KCG Working Paper No. 36: Use of Advanced Technologies and Extensive Margins of Exports in Manufacturing Firms from 27 EU Countries in 2025

6th January 2026
KCG Secretary
Publications
Publications
Authors: Joachim Wagner

The use of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, or smart devices will go hand in hand with higher productivity, higher product quality, and lower trade costs. Therefore, it can be expected to be positively related to export activities. This paper uses firm level data for manufacturing enterprises from the 27 member countries of the European Union collected in 2025 to shed further light on this issue by investigating the link between the use of advanced technologies and extensive margins of exports[...]

Aoife Hanley Moderated Africa’s Fintech Panel at the Kiel-CEPR African Conference

12th December 2025
KCG Secretary
Public Contributions
Public Contributions
International African experts, policymakers, business professionals and representatives of NGOs came together at the second KIEL-CEPR African Economic Development Conference (AEDC) “Understanding the Shifting Landscape of African Economic Development” held on November 13 and 14, 2025 in Berlin. During the conference, participants discussed a wide range of topics related to African economic development, including education, state capacity, aid, finance, natural resources and climate, among others[...]

Podcast interview with Görg on U.S.-China Deal on Rare Earths

17th September 2025
KCG Secretary
Public Contributions
Public Contributions
In June this year, high-ranking representatives from the United States and China met in London for the second time amid escalating trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The talks resulted in a reaffirmation of the Geneva agreement reached in May, including a substantial 90-day suspension of punitive tariffs. China agreed to resume shipments of critical raw materials and to grant temporary export licenses to U.S. firms. In response, the U.S. side signaled a conditional willingness to ease restrictions on technology exports[...]

Special economic zone dynamics and firm performance: Evidence from an emerging economy

17th September 2025
KCG Secretary
Authors: Charles Godfred Ackah, Robert Darko Osei, Baah Aye Kusi (Management and Decision Economics 2025, 45(6): 3834–3851)

The empirical literature on Special economic zones (SEZs) has shown that SEZs have become critical policy tools for advancing economic and firm performance, especially in developing economies where financial capital, human capital, technology and technical know-how to drive these performances are in limited supply. While the importance and effects of SEZs cannot be overemphasised and are well documented, particularly in Asia, SEZs' operationalisation, structure and policy practice appear to vary, especially in Ghana and hence a need to examine SEZ effects on firm performance in Ghana.

Big Data Analytics and Exports—Evidence for Manufacturing Firms from 27 EU Countries

1st September 2025
KCG Secretary
Authors: Joachim Wagner (Open Economies Review 2025, 36: 825–834)

Divestments by foreign multinationals are an important phenomenon that is largely neglected in the literature. We use firm level panel data from China to estimate the impact of such divestments on the performance of domestic firms in the local economy. To the best of our knowledge, there is no empirical study that has looked at these effects[...]

Research Grant Extended: Kiel Research Project on Environmental Impact of Global Producers in China

31st July 2025
KCG Secretary
Further KCG Projects
Further KCG Projects
In recent years, marked by growing economic tensions and geopolitical conflicts, foreign direct investment (FDI) in individual—often authoritarian—countries such as China has come under increasing scrutiny. At the same time, China as one of the world’s most attractive destinations for FDI in the past decades, is nowadays the largest emitter of Carbon dioxide (CO2)[...]

New Project on Global Affiliate Structure of German Firms and their Resilience against Shocks

18th July 2025
KCG Secretary
Further KCG Projects
Further KCG Projects
For decades, the world experienced extensive trade liberalization and deepening globalization, during which firms built and expanded their global production networks. However, this trend began to reverse following the 2008 financial crisis, as national policies have increasingly shifted toward protectionism. This trend has been further intensified due to natural disasters, climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, and, particularly, geopolitical events such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the rising tensions between the US and China[...]