1887

OECD Economics Department Working Papers

Working papers from the Economics Department of the OECD that cover the full range of the Department’s work including the economic situation, policy analysis and projections; fiscal policy, public expenditure and taxation; and structural issues including ageing, growth and productivity, migration, environment, human capital, housing, trade and investment, labour markets, regulatory reform, competition, health, and other issues.

The views expressed in these papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the OECD or of the governments of its member countries.

English, French

Improving the Capacity to Innovate in Germany

Key indicators show Germany belonging to the countries in the OECD with strong innovation activity even though some weakening in Germany’s position relative to other OECD countries has occurred recently. While the redirection of resources towards unification-related spending as well as low economic growth have contributed to this development, more fundamental structural issues have also played a role. Germany has benefited less than other high-performing countries from the surge in new technologies, such as ICT and biotechnology, as innovation activities continue to focus on sectors, such as machinery and automobiles, in which Germany has a long record of strong export performance. Some features of the regulation of capital, product and labour markets are hampering the supply of risk capital, the creation of new firms and the reallocation of labour. In addition, firms are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit highly qualified labour. Measures to improve the framework ...

English

Keywords: productivity, intellectual property rights, research and development, subsidies, innovation, tertiary education, business taxes, potential growth, technological change, firm entry, competition
JEL: O30: Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth / Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights / Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights: General; I28: Health, Education, and Welfare / Education and Research Institutions / Education: Government Policy; O31: Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth / Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights / Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives; O38: Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth / Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights / Technological Change: Government Policy; H25: Public Economics / Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue / Business Taxes and Subsidies; O52: Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth / Economywide Country Studies / Economywide Country Studies: Europe; O33: Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth / Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights / Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
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