The long-lasting impact of historical shocks on innovation activity: The case of German separation and reunification

IF 10.9 1区管理学 Q1 ENGINEERING, INDUSTRIAL

Technovation Pub Date : 2025-08-02 DOI:10.1016/j.technovation.2025.103318

Michael Fritsch , Maria Greve , Michael Wyrwich

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The reunification of East and West Germany in 1990 initiated the merging of two distinct innovation systems. In this process, the poorly functioning socialist system of East Germany adopted the formal institutions and organization of West Germany, a western-style market economy. We investigate the effect of German separation and reunification on patenting activity. Although patenting increased in both parts of the country until recently, the gap between East and West Germany widened considerably over time. East German innovation activity fell behind especially in technological fields in which both East and West Germany were specialized before reunification. In general, we find that after the merging of the two innovation systems the increase in patenting activity was stronger in the West. Our findings show that historical shocks can leave long-lasting imprints on the geographic disparities of innovation activities while adopting democratic institutions was not sufficient to boost innovation activity in East Germany to the level of West Germany having the same institutions.

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历史冲击对创新活动的长期影响：以德国分离与统一为例

1990年东德和西德的统一开启了两种截然不同的创新体系的融合。在这一过程中，运行不佳的东德社会主义制度采用了西德的正式制度和组织，即西方式的市场经济。我们调查了德国分离和统一对专利活动的影响。尽管直到最近，东德和西德的专利申请都有所增加，但随着时间的推移，东德和西德之间的差距大大扩大了。东德的创新活动落后了，特别是在技术领域，而在统一前，东德和西德都是专门从事这些领域的。总体而言，我们发现两大创新体系合并后，西部地区的专利活动增长更为强劲。我们的研究结果表明，历史冲击可以在创新活动的地理差异上留下持久的印记，而采用民主制度并不足以将东德的创新活动提高到具有相同制度的西德的水平。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Technovation 管理科学-工程：工业

CiteScore

15.10

自引率

11.20%

发文量

208

审稿时长

91 days

期刊介绍： The interdisciplinary journal Technovation covers various aspects of technological innovation, exploring processes, products, and social impacts. It examines innovation in both process and product realms, including social innovations like regulatory frameworks and non-economic benefits. Topics range from emerging trends and capital for development to managing technology-intensive ventures and innovation in organizations of different sizes. It also discusses organizational structures, investment strategies for science and technology enterprises, and the roles of technological innovators. Additionally, it addresses technology transfer between developing countries and innovation across enterprise, political, and economic systems.