Separated unity: the East and West German industrial sector in 1936

Abstract

This paper compares and analyses the East and West German levels of labour productivity in industries in 1936. For this purpose archive-data on the industrial census of 1936 were used. In comparison with earlier studies, which rely directly or indirectly on the official publication of the census, these archive data have the advantage of not being distorted by aggregations for military-strategic reasons. Furthermore a statistical division of what later became East and West Berlin could be made. The present paper confirms the conclusions on the relative productivity in earlier research: in 1936 East Germany realised a lower productivity level in the industrial sector than West Germany. The differences are primarily explained by structural differences due to specialisation resulting in a relatively large "Basic and Fabricated Metal" branch in West Germany and a large branch "Textiles and Wearing Apparel" in East Germany. Furthermore this paper signals a higher aggregate capital intensity in West Germany, which is related to the large share of mining industries. Furthermore the East German level of education was below that of West Germany . Finally institutional differences are likely to have played a role since the major industrial agglomerations of East and West Germany were part of two different "industrial orders".