Modern state-owned firms' performance - An empirical analysis of productivity, market power and innovation

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Astrid Cullmann
• Subject Area: Economic Policy, Applied Economics ; Statistics and Econometrics
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 411547861

In this project, we aim to empirically study the performance of state-owned firms in two sectors of general interest, energy and water supply, with respect to productivity, market power and price setting, and innovative capacity. We assess state-owned firms' ability to manage recent socio-economic challenges, such as demographic changes and the transition to a low-carbon energy economy, implying infrastructure investments and innovative solutions. We further investigate to what extent variations in performance can be explained with heterogeneous internal organisation and differences in public owners’ influence. We use a structural production function estimation approach to determine firm-level performance and to account for firms' legal organisation, ownership structure, and innovative capacity.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants