"East-West Gap in Private Research, Development, and Innovation in Germany: Research-Intensive Industries and Larger Companies Represented Weakly": Five Questions to Alexander Eickelpasch

Interview of October 7, 2015

Mr. Eickelpasch, after reunification, we saw a substantial increase in research and development, or R&D, activities in eastern Germany. How big is the gap between the east and the west of the country today?

If we look at the number of R&D employees as a share of the total workforce in Germany, or what is known as R&D labor intensity, and R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP, it becomes clear that eastern Germany is still lagging far behind western Germany. In terms of R&D intensity, the eastern German economy only reached around 50 percent of the western German level. The situation in public and publicly funded research institutes and universities looks much more favorable, however. R&D intensity in public and publicly funded institutions in eastern Germany is in fact twice that of western Germany. [...]

The interview with Alexander Eickelpasch is published in DIW Economic Bulletin 41/2015. (PDF, 96.68 KB)

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