Industrial productivity levels of formerly socialist economies in Central East Europe (including East Germany) are considerably lower than in the more mature Western economies. This research aims at assessing the reasons for lower productivities at the firm level: what are the firm-specific...

This paper supplements prior analysis on 'patterns and prospects' (Stephan, 2003) in which prospects for the speed of future productivity growth were assessed by looking at the specialisation patterns in domestic production. This analysis adds the foreign trade sphere to the results generated in...

This research assesses the firm-specific reasons for lower productivity levels between West and East German firms. The study is based on a unique data-base generated by field work in the two particularly important sectors of machinery manufacturers and furniture manufacturers. Our results...