We investigate the drivers of firm level productivity in catching-up economies by jointly estimating its relationship to innovation
and competition using data from the EBRD-WB Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) in Eastern Europe
and Central Asia. The findings confirm an inverted-U shaped impact of competition on R&D. Both competition and innovation
have a simultaneous positive effect on labour productivity in terms of either sales or value added per employee, as does a
high share of university graduates and foreign ownership. Further positive impacts come from firm size, exports, or population
density. Innovation and foreign ownership appear to be the strongest drivers of multifactor productivity.
Keywords:innovation, competition, productivity, development, transition economies, simultaneous system TP_Wettbewerbsfaehigkeit_Produktion
Forschungsbereich:Industrie-, Innovations- und internationale Ökonomie