The Wartime Origins of the Wirtschaftswunder: The Growth of West German Industry, 1938-55
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Tamás Vonyó
Abstract
The paper offers a detailed quantitative account of industrial development in West Germany between 1938 and 1955. It presents value-added, labour and capital input, labour productivity and TFP at industry level. Even though productivity growth was rapid by historical standards in the reconstruction phase after 1948, the expansion of industrial production between 1938 and 1955 was entirely input-driven. The resulting backlog in productivity growth allowed German industry to retain remarkably high growth rates until the end of the Golden Age. The post-war productivity gap took a decade to close after 1945 because the economy remained dislocated for much longer than previously thought. The main dislocating factors besides labour misallocation resulting from the war-induced urban housing shortage were structural disproportions in industrial production caused by the division of Germany. During the Wirtschaftswunder, industrial recovery could tap into surplus capacity and increased market potential.
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelei
- Abhandlungen und Studien
- Historical Economics of Wars in the 20th Century
- Health on the Home Front: Infant Deaths and Industrial Accidents during Mobilization for World War II
- Productivity Change and Mine Dynamics: The Coal Industry in Japan during World War II
- Democracy at a Disadvantage? British Rearmament, the Shadow Factory Scheme and the Coming of War, 1936-40
- Swiss Trade with the Allies and the Axis Powers during the Second World War
- The Enemy on the Farm: The Economic Contribution of German and Italian POW Employment in Britain and the British Dominions during and after the Second World War
- The Wartime Origins of the Wirtschaftswunder: The Growth of West German Industry, 1938-55
- How did the Capital Market Evaluate Germany’s Prospects for Winning World War I? Evidence from the Amsterdam Market for Government Bonds
- II. Dokumentation
- An Input-Output Table for Germany in 1936: A Documentation of Results, Sources and Research Strategy
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelei
- Abhandlungen und Studien
- Historical Economics of Wars in the 20th Century
- Health on the Home Front: Infant Deaths and Industrial Accidents during Mobilization for World War II
- Productivity Change and Mine Dynamics: The Coal Industry in Japan during World War II
- Democracy at a Disadvantage? British Rearmament, the Shadow Factory Scheme and the Coming of War, 1936-40
- Swiss Trade with the Allies and the Axis Powers during the Second World War
- The Enemy on the Farm: The Economic Contribution of German and Italian POW Employment in Britain and the British Dominions during and after the Second World War
- The Wartime Origins of the Wirtschaftswunder: The Growth of West German Industry, 1938-55
- How did the Capital Market Evaluate Germany’s Prospects for Winning World War I? Evidence from the Amsterdam Market for Government Bonds
- II. Dokumentation
- An Input-Output Table for Germany in 1936: A Documentation of Results, Sources and Research Strategy
