Companies that conduct research are generally much more productive than those that do not – that is the conclusion of a recent study carried out by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin. In 2010 the productivity edge of companies that invest in Research and Development (R&D) was 57 per cent, measured by per capita added value. This means the gap between companies that conduct research and those that do not is becoming wider, according to the author of the study, Alexander Eickelpasch. It is also noticeable, he says, that the researching companies’ edge depends little on the sector and the size of the company.

The study also shows that expenditure on R&D in companies in Germany grew by an average of 3.8 per cent a year in the decade between 2000 and 2010. The four sectors that conduct the most research account for a good 90 per cent of the entire investments in R&D, with the automotive industry spending the most: 18 billon euros or just under 39 per cent. Mechanical engineering, the chemical industry and electrical engineering are among the branches of the economy that traditionally invest most heavily in research. In these companies the budgets for research are more or less constant. There were, on the other hand, increases in sectors that tend not to invest so much in research, such as the plastics industry and also in small and medium-sized firms.

Even though the positive trend in expenditure on R&D still continues, the long-term study makes it clear that investments in research are very much dependent on the economic situation: for instance, such investments were cut markedly because of the economic crisis in 2009. Accordingly, early indicators for 2012 show that companies are scaling down their budgets for research in view of the uncertain economic climate.