More than one in four patents that major German companies apply for is based on inventions from their research laboratories abroad. In three quarters of the cases, the companies have focused on technologies in which they are very strong at home. Therefore, to a great extent the technological...

Following reunification, productivity in eastern Germany grew rapidly. A strong industrial sector is key to a thriving German economy. However, the narrowing of the industrial productivity gap between eastern and western Germany has come to a standstill since the financial and economic crisis...