Gö g, Holge ; Leh , Jakob
A icle — Published Ve sion
Sho and medium- e m e ec s o o eign acquisi ions on
manu ac u ing i ms: E idence om Ge many
Economics Le e s
P o ided in Coope a ion wi h:
Kiel Ins i u e o he Wo ld Economy – Leibniz Cen e o Resea ch on Global Economic Challenges
Sugges ed Ci a ion: Gö g, Holge ; Leh , Jakob (2024) : Sho and medium- e m e ec s o o eign
acquisi ions on manu ac u ing i ms: E idence om Ge many, Economics Le e s, ISSN 1873-7374,
Else ie BV, Ams e dam, Vol. 241, pp. 1-6,
h ps://doi.o g/10.1016/j.econle .2024.111826
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Sho and medium- e m e ec s o o eign acquisi ions on manu ac u ing
i ms: E idence om Ge many✩
Holge Gö g a, Jakob Leh b,∗
aKiel Ins i u e o he Wo ld Economy and Uni e si y o Kiel, Ge many
bUni e si y o Mannheim, Ge many
ARTICLE INFO
JEL classi ica ion:
F23
F61
Keywo ds:
Fo eign di ec in es men
Fo eign acquisi ions
Fi m beha io
Ex-pos e alua ion
ABSTRACT
This pape , o he i s ime, in es iga es he impac o o eign acquisi ions on Ge man manu ac u ing i ms
using, newly a ailable unique adminis a i e mic o da a spanning 25 yea s. Based on an e en s udy design
combined wi h p opensi y sco e ma ching echniques, we ind ha o eign acquisi ions signi ican ly inc ease
labo p oduc i i y and a e age wages in acqui ed i ms. A educ ion in employmen d i es bo h e ec s.
1. In oduc ion
Ge many’s economy, pa icula ly i s manu ac u ing sec o , is deeply
in eg a ed in o he global economy. This shows i sel h ough high
expo and impo ac i i y bu also h ough o eign di ec in es men s
(FDI). Fo ins ance, he FDI s ock in Ge many eached app oxima ely
1000 billion USD in 2021 (c . Uni ed Na ions Con e ence on T ade and
De elopmen (2023)). Despi e he signi icance o o eign in es men s,
li le is known abou hei speci ic impac s on acqui ed companies. How
does hei compe i i e posi ion e ol e? Wha happens o employmen
le els, and how do wages de elop? Agains he backd op o a po en ial
disin eg a ion o he global economy, e.g., due o poli ical ins abil-
i ies o secu i y conside a ions, hese al eady c i ical ques ions gain
e en g ea e signi icance. This pape con ibu es o answe ing hese
ques ions.
✩The p ojec gene a ing he da ase used in his pape has been con ac ed by and ecei ed unding om he Ge man Fede al Minis y o Economic A ai s and
Clima e Ac ion. We hank he Resea ch Da a Cen e (RDC) he Fede al S a is ical O ice and he Resea ch Da a and Se ice Cen e (RDSC) o he Bundesbank o
g an ing us access o he mic o-da a. The speci ic p ojec i le in he da a usage ag eemen wi h he Bundesbank is ‘‘E alua ing he impac o o eign acquisi ions
in Ge many (P ojec ID 2023/0047)’’. All esul s in his pape we e gene a ed ia Con olled Remo e Execu ion. Jakob Leh acknowledges addi ional unding
h ough he Ge man Resea ch Founda ion (DFG) h ough CRC TR 224 (P ojec B07).
∗Co esponding au ho .
E-mail add ess: [email p o ec ed] (J. Leh ).
1Li e a u e also looks a he impac o inwa d FDI on agg ega e p oduc i i y and pe o mance mo e gene ally (c . Gö g and G eenaway (2004), G eenaway
and Knelle (2007), Kelle (2024)).
2The mos no able excep ions a e Wagne and Weche-Gelübcke (2015) and Weche-Gelübcke (2015) who look a he impac o o eign acquisi ions on access
o inance, and employmen and p oduc i i y o a ge i ms espec i ely. They use da a o 2007 o 2010. Thei de ini ion o o eign owne ship is based on
Fo eign A ilia e S a is ics (FATS) o Ge many, which only includes majo i y o eign owned i ms. Ou de ini ion is based on o eign in es men s equi alen o a
leas a 10 pe cen owne ship sha e (see K use e al. (2023) o a discussion). Mo e impo an ly, ou da a co e a much longe ime pe iod allowing us o conside
also medium o long un e ec s. Mo eo e he da a we use a e a ailable o app o ed esea che s a he Resea ch Da a and Se ice Cen e a he Bundesbank
and he Resea ch Da a Cen e o he Fede al S a is ical O ice.
We in es iga e he esponse o i m-le el measu es o economic
pe o mance – p oduc i i y, ou pu , employmen and a e age wages –
o an in low o o eign in es men h ough an acquisi ion o a domes ic
i m by a o eign owne . The analysis is based on comp ehensi e,
new and unique i m-le el panel da a o Ge many, co e ing 25 yea s
om 1995 un il 2019. We implemen an e en s udy design, which
we combine wi h p opensi y sco e ma ching echniques, in o de o
iden i y he e ec s o o eign acquisi ions a he i m le el.
Ou pape makes h ee con ibu ions: Fi s , we es ima e he e ec
o o eign in es men on Ge man manu ac u ing i ms. The e a e e-
la ed pape s looking a he e ec s o c oss-bo de M&As o FDI mo e
b oadly on i m pe o mance in he con ex o o he coun ies, also
using simila me hods (e.g. A nold and Ja o cik (2009), C iscuolo and
Ma in (2009), Guadalupe e al. (2012), Gi ma e al. (2015), A nold
e al. (2023)).1Howe e , compa able e idence o Ge many is sca ce.2
h ps://doi.o g/10.1016/j.econle .2024.111826
Recei ed 15 Ap il 2024; Recei ed in e ised o m 18 June 2024; Accep ed 18 June 2024
Economics Le e s 241 (2024) 111826
2
H. Gö g and J. Leh
Filling his gap is pa icula ly impo an gi en he deg ee o openness
o he Ge man economy, i s size, le el o echnology, and i s ole as
Eu ope’s indus ial powe house.
Second, we conduc ou analysis linking, o he i s ime, wo la ge
adminis a i e mic o da ase s: he Ge man census o he manu ac u ing
indus y p o ided by he Ge man Fede al S a is ical O ice and he
Mic oda abase Di ec In es men collec ed by he Ge man Bundesbank.
The link be ween he wo da ase s has been es ablished only ecen ly,
and we a e he i s o exploi his new and unique da abase. Wi h his
da a, spanning 25 yea s, we a e able o es ima e sho and medium-
e m e ec s o o eign acquisi ions. Gene ally, s udies as he ones ci ed
abo e only look a sho un e ec s.
Thi d, we employ an empi ical speci ica ion ha ecognizes ecen
ad ancemen s in he di e ence-in-di e ences li e a u e, which migh
be pa icula ly ele an in ou se ing gi en he s agge ed ea men
adop ion. We implemen he e en s udy es ima o p oposed by Sun
and Ab aham (2021), combining i wi h p opensi y sco e ma ching
echniques o es ima e he causal e ec s o acquisi ions on i ms.
Ou esul s show ha o eign acquisi ions lead o a s ong and
las ing inc ease in labo p oduc i i y and a e age wages. Fo ins ance,
o e an eigh -yea pe iod ollowing he akeo e , a e age labo p o-
duc i i y and wages inc ease by 5% and 2%, espec i ely, in acqui ed
i ms compa ed o he con ol g oup. Bo h e ec s a e d i en by i ms
educing employmen while main aining a cons an ou pu le el and
only mode a ely dec easing o al labo cos s. E ec s a e obus o a
a ie y o al e na i e speci ica ions.
2. Da a
We can, uniquely, combine he Ge man census o he manu ac u ing
indus y wi h he Mic oda abase Di ec In es men – MiDi – o in es-
iga e he e ec o o eign acquisi ions on Ge man i ms.3The census
da a spans he pe iod 1995–2019 and co e s he popula ion o manu-
ac u ing i ms wi h a leas 20 employees. I con ains basic in o ma ion
on i ms’ cha ac e is ics, like he economic sec o , and measu es o
economic pe o mance, such as g oss ou pu , he numbe o employees
and he o al wage bill. The MiDi da abase con ains comp ehensi e
in o ma ion on o eign in es men s in Ge many a he in es men -
i m-yea le el, s a ing in 1999.4The da a co e he uni e se o FDI,
subjec o wo epo ing h esholds: i s ly, he balance shee o al o he
Ge man i m ecei ing he in es men has o exceed 3 million Eu os;
secondly, he in es o mus own a leas 10% o he o ing igh s in he
Ge man company.
We combine he wo da ase s using common i m iden i ie s and
de ine a o eign-owne ship dummy equal o one i he i m appea s in
he MiDi da a. To ensu e ha a swi ch o he o eign-owned dummy
om 0 o 1 cap u es a eal change in he i m’s owne ship s a us,
a he han an al eady o eign-owned i m espassing he 3 million
Eu o h eshold, we exclude all i ms wi h a balance shee o al o less
han ou million eu o in he i s yea hey appea in MiDi.5We also
exclude all i ms in o eign owne ship in 1999, he i s yea o MiDi.
3Fo u he in o ma ion on he Mic oda abase Di ec In es men ,
see F iede ich e al. (2021) and Blank e al. (2020) (DOI: 10.12757/
Bbk.MiDi.9920.09.09). The speci ic da ase o he manu ac u ing indus y
has been compiled o his p ojec and is no a s anda d da a p oduc
o e ed by he Resea ch Da a Cen e s o he Fede al S a is ical O ice.
This p ojec -based da ase combined NACE Re . 2 sec ions B-F: includ-
ing mining and qua ying, manu ac u ing, ene gy and wa e supply, as
well as cons uc ion. I is de i ed om he RDC p oduc s AFiD-Panel
Indus ieun e nehmen (DOI: 10.21242/42221.2021.00.01.1.1.0), AFiD-Panel
Un e nehmens uk u s a is iken (DOI: 10.21242/42231.2020.00.05.1.1.0) and
AFiD-Panel Ene gieun e nehmen (DOI: 10.21242/43221.2021.00.01.1.1.0).
Fo he combined da a se c . also Boddin e al. (2024).
4A i m can hus appea mul iple imes annually i i has ecei ed mo e
han one o eign in es men . In his case, we agg ega e o he i m le el o
ha e one i m obse a ion pe yea .
5A change in he o eign-owned dummy can indica e an FDI shock along
he ex ensi e o he in ensi e ma gin, gi en ha i migh e lec a c ossing
3. Empi ical app oach
We employ an e en s udy speci ica ion o iden i y he e ec o o -
eign acquisi ions on Ge man i ms. The cen al iden i ying assump ion
equi es ea ed i ms’ coun e ac ual ends in ou comes o be pa allel
o ends in he con ol g oup. While pa allel ends p io o ea men
yield s ong suppo o his assump ion, we aim o u he inc ease con-
idence in he pa allel ends assump ion by choosing a con ol g oup
simila o he ea men g oup conce ning he dis ibu ion o co a ia es.
To achie e his, we use p opensi y sco e ma ching echniques.6
Speci ically, each i m acqui ed by a o eign in es o in 𝑡+ 1 ge s
pai ed wi h a domes ic i m based on he i m’s p opensi y sco e (1:1
ma ching), which we p edic om a logis ic eg ession o a dummy
indica ing a o eign acquisi ion on 3-digi -sec o dummies, yea dum-
mies, he logs o he numbe o employees, he a e age wage, labo
p oduc i i y (measu ed as ou pu pe wo ke ) as well as ou pu and
wage g ow h. All a iables ela e o wo yea s p io o acquisi ion.
We hen es ima e he ollowing e en s udy equa ion on he ma ched
sample:
𝑦𝑖𝑡𝑐 =𝛽0+
8
∑
𝑗=−4
𝛽𝑗𝐷𝑗
𝑖,𝑡 +𝜏𝑡𝑐 +𝜙𝑖+𝜉𝑖𝑡𝑐 (1)
The dependen a iable, 𝑦𝑖𝑡𝑐 , can be any ou come o i m 𝑖a ime 𝑡.
The subsc ip 𝑐indica es he coho , i.e., he yea he i m was acqui ed
o ma ched as a con ol. We a e in e es ed in he ec o o coe icien s
𝛽on he e en indica o s 𝐷𝑗
𝑖,𝑡. The coe icien o he las yea be o e
he acquisi ion (𝑗= −1) is no malized o ze o, and he e o e, all
es ima es a e o be in e p e ed ela i e o ha yea . The coe icien s
o yea s p io o akeo e (𝑗 < 0) es p e- ends while he coe icien s
(𝑗≥0) cap u e he pos -acquisi ion dynamics. The e ec s a e es ima ed
condi ional on he ime-coho ixed e ec 𝜏𝑡𝑐 and he i m ixed e ec
𝜙𝑖. While he la e abso bs all ime-in a ian i m cha ac e is ics, 𝜏𝑡𝑐
con ols o ime e ec s by coho o ea ed and con ol i ms. Finally,
𝜉𝑖𝑡𝑐 is a andom dis u bance e m.
We ollow Abadie and Spiess (2022) and clus e s anda d e o s
a he le el o he ma ched pai s. We also ecognize ecen ad ance-
men s in he di e ence-in-di e ences and e en s udy li e a u e (de
Chaisema in and D’Haul œuille,2020;Goodman-Bacon,2021;Sun
and Ab aham,2021;Callaway and San ’Anna,2021) and employ he
e en s udy es ima o sugges ed by Sun and Ab aham (2021).7
4. Desc ip i e s a is ics
Panel A o Table 1 p o ides summa y s a is ics o main a iables
o he ull sample. This con ains o e 900,000 i m-yea obse a ions
om 1995 o 2019. Panel B shows summa y s a is ics o i ms acqui ed
by a o eign in es o , and Panel C o he ma ched con ols ( igu es
o bo h g oups come om he yea i ms we e aken o e /ma ched).
Compa ing Panel A and Panel B, i is no able ha o eign in es o s pick
la ge and mo e p oduc i e i ms. Panel C shows ha he ma ching
success ully homogenizes he es ima ion sample: acqui ed i ms and
hei ma ched con ols a e o simila size – in pa icula medians
a e closely aligned – and also p oduc i i y p oxies a e o compa able
magni ude.
Fig. A.1 in he appendix p o ides backg ound in o ma ion on he
o igin o in es o s and he numbe o akeo e s in each yea om he
pos -ma ching sample.
o he o ing- igh h eshold. I is s anda d p ac ice in his li e a u e, hough,
o de ine a i m as o eign i he sha e o o eign owne ship exceeds 10%
(c . Bajga and Ja o cik (2020)). In p ac ice, mos owne ship sha es a e much
highe , sugges ing ha changes happen mainly along he ex ensi e ma gin.
6PSM echniques ha e been used ex ensi ely in his li e a u e, see Gi ma
and Gö g (2007), A nold and Ja o cik (2009), Guadalupe e al. (2012), B ucal
e al. (2019).
7We use he S a a command e en s udyin e ac which implemen s he
es ima o sugges ed by Sun and Ab aham (2021).
Economics Le e s 241 (2024) 111826
3
H. Gö g and J. Leh
Table 1
Summa y s a is ics.
Mean Sd p50 p10 p90 N
A. Full Sample
G oss Ou pu (in 1000e) 48 237.74 722 988.78 7789.09 1994.44 63 602.36 924 391
# Employees 170 1438 57 26 283 924391
A e age Wage (in 1000e) 35.58 15.43 33.25 17.00 56.42 924 391
In es men (in 1000e) 1671.10 25 359.55 180.46 8.62 2195.14 924 391
G oss Ou pu /# Employees 181.16 399.89 130.84 53.58 322.52 924391
B. Fi ms Taken O e
G oss Ou pu (in 1000e) 57 502.29 154 182.98 25 476.11 8562.27 122 605.23 1354
# Employees 218 306 134 50 434 1354
A e age Wage (in 1000e) 39.31 11.57 37.83 26.11 53.91 1354
In es men (in 1000e) 1975912.6 5253759.9 654 821.31 85 696 4 069 002 1354
G oss Ou pu /# Employees 261.66 289.80 186.89 96.93 466.30 1354
C. Con ol Fi ms
G oss Ou pu (in 1000e) 63 628.8 137 233.58 23 364.35 6081.98 135 089.03 1354
# Employees 249 479 128 43 506 1354
A e age Wage (in 1000e) 38.86 11.33 37.97 25.82 53.29 1354
In es men (in 1000e) 2135069.3 6180518.3 521 790.33 47 520.67 4575142.5 1354
G oss Ou pu /# Employees 244.48 282.13 175.37 92.56 445.12 1354
No es: Pa A o he Table shows summa y s a is ics o he main a iables om all obse a ions pooled ac oss yea s. Pa s B and C o he
Table show summa y s a is ics om he ma ched sample, sepa a ely o ea ed i ms (Pa B) and he ma ched con ol i ms (Pa C) om he
yea i ms we e ma ched. Sou ce: Resea ch Da a Cen e o he Fede al S a is ical O ice and Resea ch Da a and Se ice Cen e (RDSC) o he
Deu sche Bundesbank: P ojec -speci ic Da a based on he Census o Manu ac u ing Indus y (1995–2019) and Mic oda abase Di ec In es men
(1999–2019), own calcula ions.
Fig. 1. Main esul s: E en S udy Es ima es.
No es: Figu es a–e show e en s udy es ima es om he ma ched sample ollowing he app oach by Sun and Ab aham (2021). . (Fo in e p e a ion o he e e -
ences o colo in his igu e legend, he eade is e e ed o he web e sion o his a icle.)
Sou ce: Resea ch Da a Cen e o he Fede al S a is ical O ice and Resea ch Da a and Se ice Cen e (RDSC) o he Deu sche Bundesbank:P ojec -speci ic Da a based on he Census
o Manu ac u ing Indus y (1995–2019) and Mic oda abase Di ec In es men (2000–2019), own calcula ions.
5. Resul s
Sub igu es a–e in Fig. 1 plo he main esul s om he baseline e en
s udy speci ica ion shown in Eq. (1). The numbe o obse a ions in
he es ima ion sample is 54,055. All es ima es show he di e en ial
e olu ion in ou comes in he ea men g oup ela i e o he con ol
g oup and he yea p io o he acquisi ion. In he plo s, he e ical
g ay line indica es he acquisi ion ime and he shaded blue a eas
dema ca e he 95 h con idence in e als.
Fig. 1(a) plo s he esul s wi h he log o g oss ou pu on he le -
hand side. Reassu ingly, all p e- ea men coe icien s a e close o ze o
and s a is ically insigni ican , bo h indi idually and join ly. The poin
es ima es o he pos -pe iod indica e an inc ease in ou pu du ing he
i s wo o h ee yea s a e he owne ship change. These posi i e
e ec s ade away quickly, as indica ed by he s a is ically insigni ican
coe icien s in la e yea s. In ac , we canno ejec he null hypo hesis
ha all pos -coe icien s a e join ly s a is ically insigni ican .
Sub igu e b p oceeds wi h he e ec on employmen : again, p e-
ends a e la and indis inguishable om ze o. By con as , all pos -
ea men coe icien s a e nega i e, inc easing o e ime and join ly
signi ican . Fo example, wo yea s a e a i m was acqui ed, employ-
men is 2% lowe among ea ed i ms ela i e o he ma ched con ol
Economics Le e s 241 (2024) 111826
4
H. Gö g and J. Leh
Table 2
E ec o acquisi ions by egion o in es men o igin.
Pos ea men
Log o Go Log o #Wo ke Log o Wagebill Log o Wage Log o GO/Wo ke
EU −0.0056 −0.0706*** −0.0552*** 0.0154** 0.0650***
(0.0221) (0.0173) (0.0184) (0.0079) (0.0162)
ROW −0.0061 −0.0152 −0.0000 0.0152*0.0091
(0.0248) (0.0177) (0.0200) (0.0084) (0.0183)
P e ea men
EU 0.0092 0.0094 0.0083 −0.0012 −0.0002
(0.0158) (0.0120) (0.0124) (0.0065) (0.0123)
ROW 0.0048 0.0007 0.0004 −0.0003 0.0041
(0.0180) (0.0129) (0.0133) (0.0067) (0.0131)
No es: The Table epo s he join p e- and pos - akeo e coe icien s om he e en s udy es ima es on a ma ched sample. The numbe o
obse a ions in he EU- akeo e sample is 24,968 and 21,074 in he ROW sample. Sou ce: Resea ch Da a Cen e o he Fede al S a is ical O ice
and Resea ch Da a and Se ice Cen e (RDSC) o he Deu sche Bundesbank: P ojec -speci ic Da a based on he Census o Manu ac u ing Indus y
(1995–2019) and Mic oda abase Di ec In es men (2000–2019), own calcula ions.
* Signi icance le els is indica ed as p <0.1.
** Signi icance le els is indica ed as p <0.05.
*** Signi icance le els is indica ed as p <0.01.
Fig. A.1. Takeo e s in he pos -ma ching sample.
No es: Sub igu e (a) epo s he numbe o akeo e s pe yea in he ma ched sample, sepa a ely o akeo e s om an in es o based in an EU coun y (blue) and he es o he
wo ld ( ed). Sub igu e (b) shows he numbe o akeo e s in he es ima ion sample o he en coun ies o in es men o igin. (Fo in e p e a ion o he e e ences o colo in his
igu e legend, he eade is e e ed o he web e sion o his a icle.)
Sou ce: Resea ch Da a Cen e o he Fede al S a is ical O ice and Resea ch Da a and Se ice Cen e (RDSC) o he Deu sche Bundesbank: P ojec -speci ic Da a based on he Census
o Manu ac u ing Indus y (1995–2019) and Mic oda abase Di ec In es men (2000–2019), own calcula ions.
i ms; and eigh yea s a e he akeo e , employmen has been educed
ela i e o con ol i ms by 8%. The pos - ea men e ec s a e join ly
highly signi ican and indica e an o e all educ ion in employmen as
a consequence o he akeo e by 4%.
A nega i e e ec on he wage bill, i.e., he sum o all wages, as
shown in Sub igu e c, e lec s he decline in employmen . In he yea s
immedia ely a e ea men , he wage bill emained s able and only
dipped ou yea s a e he akeo e . The join e ec o he pos -
coe icien s implies a 2% educ ion in labo cos s, albei s a is ically
insigni ican .
We ind an immedia e inc ease in g oss ou pu pe wo ke and he
a e age wage (Sub igu es d and e). In he i s yea a e he akeo e ,
g oss ou pu pe wo ke inc eased by almos 3.5% and wages a e abou
1% highe ela i e o he con ol g oup. These e ec s g ow la ge o e
ime, wi h all pos -coe icien s being indi idually signi ican . Join ly,
he pos -coe icien s indica e a 2% inc ease in he a e age wage and a
5% inc ease in g oss ou pu pe wo ke .
We check he obus ness o ou esul s owa ds al e na i e speci i-
ca ions. Fig. A.2 in he appendix plo s he es ima es o all ou comes
om ou al e na i e speci ica ions: a con en ional e en s udy igno -
ing ecen e inemen s o he di e ence-in-di e ences amewo k, ou
baseline speci ica ion wi h yea -coho -sec o ixed e ec s ins ead o
yea -coho ixed e ec s only, he baseline speci ica ion es ima ed on a
balanced panel and inally an exac ma ching wi hin economic sec o s.8
Resul s a e obus owa ds he choice o he empi ical speci ica ion.
We spli he sample o ea ed i ms in o hose whose in es o is
om an EU coun y and hose wi h an in es o om he es o he
wo ld. Table 2 epo s he subsample esul s; he join coe icien s om
he pos - ea men yea s a e in he uppe pa o he Table, and he
lowe pa o he Table epo s he join p e- ea men coe icien s.
Reassu ingly, all p e- ea men coe icien s a e small and s a is ically
insigni ican and hus suppo he pa allel ends assump ion.
I is e iden om he Table ha EU coun ies d i e he main esul s,
as shown in Eq. (1). The a e age educ ion in employmen a e an
in es men om an EU coun y o e he 8-yea pos - ea men e en
window is 7%. This es ima e is 3% la ge han in he main esul s.
Mo eo e , we also ind a subs an ial and highly signi ican educ ion in
he wage bill. None heless, a e age wages inc ease by abou 1.5% a e
an acquisi ion, and we also ind a posi i e e ec on labo p oduc i i y.
8We use he same p opensi y sco e as in he baseline speci ica ion and
hen ma ch wi hin wo-digi indus ies, en o cing common suppo wi hin each
indus y.
Economics Le e s 241 (2024) 111826
5
H. Gö g and J. Leh
Fig. A.2. Robus ness: Al e na i e speci ica ions.
No es: Each sub igu e epo s esul s o one ou come om ou di e en empi ical speci ica ions: a con en ional e en s udy as opposed o he
app oach by Sun and Ab aham (2021), a speci ica ion wi h yea -coho -sec o ixed e ec , a balanced panel speci ica ion and an al e na i e
ma ching, i.e., ma ching wi hin economic sec o s. The numbe o obse a ions a ies by speci ica ion and is, in he abo e o de , 54055, 51978,
27098, 53365. The do s in he igu es ma k he poin es ima es, and he e ical lines show he 95 h con idence in e als, wi h s anda d e o s
clus e ed a he le el o he ma ched pai s. Sou ce: Resea ch Da a Cen e o he Fede al S a is ical O ice and Resea ch Da a and Se ice Cen e
(RDSC) o he Deu sche Bundesbank: P ojec -speci ic Da a based on he Census o Manu ac u ing Indus y (1995–2019) and Mic oda abase
Di ec In es men (2000–2019), own calcula ions.
The e ec s o acquisi ions om he es o he wo ld a e all sign-
consis en wi h he main e ec s bu smalle and insigni ican excep
o he e ec on a e age wages.
6. Conclusion
This pape p esen s i s e idence on he e ec o o eign acquisi-
ions on Ge man manu ac u ing i ms based on newly a ailable unique
adminis a i e mic o da a co e ing wo and a hal decades. We ind ha
acqui ed i ms expe ience a posi i e and las ing boos o p oduc i i y:
Ou pu pe wo ke inc eases by abou 5%, and a e age wages by
oughly 2% compa ed o he con ol g oup. The e ec s a e mainly
due o in es men s om o he EU coun ies. The inc ease in p oduc-
i i y esul s om a educ ion in employmen and o e all labo cos s
while main aining he same ou pu le el. This mechanism migh be
mos ele an in coun ies close o he echnological on ie , such as
Ge many, whe eas upg ading echnology a e a akeo e p esumably
plays a la ge ole in de eloping coun ies o any posi i e e ec s on
p oduc i i y. F om a policy poin o iew, ou esul s sugges ha
o eign acquisi ions can bene i he economy by inc easing agg ega e
p oduc i i y and imp o ing compe i i eness. This, howe e , may come
a he expense o somewha lowe employmen .
Decla a ion o compe ing in e es
The au ho s decla e ha hey ha e no known compe ing inan-
cial in e es s o pe sonal ela ionships ha could ha e appea ed o
in luence he wo k epo ed in his pape .
Da a a ailabili y
The da a ha has been used is con iden ial.
Appendix
See Figs. A.1 and A.2
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