Technological Creativity and Cheap Labour? Explaining the Growing International Competitiveness of German Mechanical Engineering before World War I

Abstract. Which factors caused the growing international competitiveness of German mechanical engineering industry in the pre‐World War I period? In this paper, we want to address this question and elucidate whether or not the international market success of machine builders in the German Empire was determined by technological creativity and the availability of a comparatively cheap labour force. Based on an unbalanced panel, we therefore investigate the influence of demand, labour costs and technological creativity on export performance of 32 different machinery types. We find robust evidence that the development of export–import ratios in mechanical engineering was positively influenced by the growth of patent stocks that represent the new knowledge being available for German machine builders. In addition, we present some evidence for the assumption that the growing international competitiveness of German mechanical engineering was also caused by decreasing relative unit labour cost.     

L?nderrisiko: Die ?konomischen Konsequenzen einer Herabstufung durch die Ratingagenturen

Die Macht der Ratingagenturen wird derzeit allenthalben kritisiert. Tats?chlich haben ihre Beurteilungen eine gro?e Bedeutung bei der Kreditvergabe. Dies wurde aber vor allem durch zahlreiche Regularien vom Staat selbst verursacht. Dabei wirken sich die L?nderratings aufgrund des „Sovereign-Ceiling“-Prinzips auch auf die Bewertung von Unternehmenskrediten aus.     

洛桑国际管理学院——下属企业也应良好治理

六条人命,几十人药物不良反应,一种叫"欣弗"的药,让安徽华源生物药业有限公司,及其与之有关联的上海华源股份有限公司、中国华源集团悉数出现在人们的视野里。安徽华源的"问题欣弗",也给那些"航母级"的企业提了醒:下属企业同样需要公司治理。     

Innovation, organisationale Routinen und strategische Pfade

This paper focusses on innovation processes by relying on the concepts of strategic paths and organizational routines. Referring to Burgelman’s framework of induced and autonomous strategic action and based on path dependence theory the paper elaborates on the potential countervailing impact of organizational routines with regard to strong strategic paths. The argument is illustrated by an reinterpretation of Burgelman’s empirical studies of Intel. Finally the idea of a “routinized capability of innovation” is critically examined.