Innovation and Regional Development: The Impact of Patenting on Labor Market Outcomes

Abstract

We estimate the impact of technological innovation on regional labor market outcomes. Our identification strategy exploits pre-reunification complementarities in innovation between East and West Germany. We employ individual-level data from the German Socio-Economic Panel to analyze labor market out- comes. Individuals’ income in West German counties with pre-reunification complementarities increased by 1.3%-1.5% on average after reunification. The effect is amplified when disentangling for different occupations: Income increases by 27%-29%, self-employment increases significantly, unemployment remains unaffected. The use of East German know-how in West German patents after reunification is driven by the migration of East German inventors to West German counties.