Industrial Policy and the East German Productivity Puzzle

Catching-up of East German productivity to West German levels has completely faded out since the mid l990s. The remaining productivity gap cannot be attributed to an inferior capital endowment. Instead, it appears to be the result of an inappropriate design of industrial policy which fostered the specialization of East German industry on capital intensive smoke-stack industries. These industries are absorbing a large share of factor inputs, whereas their contribution to aggregate output is rather limited. East Germany will have to face, therefore, another wave of painful structural adjustment when public subsidies will further be reduced.