU-project “Understanding the Relationship between Knowledge and Competitiveness in the Enlarging European Union” (U-know) in Brussels. The research dealt with systemic aspects of innovation and knowledge transfer as well as the development of R&D (research and development) and innovation related policy. Thereby, a particular emphasis was put on the challenges facing the new EU member states and East Germany. The research project proved to be very productive with 54 research papers in refereed journals as well as 33 articles in edited volumes. The aim of the conference was to present and discuss the main results of the U-know project with experts from the industry as well as the political and scientific community. Within four parallel sessions (Enterprises and markets, Public science and industry links, Systems and governance, Role of institutions), research output was presented. Representatives of the EU Commission commented directly on the presentations with a view on policy implications. In a final panel, all participants underlined the increasing importance of education, R&D, and innovation related policy to support the competitiveness of the EU-15 countries as well as the catching-up process of the new EU member states. The conference has raised significant interest both within the scientific community and the EU Commission.

Ostdeutsches Innovationssystem attraktiv für ausländische Investoren

Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an important role in the catching-up process of East Germany due to direct employment- and demand related effects. However, this article takes a technological perspective on FDI in East Germany. It considers technological activities of foreign investors (R&D and innovation) and asks to what extent these are integrated into the East German innovation system. In other words, do foreign investors interact technologically with domestic enterprises and scientific institutions? So far, there seems to be a striking absence of empirical evidence on this issue. The basis for our analysis is recent data from a representative survey of foreign direct investors in East German manufacturing completed in 2007. The findings show that on average foreign investors are more R&D and innovation intensive compared to the total of East German manufacturing. In addition, their technological activities are by no means isolated from the East German innovation system. Foreign subsidiaries seem to benefit from East German customers, suppliers and especially scientific institutions with regard to locally conducted R&D and innovation. Contrary to existing assumptions the East German innovation system seems to be particularly attractive for the most technologically active foreign subsidiaries. This could constitute a major locational advantage for FDI in East Germany over Central and East Europe. However, the technologically active foreign investors believe that only East German suppliers are able to benefit from their technological cooperation. The same cannot be said about East German customers or competitors. Thus, the potential for technological externalities from FDI in East Germany seems still to be limited.

Ausländische Investoren und einheimische Zulieferer in Transformationsökonomien: Was befördert positive externe Effekte?

The empirical study analyses the potential for positive external effects from foreign investors in favor of domestic firms using the IWH-FDI micro database and taking into account firm-specific characteristics of foreign investors in selected Central and East European countries as well as in Eastern Germany. The analysis shows that only half of the foreign investors believe that they are important for technological activities in domestic supplier firms. Thereby, the potential for external positive effects is higher in Central and Eastern Europe than in Eastern Germany. A reason for this might be that supplier firms in Eastern Germany already operate on a clearly higher technological level than their counterparts in Central and Eastern Europe. Taking into account the share of domestic supplies of foreign investors, it shows that the potential for positive external effects increases only to a certain point from which on the spillover potential stagnates or even declines. Furthermore, there is clear evidence for the following characteristics of foreign investors to increase the potential for positive external effects: innovativeness of the foreign investor, internal and external technological cooperation of foreign investors, independence from the headquarters in research and development issues and market entry through acquisition (instead of greenfield investment). The share of foreign participation as well as the duration of presence in the host economy does not show any statistically significant effect on the potential for external effects. Policy makers should therefore not only aim at the settlement of employment intensive foreign investors, but also and particularly support investors that are characterized by technological activity and regional integration.

Subsidiary roles, vertical linkages and economic development: Lessons from transition economies

A B S T R A C T Vertical supply chain linkages between foreign subsidiaries and domestic firms are important mechanisms for knowledge spillovers, contributing to the economic development of host economies. This paper argues that subsidiary roles and technological competences affect the extent of vertical linkages as such as well as their potential for technological spillovers. Using survey evidence from 424 foreign subsidiaries based in transition economies, we tested for the effect of subsidiaries' autonomy, initiative, technological capability, internal and external technological embeddedness on the extent and intensity of forward and backward vertical linkages. The evidence supports our main argument that the potential of technology diffusion via vertical linkages depends on the nature of subsidiary roles. We discuss the implications for transition as well as other developing countries.