Dataset by Axel Mangelsdorf
Article by Axel Mangelsdorf
n this paper, we identify the strategic motives of German manufacturing companies in the electric... more n this paper, we identify the strategic motives of German manufacturing companies in the electrical engineering and machinery industry to be involved in standards development organizations. First, we present the general motives for the formation of strategic alliances and relate them to specific standardization motives. Then, we identify pursuing specific company interests, solving technical problems, knowledge seeking, influencing regulation, and facilitating market access as motives to standardize by means of factor analysis. In a second step, we test hypotheses on the relationship between the importance of strategic motives and firm level variables, e.g. R&D intensity, innovation activities, and firm size. The results reveal that firms in electric engineering and machinery have a particularly strong interest in ensuring industry-friendly design of regulations, which can be achieved by standards. Moreover, the results confirm that small firms also from these two sectors are active in standardization alliances to access knowledge from other involved stakeholders.
This paper aims to examine the incentives of companies from industrialized countries
to conduct R... more This paper aims to examine the incentives of companies from industrialized countries
to conduct R&D in developing Asian economies. By analyzing the relationship
between previous international R&D activities in Asia and the sales of innovative
products in Asia, we investigate whether companies follow ‘knowledge
augmenting’ or ‘knowledge exploiting’ strategies. Since our results show a positive
relationship between these activities only in developing Asia, we conclude
that those firms follow a knowledge exploiting strategy and are attracted by market
opportunities. Further, we find that companies require a certain experience
before they conduct R&D activities in Asia. The more R&D units a company has
outside its home market, the more likely the company is to locate a R&D unit in
Asia. However, going to Asia is not just a phenomenon of large multinational
companies. The analysis is based on a dataset about the innovation behaviour of
German firms, the Mannheim Innovation Panel. We retrieve a sample of about
739 international innovating firms.
While it is widely acknowledged that international standards facilitate trade, much less is known... more While it is widely acknowledged that international standards facilitate trade, much less is known about certification requirements and mutually recognition of certifi-cation results. In our paper, we examine the impact of ISO 9000 certifications and the multilateral recognition arrangement for international acceptance of ISO 9000 certificates of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF-MLA) on trade in manu-facturing goods. Using a gravity model, we find that certification intensity- the percentage of ISO 9000 certificated establishments in the manufacturing sector- promotes trade. Signatories of the IAF-MLA significantly trade more with each other and the trade enhancing effect has about the same magnitude as regional trade agreements. Our analysis shows that IAF-MLA is most important for ex-porters from less developed countries aiming to access markets in developed countries. For policy makers, our results show the importance of technical assis-tance for accreditation services in developing countries.
Normung und deren Ergebnis, die Normen, sind inzwischen als wichtige Instrumente der Wirtschafts-... more Normung und deren Ergebnis, die Normen, sind inzwischen als wichtige Instrumente der Wirtschafts-und Innovationspolitik auf nationaler und europäischer Ebene anerkannt. Mit dem Fokus auf die Normung und die Normen stellt sich verstärkt die Frage nach der Effektivität und Effizienz des aktuellen Normungssystems und seiner operativen Umsetzung. In diesem Kontext werden u. a. im Auftrag der Europäischen Kommission diverse Studien vor allem mit Fokus auf die Probleme kleiner und mittleren Unternehmen durchgeführt. Um Aspekte hinsichtlich der Partizipation an der Normung, des Zugangs zu Normeninformationen und der Umsetzung von Normen in der Praxis zu erfassen, hat das Fachgebiet Innovationsökonomie der Technischen Universität Berlin zusammen mit dem Fraunhofer Institut für System-und Innovationsforschung Ende 2008 die Mitgliedsunternehmen des VDMA und des ZVEI mit Unterstützung der beiden Verbände befragt. Insgesamt haben sich ungefähr 400 Unternehmen der insgesamt über 4000 Mitgliedsunternehmen der beiden Verbände an der Befragung beteiligt. Dabei haben etwas mehr Mitglieder des ZVEI geantwortet. Ferner teilt sich die Stichprobe ungefähr in gleichen Teilen in kleine und mittlere Unternehmen (KMU) mit weniger als 500 Beschäftigten und Großunternehmen auf. Zwei Drittel der befragten Unternehmen sind in der Normung aktiv, wobei KMU etwa nur zur Hälfte, aber die Großunternehmen in ca. 80% der Fälle engagiert sind. Dabei sinkt die Beteiligung der KMU auf der internationalen Ebene auf 25%, während hier noch zwei Drittel der befragten Großunternehmen aktiv sind. Ebenfalls deutlich sind die Unterschiede hinsichtlich der Anzahl der aktiven Sitze in Normungsgremien, die bei KMU im Durchschnitt bei drei liegt, während Großunternehmen gerade auf internationaler Ebene in über sieben Gremien aktiv sind. Betrachtet man nun die Gründe, die Unternehmen daran hindern, sich aktiv an der Normung zu beteiligen, dann sind dies die Langwierigkeit von Normungsprozessen, aber auch die fehlende externe Wertschätzung der Expertentätigkeit sowie mangelnde unternehmensinterne Anreize. Ferner werden finanzielle Belastungen, v. a. durch Reisekosten, Personalkosten und Gremienbeiträge, genannt. Auffallend ist die relativ hohe Bedeutung zu geringer unternehmensinterner Motivationen in KMU, sich an der Normung zu 1
This paper develops theoretical hypotheses about driving factors of service companies
to particip... more This paper develops theoretical hypotheses about driving factors of service companies
to participate in formal standards development organizations at the national,
European and International level and tests them based on a sample of
German service companies. Our results of Multivariate Probit regression models
reveal that company size and export activities play a significant positive role.
Moreover, internal R&D expenditure and successful service innovation have a
positive and statistically significant impact on the likelihood of participation in formal
standardization processes which indicates that taking part in service standardization
requires a certain absorptive capacity but is complementary to innovation
activities. Based on the empirical results we derive implications both for
managers of service companies and policy makers.
The paper addresses the role of technical standards in bilateral trade relationship between the
E... more The paper addresses the role of technical standards in bilateral trade relationship between the
European Union (EU) and China. Traditional aggregate demand functions for imports and
exports have been applied to estimate the effects of national and international standards. The
panel dataset covers 14 years (1995–2008) and 36 two-digit technological fields based on the
International Classification of Standards (ICS). The results indicate negative effects of purely
national Chinese standards but positive effects of Chinese international standards for European
exports. European standards and European standards aligned with international standards have
a positive impact on exports and imports. Based on these results, we conclude that both China
and the EU should increase their efforts to harmonise national standards.
This paper explores the decision of small- and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in ... more This paper explores the decision of small- and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in official standard
setting alliances. Based on micro data of German firms in
the electrical engineering and machinery industry, we show that
innovation-related variables follow the predictions of our hypotheses.
Research and development (R&D) intensity exhibits an inverse
U-shaped relationship on the likelihood to join alliances. The
positive relation suggests that SMEs aim to access the knowledge
of larger firms whereas the negative relationship indicates that
SMEs exceeding a certain threshold of R&D activity are reluctant
to participate in standardization because their knowledge is
too essential to disclose to competitors. The importance to access
external knowledge via standardization committees is underlined
by a positive correlation with the relevance of incoming knowledge
spillovers and a negative correlation with the relative size of companies’
patent portfolios. Besides these variables, we also explore the
traditionally considered factors for alliance formation and show
that firm size and export intensity are positively correlated with
participation.
Using a new database on standards in China, we estimate the impact of
voluntary and mandatory sta... more Using a new database on standards in China, we estimate the impact of
voluntary and mandatory standards – either harmonized to international norms or
purely domestic – on Chinese food exports. The dataset covers seven Chinese
products over the period 1992–2008. We find that standards have a positive effect
on China’s export performance, as the benefits to standardization in terms of
reducing potential information asymmetry and signaling enhance food safety, and
quality in foreign markets seem to surpass compliance costs. Our estimation
results show that the positive effect of Chinese standards is larger when they are
harmonized to international measures. The results suggest that there are clear
benefits to China’s steps to base their domestic standards and regulations on
international measures.
Using a new database on Chinese food standards, this
paper estimates the impact of voluntary and ... more Using a new database on Chinese food standards, this
paper estimates the impact of voluntary and mandatory
standards on its agricultural and food exports. The dataset
covers seven Chinese products from 1992 to 2008. The
findings here indicate that standards have a positive
effect on China’s export performance. Standards Signal to customers that products meet certain quality measures
and promote information exchange. The benefits of
increased exports outweigh compliance costs. Our results
also show that theses positive effects are larger when the
standards are consistent with international norms.
Conference Paper by Axel Mangelsdorf
In this paper, we explore the relationship between firms’
external knowledge sourcing and their d... more In this paper, we explore the relationship between firms’
external knowledge sourcing and their decision to participate
in standardization alliances. Based on micro data we show
that the importance of external knowledge is positively
correlated with participation in standardization. This suggests
that firms aim to access the knowledge of other companies
and stakeholders in order to increase their own knowledge
base. The analysis also shows that firms cooperating with
different actors are more likely to join standardization. Due to
the positive relationships with incoming knowledge spillovers
and forms of cooperation, we conclude that standardization
represents a specific form of collaborative knowledge-sharing
and knowledge-creating strategy. In addition, we are able to
show that absorptive capacity measured via companies’
research intensity promotes the involvement in
standardization.
We base our paper on data from a global company survey of certified companies carried out by the ... more We base our paper on data from a global company survey of certified companies carried out by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) in 2010/11. We use multivariate Probit and ordered Probit models to analyze how company internal and external factors influence the perception of benefits from accredited certifica-tion. Benefits from accredited certification are divided into added value for the or-ganization, increased sales and regulatory compliance. As for company external factors, we find that benefits from certification are higher for companies that went through a challenging certification process, had a competent certification body team, and are aware of the importance of accreditation. Internal factors are relat-ed to different motives for seeking certification. We find that the benefits from ac-credited certification are largest when companies become certified in order to im-prove their own business performance. Dividing our sample in high-income and middle income countries shows that the latter put more emphasis on company in-ternal improvement through certification and are more likely to benefit from certi-fication when they employ an external consultant. Finally, we can show that ben-efits are unequally distributed among companies. That is, smaller companies have a lower probability to benefit from certification compared to larger compa-nies.
In this paper, we examine the trade impact of private standards on exports of manufactured
food p... more In this paper, we examine the trade impact of private standards on exports of manufactured
food products. Our database covers information from about 12,000 food manufacturing
companies from 88 countries – including 53 developing countries -- that are
certified with retailer-based International Featured Standard (IFS). We use a dynamic
gravity model for the period 2008 to 2013 and find that IFS certifications are significantly
positively correlated with exports suggesting that private standards certifications
push exports of manufactured food products. Controlling for geographical distance
and common language and other trade related variables, we find that standards certifications
have the largest impact for European countries, followed by American and
Asian countries. In contrast, the coefficient estimate for African countries is insignificant.
Exports from African countries seem not to benefit from the increased use of
private standards which puts into question the poverty reducing effect of private standards
for low-income countries.
We use a new database of food producing firms to explain different outcomes of third party certif... more We use a new database of food producing firms to explain different outcomes of third party certification audits across firms. The database from the retailer-initiated certification scheme of the International Featured Standard (IFS) includes auditing reports from more than 13,000 firms producing in 96 countries over the period 2011 to 2013. Information on each firms’ conformance with the private standard require-ments as well as company specific characteristics such as branch, region, past experience with the standard and firm size is provided. While the previous literature emphasizes the role of auditor independence for differing audit results, we suggest that company specific variables play an important role. In our empirical analysis, we find a U-shaped relationship between firm size and performance: microenter-prises and large companies are more likely to conform to the requirements of the standard than small to medium sized companies – confirming our predictions from organizational theory. We conclude our research with suggestions for further re-search.
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Dataset by Axel Mangelsdorf
Article by Axel Mangelsdorf
to conduct R&D in developing Asian economies. By analyzing the relationship
between previous international R&D activities in Asia and the sales of innovative
products in Asia, we investigate whether companies follow ‘knowledge
augmenting’ or ‘knowledge exploiting’ strategies. Since our results show a positive
relationship between these activities only in developing Asia, we conclude
that those firms follow a knowledge exploiting strategy and are attracted by market
opportunities. Further, we find that companies require a certain experience
before they conduct R&D activities in Asia. The more R&D units a company has
outside its home market, the more likely the company is to locate a R&D unit in
Asia. However, going to Asia is not just a phenomenon of large multinational
companies. The analysis is based on a dataset about the innovation behaviour of
German firms, the Mannheim Innovation Panel. We retrieve a sample of about
739 international innovating firms.
to participate in formal standards development organizations at the national,
European and International level and tests them based on a sample of
German service companies. Our results of Multivariate Probit regression models
reveal that company size and export activities play a significant positive role.
Moreover, internal R&D expenditure and successful service innovation have a
positive and statistically significant impact on the likelihood of participation in formal
standardization processes which indicates that taking part in service standardization
requires a certain absorptive capacity but is complementary to innovation
activities. Based on the empirical results we derive implications both for
managers of service companies and policy makers.
European Union (EU) and China. Traditional aggregate demand functions for imports and
exports have been applied to estimate the effects of national and international standards. The
panel dataset covers 14 years (1995–2008) and 36 two-digit technological fields based on the
International Classification of Standards (ICS). The results indicate negative effects of purely
national Chinese standards but positive effects of Chinese international standards for European
exports. European standards and European standards aligned with international standards have
a positive impact on exports and imports. Based on these results, we conclude that both China
and the EU should increase their efforts to harmonise national standards.
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in official standard
setting alliances. Based on micro data of German firms in
the electrical engineering and machinery industry, we show that
innovation-related variables follow the predictions of our hypotheses.
Research and development (R&D) intensity exhibits an inverse
U-shaped relationship on the likelihood to join alliances. The
positive relation suggests that SMEs aim to access the knowledge
of larger firms whereas the negative relationship indicates that
SMEs exceeding a certain threshold of R&D activity are reluctant
to participate in standardization because their knowledge is
too essential to disclose to competitors. The importance to access
external knowledge via standardization committees is underlined
by a positive correlation with the relevance of incoming knowledge
spillovers and a negative correlation with the relative size of companies’
patent portfolios. Besides these variables, we also explore the
traditionally considered factors for alliance formation and show
that firm size and export intensity are positively correlated with
participation.
voluntary and mandatory standards – either harmonized to international norms or
purely domestic – on Chinese food exports. The dataset covers seven Chinese
products over the period 1992–2008. We find that standards have a positive effect
on China’s export performance, as the benefits to standardization in terms of
reducing potential information asymmetry and signaling enhance food safety, and
quality in foreign markets seem to surpass compliance costs. Our estimation
results show that the positive effect of Chinese standards is larger when they are
harmonized to international measures. The results suggest that there are clear
benefits to China’s steps to base their domestic standards and regulations on
international measures.
paper estimates the impact of voluntary and mandatory
standards on its agricultural and food exports. The dataset
covers seven Chinese products from 1992 to 2008. The
findings here indicate that standards have a positive
effect on China’s export performance. Standards Signal to customers that products meet certain quality measures
and promote information exchange. The benefits of
increased exports outweigh compliance costs. Our results
also show that theses positive effects are larger when the
standards are consistent with international norms.
Conference Paper by Axel Mangelsdorf
external knowledge sourcing and their decision to participate
in standardization alliances. Based on micro data we show
that the importance of external knowledge is positively
correlated with participation in standardization. This suggests
that firms aim to access the knowledge of other companies
and stakeholders in order to increase their own knowledge
base. The analysis also shows that firms cooperating with
different actors are more likely to join standardization. Due to
the positive relationships with incoming knowledge spillovers
and forms of cooperation, we conclude that standardization
represents a specific form of collaborative knowledge-sharing
and knowledge-creating strategy. In addition, we are able to
show that absorptive capacity measured via companies’
research intensity promotes the involvement in
standardization.
food products. Our database covers information from about 12,000 food manufacturing
companies from 88 countries – including 53 developing countries -- that are
certified with retailer-based International Featured Standard (IFS). We use a dynamic
gravity model for the period 2008 to 2013 and find that IFS certifications are significantly
positively correlated with exports suggesting that private standards certifications
push exports of manufactured food products. Controlling for geographical distance
and common language and other trade related variables, we find that standards certifications
have the largest impact for European countries, followed by American and
Asian countries. In contrast, the coefficient estimate for African countries is insignificant.
Exports from African countries seem not to benefit from the increased use of
private standards which puts into question the poverty reducing effect of private standards
for low-income countries.
Book by Axel Mangelsdorf
to conduct R&D in developing Asian economies. By analyzing the relationship
between previous international R&D activities in Asia and the sales of innovative
products in Asia, we investigate whether companies follow ‘knowledge
augmenting’ or ‘knowledge exploiting’ strategies. Since our results show a positive
relationship between these activities only in developing Asia, we conclude
that those firms follow a knowledge exploiting strategy and are attracted by market
opportunities. Further, we find that companies require a certain experience
before they conduct R&D activities in Asia. The more R&D units a company has
outside its home market, the more likely the company is to locate a R&D unit in
Asia. However, going to Asia is not just a phenomenon of large multinational
companies. The analysis is based on a dataset about the innovation behaviour of
German firms, the Mannheim Innovation Panel. We retrieve a sample of about
739 international innovating firms.
to participate in formal standards development organizations at the national,
European and International level and tests them based on a sample of
German service companies. Our results of Multivariate Probit regression models
reveal that company size and export activities play a significant positive role.
Moreover, internal R&D expenditure and successful service innovation have a
positive and statistically significant impact on the likelihood of participation in formal
standardization processes which indicates that taking part in service standardization
requires a certain absorptive capacity but is complementary to innovation
activities. Based on the empirical results we derive implications both for
managers of service companies and policy makers.
European Union (EU) and China. Traditional aggregate demand functions for imports and
exports have been applied to estimate the effects of national and international standards. The
panel dataset covers 14 years (1995–2008) and 36 two-digit technological fields based on the
International Classification of Standards (ICS). The results indicate negative effects of purely
national Chinese standards but positive effects of Chinese international standards for European
exports. European standards and European standards aligned with international standards have
a positive impact on exports and imports. Based on these results, we conclude that both China
and the EU should increase their efforts to harmonise national standards.
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in official standard
setting alliances. Based on micro data of German firms in
the electrical engineering and machinery industry, we show that
innovation-related variables follow the predictions of our hypotheses.
Research and development (R&D) intensity exhibits an inverse
U-shaped relationship on the likelihood to join alliances. The
positive relation suggests that SMEs aim to access the knowledge
of larger firms whereas the negative relationship indicates that
SMEs exceeding a certain threshold of R&D activity are reluctant
to participate in standardization because their knowledge is
too essential to disclose to competitors. The importance to access
external knowledge via standardization committees is underlined
by a positive correlation with the relevance of incoming knowledge
spillovers and a negative correlation with the relative size of companies’
patent portfolios. Besides these variables, we also explore the
traditionally considered factors for alliance formation and show
that firm size and export intensity are positively correlated with
participation.
voluntary and mandatory standards – either harmonized to international norms or
purely domestic – on Chinese food exports. The dataset covers seven Chinese
products over the period 1992–2008. We find that standards have a positive effect
on China’s export performance, as the benefits to standardization in terms of
reducing potential information asymmetry and signaling enhance food safety, and
quality in foreign markets seem to surpass compliance costs. Our estimation
results show that the positive effect of Chinese standards is larger when they are
harmonized to international measures. The results suggest that there are clear
benefits to China’s steps to base their domestic standards and regulations on
international measures.
paper estimates the impact of voluntary and mandatory
standards on its agricultural and food exports. The dataset
covers seven Chinese products from 1992 to 2008. The
findings here indicate that standards have a positive
effect on China’s export performance. Standards Signal to customers that products meet certain quality measures
and promote information exchange. The benefits of
increased exports outweigh compliance costs. Our results
also show that theses positive effects are larger when the
standards are consistent with international norms.
external knowledge sourcing and their decision to participate
in standardization alliances. Based on micro data we show
that the importance of external knowledge is positively
correlated with participation in standardization. This suggests
that firms aim to access the knowledge of other companies
and stakeholders in order to increase their own knowledge
base. The analysis also shows that firms cooperating with
different actors are more likely to join standardization. Due to
the positive relationships with incoming knowledge spillovers
and forms of cooperation, we conclude that standardization
represents a specific form of collaborative knowledge-sharing
and knowledge-creating strategy. In addition, we are able to
show that absorptive capacity measured via companies’
research intensity promotes the involvement in
standardization.
food products. Our database covers information from about 12,000 food manufacturing
companies from 88 countries – including 53 developing countries -- that are
certified with retailer-based International Featured Standard (IFS). We use a dynamic
gravity model for the period 2008 to 2013 and find that IFS certifications are significantly
positively correlated with exports suggesting that private standards certifications
push exports of manufactured food products. Controlling for geographical distance
and common language and other trade related variables, we find that standards certifications
have the largest impact for European countries, followed by American and
Asian countries. In contrast, the coefficient estimate for African countries is insignificant.
Exports from African countries seem not to benefit from the increased use of
private standards which puts into question the poverty reducing effect of private standards
for low-income countries.
third countries. Standards play an important role in the EU regulatory system. For
an increasing number of manufacturing products, exporters automatically gain
market access and comply with EU legislation when they apply European health
and safety standards. In our empirical analysis, we examine the role of standards
on exports to EU 15 countries for five sectors: (1) medical devices, (2) toys, (3)
electronics, (4) construction products and (5) machinery. Our panel datasets
cover the period 1988 to 2012, include European standards, their links to legislation
and international standards. The results of our gravity model estimations
show that European standards can represent barriers to trade in some sectors. In
high-skill and technology intensive products, however, European standards encourage
trade. International harmonization is mainly beneficial for exporters from
high-income countries. The results bear important insights for the effects of the
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement between the
EU and the United States of America.