Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/151038 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Citation: 
[Journal:] Weekly Report [ISSN:] 1860-3343 [Volume:] 4 [Issue:] 15 [Publisher:] Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW) [Place:] Berlin [Year:] 2008 [Pages:] 94-101
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
An analysis of patent applications filed with the European Patent Office reveals that German companies primarily expand their research activities abroad in high-tech sectors in which they already conduct long-term intensive research. These sectors are: electrical engineering, control technology, engines, pumps, turbines, thermal processes, mechanical components, and transport. German R&D internationalization is thus founded on fields of research that are highly productive domestically. By contrast, there is cause for concern for Germany as a location for research in the fields of telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. In these areas German companies have been intensifying their research activities abroad due to relative weakness at home. A particularly controversial topic in the political arena concerns the global competitiveness of Germany as a location for research. Empirical investigation of German research and its main competitors yields surprising results: Germany's competitors are almost exclusively Western European countries, particularly Austria, Switzerland, and France - all German neighbors. While the US continues to play a central role as a location for research funded by German companies, its importance has declined drastically since 1990.
Subjects: 
Innovation system
Composite indicator
Industrialized countries
JEL: 
O30
O38
O57
Document Type: 
Article

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