Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/28232 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper Series in Economics No. 115
Publisher: 
Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, Lüneburg
Abstract: 
We use a unique rich newly built data set for German manufacturing enterprises to investigate the product differentiation firm performance relationship. We find that an increase in the degree of product diversification has a negative impact on profitability when observed and unobserved firm characteristics are controlled for. The effects are statistically significant and large from an economic point of view. This helps to understand the at least, at a first glance surprising fact that nearly 40 percent of all manufacturing enterprises with at least 20 employees in Germany are singleproduct firms according to a detailed classification of products, and that multi-product enterprises with a large number of goods are a rare species.
Subjects: 
Product differentiation
profitability
Germany
JEL: 
D21
L60
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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