Konjunktur: Studie – Spionage steigerte Wirtschaftsleistung der DDR erheblich
Laut einer Analyse soll durch Spionage das Bruttoinlandsprodukt um 7,4 Prozent gestiegen sein. Die Zahlen gelten für das Jahr 1988 kurz vor dem Mauerfall.
A recent study reveals that economic espionage from the West significantly boosted the East German economy, increasing its performance by 7.4 percent, according to an analysis by the Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin). Industrial value creation was even 22.3 percent higher due to espionage, amounting to 20.2 billion Ostmarks or 4.1 billion euros in 2020 prices.
These figures pertain to the year 1988, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. RFBerlin project leader Albrecht Glitz, from the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, explained that while Stasi espionage strengthened the DDR's position within the socialist bloc, it did not substantially enhance its success in Western markets. Companies that received valuable information had better chances of surviving the transition to a market economy after reunification.
Operations with useful espionage information showed faster productivity growth and invested more in their capital stock, relied more on past performance, and specialized more in their core products. These advantages spread through supplier and customer networks, strengthening overall economic gains. Each additional valuable piece of information generated an estimated annual economic return of around 330,000 euros in 2020 prices or 1.64 million Ostmarks, as stated by Glitz.
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