Value added, employment and capital expenditures in the East German Industry, 1950-2000: data, methods, comparisons ; an introduction

Abstract

Industry was the most important economic sector in the GDR. Of all the countries within the Eastern Bloc (Comecon), only the USSR achieved higher added value per capita than the GDR’s industrial sector. The quantitative description of industrial output in the GDR nevertheless continues to be characterized by significant data gaps and a lack of comparable, long-term time series for im-portant performance and expenditure values calculated in accordance with contemporary statistical standards. This HSR Focus presents new calculations for added value, employment and capital expenditures which close these gaps at both an overall industrial level and branch level between 1950 and 1989. The calculations take the form of backward projections carried out in accordance with the current conceptual and methodological principles of national ac-counting (ESA95). The incorporation of current data for the new German federal states from 1991 onwards into the data base facilitates the extension of the time horizon for the time series. This yields a comparable reflection of the development of economic indicators for the industrial sector in Eastern Germany over a 50-year period (1950-2000). The time series determined pave the way for a new, fact-based assessment of the real results achieved by the GDR economy. The presentation of the data assessed is accompanied by a thorough description of the methods and sources used. This paper serves as an outline for the entire HSR Focus.