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2005
Conference Paper
Titel
Benchmarking the technological competitiveness of german enterprises in times of low growth
Abstract
The technological performance of Germany's enterprises still continues at a relatively high level. But the economic slump in the new decade had already a negative impact on the propensity of comapnies to invest in new innovative products and processes. As their main focus is the domestic market the weak economic momentum hit them particularly hard. But a distinction needs to be made between the whole industry and the service sector.. Industrial innovators focus more on the world market. Germany has managed to get again slightly ahead Japan as an exporter of R&D-intensive goods and in patent activities. However, the foreign trade success that the German technology sector enjoyed is mainly based on the automobile sector. Increasing problems are in the long term the decline in the number of qualified manpower entering the labour market. It will exacerbate the shortage of qualified staff in innovating companies.