The Condemned Live Longer: The Innovation-driven Recovery of the German Textile Industry
This article discusses how a midtech industry of a highly industrialized country is able to improve its competitiveness and to ensure its survival in a globalized economy. The SME dominated and crisisridden textile industry of Germany was chosen as an example. Our analyses of the underlying industry specific innovation systems revealed three success factors which ensured the recovery of parts of the textile industry namely: (i) collective research, (ii) the coverage of new markets and (iii) a long lasting professional and spatial proximity between companies and research institutes. With data from a firm survey and an econometric model we try to reveal the positive effects of these forces on firm growth.
Peistrup, M., M. Rothgang and L. Trettin (2010), The Condemned Live Longer: The Innovation-driven Recovery of the German Textile Industry. Baltic Management Review, 5, 1, 7-25