Topic Industry

Evaluation support study on the EU rules on State aid for access to finance for SMEs

As part of the evaluation process of the current State aid rules, the European Commission has awarded to the consortium of Lear, DIW Berlin, and Sheppard Mullin, a specific contract to carry out a study of the EU rules for State aid facilitating access to finance for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). These rules comprise the Guidelines on State aid to promote risk finance investments (RFG) and...

Support study for the evaluation of the rules for operating aid under the EU aviation framework applicable as of 2014

As part of the evaluation process of the current State aid rules, the European Commission has awarded to the consortium of Lear, DIW Berlin, and Sheppard Mullin, a specific contract to carry out a study to support its evaluation of the rules regarding access of airports to operating aid under the EU Aviation Framework applicable as of 2014 (2014 Aviation Guidelines or the Guidelines). The study...

Merger Policy in Digital Markets: An Ex-Post Assessment

This paper presents a broad retrospective evaluation of mergers and merger decisions in the digital sector. We first discuss the most crucial features of digital markets such as network effects, multi-sidedness, big data, and rapid innovation that create important challenges for competition policy. We show that these features have been key determinants of the theories of harm in major merger cases ...

Productivity: Urban-Rural Differences Affect Productivity More Than East-West Differences

Following reunification, productivity in eastern Germany grew rapidly. A strong industrial sector is key to a thriving German economy. However, the narrowing of the industrial productivity gap between eastern and western Germany has come to a standstill since the financial and economic crisis and the gap remains considerable today. Nevertheless, when comparing similar regions in eastern and western ...

Competitiveness and Convergence: Trade, Merger Control, Industry, and Innovation: Reports

25 Years of European Merger Control

We study the evolution of the EC’s merger decision procedure over the first 25 years of European competition policy. Using a novel dataset constructed at the level of the relevant markets and containing all merger cases over the 1990-2014 period, we evaluate how consistently arguments related to structural market parameters were applied over time. Using non-parametric machine learning techniques, we ...

Retrospective evaluation support study: the Guidelines on Regional State Aid for 2014-2020

In January 2019, the European Commission (“Commission”) launched the evaluation of its State aid rules that were adopted as part of the State aid Modernisation. The evaluation aims to verify if the rules delivered the desired results to European citizens and businesses at a minimum cost and if they are still fit for purpose. Within this process, the Commission entrusted a consortium of...

Studies on the German Innovation System: R&D-intensive Industries and Knowledge-intensive Services in International Comparison

German Industry Returning to Cities

Is the German manufacturing industry, which has been leaving cities for less densely populated areas since World War II, being lured back into urban centers? This report analyses industrial start-ups from 2012 to 2016 and derives their preferred locations. The analysis shows that the start-up intensity in large agglomerations is on average almost 40 percent higher than in the other regions of Germany. ...

Research and Productivity – Manufacturing Companies in Cities Have an Advantage

Companies invest in research and development (R&D) to safeguard their competitive ability and increase productivity. Using extensive company data for Germany, the study shows that manufacturing companies that engage in R&D activities and that are located in a central urban agglomeration are especially productive. They additionally benefit from knowledge created by R&D activities of other companies ...