转型经济中的研发和企业绩效[文献翻译]

原文：R&DandFirmPerformanceinaTransitionEconomyINTRODUCTIONAccordingtointernationalcomparativestatisticstheEasternEuropeancountriesshowmuchlessinnovativeactivitythane.g.theEUaverageThismightbegoodorbad.IfthefirmsarenotcapableenoughtohandleR&Dprocessesitisgoodthattheyrecognizethis.Duringacountry’stransformationprocesstoamarketeconomy,adoptionofestablishedprocessesandproductsinconnectionwithproductvariationandcompetitiveproductionpossibilitiesareanattractivealternativetoinnovation.HowevermostobserversaskformoreR&Dinthesecountriesandforpolicieseasinginnovationinordertoincreasegrowth.Thosepolicyinterventionsarenotonlysubjectoftheoreticaldiscussions.SubsidiesgrantedbytheEuropeanCommissioninmembercountries,likethesixthframeworkprogram,arealsorelevantfortheaccessioncountriesoftheEuropeanUnion.PerhapsR&Dsubsidiesarepartlywastedifgrantedinanearlystageofthetransformationprocessandcouldbeusedinamoreproductiveway.ItmightbethecasethatinsteadofconductingresearchanddevelopmentfirmsintheseareasarebetteroffbytheproductionofestablishedproductsatlowercoststhanintheWesterncountries.Answerstothesequestionswouldsurelybehelpfulforthepolicydesignfortransformationprocesses.ThepurposeofourarticleistocomparethesuccessofinnovativeactivityinEasternandWesternGermanyinordertoinvestigatewhethertherearedifferenceswithrespecttoR&DperformancebetweenthetwopartsofreunifiedGermany.EasternGermanyisaveryspecialexampleofatransitioneconomy.ThemovementfromtheformerGermanDemocraticRepublictostatesoftheGermanFederalRepublicwasaccompaniedbytheintroductionofawellestablishedcurrency,astableandreliablelegalframeworkandahighlydevelopedsystemofindustrialrelations.AlthoughdifferencesbetweenbothpartsofthereunifiedGermanyaroseinthemeantime,thesearecertainlysmallerthanthosewithrespecttoothertransitioneconomics.Hencethisistheunparalleledopportunitytocompareanestablishedmarketeconomywithatransitioneconomyonthebasisofverysimilarenvironmentalconditions.Hence,theceterisparibusconditionapplies.R&DconductedbyEast-Germanfirmsisheavilysubsidizedasthepolicydecisionmakersregarditasbeingveryimportantthatthecompetitivenessofthesecompaniesisimprovedbytechnologicalleadership.Itremainstobeshownthatthesesubsidiesarenotwasted.WeintendtoanswerthisquestionbycomparingtheperformanceofEasternandWesternGermanenterprises.InnovationinatransitioneconomylikeEasternGermanymightsufferfromlackingexperiencewithboththecurrenttechnologicalfrontierandmechanismsatplaceinamarketeconomy.Forexample,outdatedhumancapitalmayoftenleadtoduplicateresearch(byaccident),orfirmscouldrelyonlyonimitation(onpurpose).Incombinationwithhighdemanduncertaintyandlackingexperienceinmarketingstrategy,investmentsinR&Dmaynotleadto(expected)returns.Reasonablereturnscouldbenecessarytosurviveforstartupfirms,though.Thepurposeofthispaperhastwodimensions:Ononehand,wecompareWesternandEasternGermanmanufacturingfirmsbyrelatingacreditratingindexasmeasureofperformancetoR&Dspendingandotherfirmcharacteristics.Ontheotherhand,weextendtheratingmodelbyasecondequationdealingwithfinancialdistressandbankruptcy.ThisisparticularlyinterestingbecauseEasternGermanmanufacturingispredominantlycomposedofsmallandmedium-sizedenterprisesthatwerenewlyfoundedaftertheGermanreunificationin1990.WeaskthequestionwhetherinvestmentinR&DisvaluedasinWesternGermany,orifagenciesratesuchfirmsmoreconservative,becauseyoungfirmslackacorrespondingtrackrecordonwhichtheratingcouldbebased.Thisstudycouldbehighlyrelevantforinnovationpolicy.EasternGermanfirmsreceiverelativelymoresubsidiesthantheirWesternGermancounterparts.TheGermangovernmentintendstofosterthetransformationprocessfromaplannedeconomytoaviablemarketeconomybyamongotherpolicies,anintensivesupportforinnovativeactivitiesinordertostrengthenthecompetitivenessoftheEasternGermanregions.If,however,innovationactivitiesintheEastdonotleadtosuccessfulproductsandmarketsuccess,butfailor,intheworstcase,putfirmsattheriskofbankruptcy,thispolicystrategymaybeaninefficientallocationofresources.Ourstudyisanextensionofthe(few)existingstudiesontheeffectsofinnovationsintransitioneconomies.Aghionetal.(2002)aswellasCarlinetal.(2004)investigatetheeffectofinnovationsongrowthofasampleof2,245respectively3,288firmsfrom24EasternEuropeancountriesandtheyfindthatsomecompetitivepressureisgoodforinnovativeness,buttoomuchcanbecounterproductive(Carlinetal.2004).Innovativenesshasapositiveimpactongrowth.However,itisnottestedwhetherinnovationshavealsoapositiveeffectonprofitability.KoningsandXavier(2002)utilizeinformationconcerninginnovationandusetheratioofintangibleassetstototalfixedassetsasanexogenousvariableexplainingsurvivalandgrowthforasampleof2,813Slovenianfirmsoverthetimeperiodfrom1994to1998.Itturnsoutthattheinnovationvariablehasnegative,yetinsignificant,coefficientsbothinthegrowthandthesurvivalequations.However,thisisafirstindicationthatinnovationmightnotsupportgrowthandsurvivaloffirmsinatransitioneconomy.Thisstandsincontrasttotheempiricalresultsestimatedforfirmsinnon-transitioncountries(seee.g.Hall1987,CefisandMarsili2006).Wearenotawareofastudythatd