The name is absent

and exchanging R&D personnel for conjoint projects up to founding R&D joint
ventures. According to the findings of CUMMINGS the informal exchange of
knowledge is the most often observed form of R&D co-operation in the private
business sector (1992, p. 215).

Among those who have filled in the questionnaire the companies in Western
Germany are slightly more often involved in R&D co-operations (29.2 %) than
the Eastern German counterparts (26.5 %). But it must be stressed that these
observed differences are not significant according to a chi-square test which
means that general disparities between these two regions can not be proved.
Being asked about their future plans, the share of companies in Eastern Ger-
many which are preparing to form an R&D co-operation and are willing to start
it within the next two years is even higher (16.2 %) than among the companies
in Western Germany (13.7 %). The KfW also stated that companies in Eastern
Germany are catching up in being committed to R&D co-operations with their
Western German counterparts (2002, p. 27). This institute even sees compa-
nies from Eastern Germany being already in the lead since 2001. This leads us
to conclude that the R&D co-operation is an instrument of innovation manage-
ment that is increasingly becoming popular especially in Eastern Germany.

Table 2 provides information about the constellations of R&D co-operations in
which companies participate:

Table 2: The choice of partners of companies to form a R&D co-operation in
East and West Germany (multiple answers possible)

** significant at the 1 % level

?    chi-square test could not be calculated

1 (2) including (excluding) West-Berlin

Almost every company involved in such a co-operation works together with
other firms. While doing so, both vertical and horizontal connections within the
production system can be observed, and this in Eastern and Western Germany

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