Open Access

Many plant-level studies find that average wages in exporting firms are higher than in non-exporting firms from the same industry and region. This paper uses a large set of linked employer-employee data from Germany to analyze this exporter wage premium. We show that the wage differential becomes smaller but does not completely vanish when observable and unobservable characteristics of the employees and of the work place are controlled for. For example, blue-collar (white-collar) employees working in a plant with an export-sales ratio of 60 percent earn about 1.8 (0.9) percent more than similar employees in otherwise identical non-exporting plants.

This paper traces the profound decline in German unionism over the course of the last three decades. Today just one in five workers is a union member, and it is now moot whether this degree of penetration is consistent with a corporatist model built on encompassing unions. The decline in union membership and density is attributable to external forces that have confronted unions in many countries (such as globalization and compositional changes in the workforce) and to some specifically German considerations (such as the transition process in postcommunist Eastern Germany) and sustained intervals of classic insider behavior on the part of German unions. The ‘correctives’ have included mergers between unions, decentralization, and wages that are more responsive to unemployment. At issue is the success of these innovations. For instance, the trend toward decentralization in collective bargaining hinges in part on the health of that other pillar of the dual system of industrial relations, the works council. But works council coverage has also declined, leading some observers to equate decentralization with deregulation. While this conclusion is likely too radical, German unions are at the cross roads. It is argued here that if they fail to define what they stand for, are unable to increase their presence at the workplace, and continue to lack convincing strategies to deal with contemporary economic and political trends working against them, then their decline may become a rout.

The study empirically examines the long-term export behaviour of about 200 young technology-oriented companies from Germany and the UK. These firms were contacted by means of two surveys, in 1997 and 2003. In this study, three dimensions of firms’ international engagements are examined econometrically: foreign market entry and exit, degree of internationalisation (i.e., export-sales ratio), and the change of sales modes in international markets. Moreover, the causal relationship between a firm’s status of internationalisation and its performance (measured by the firm’s labour productivity as well as its employment and sales growth rates) is analysed.

Networks of social relationships are becoming increasingly important in today’s business environment. By cooperating in such structures players seek to overcome the shortcomings of the alternative forms of exchange, namely markets and hierarchies, and to realise (greater) information benefits. This is done through the reduction of complexities and uncertainties, as well as by increasing the speed of information flows and decision-making within networks. Traditional network research has focused on company networks and neglected the assessment of the underlying constituents of social networks. Studies concerned with the use of social ties for economic goals are generally not scientific and lack the theoretical foundation ti guide such an analysis. For these reasons it is the aim of this research paper, based on a theoretical framework, to systematically examine the underlying factors that lead to successful co-operations within a social network seeking to reach a common goal. The results of the current qualitative research study indicate that the factors suggested in the literature as significant for successful networking (e.g. common base; common language; mutual goals; sympathy for each other; a general interest in social contacts, combined with the necessary skills to act within social contexts) do indeed impact this type of co-operation as proposed. In addition to what is put forward in the literature it became evident that all successful individuals have a passion, besides their business activities, such as music, art or sports. This ardour also serves as a platform on which valuable contacts are established and maintained.