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Understanding West German economic growth in the 1950s

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  • Eichengreen, Barry
  • Ritschl, Albrecht

Abstract

We evaluate explanations for why Germany grew so quickly in the 1950s. The recent literature has emphasized convergence, structural change and institutional shake-up while minimizing the importance of the postwar shock. We show that this shock and its consequences were more important than neoclassical convergence and structural change in explaining the rapid growth of the West German economy in the 1950s. We find little support for the hypothesis of institutional shakeup. This suggests a different interpretation of post-World War II German economic growth than features in much of the literature.

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  • Eichengreen, Barry & Ritschl, Albrecht, 2008. "Understanding West German economic growth in the 1950s," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2008-068, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:sfb649:sfb649dp2008-068
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    Cited by:

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    3. Bartels, Charlotte & Jäger, Simon & Obergruber, Natalie, 2020. "Long-Term Effects of Equal Sharing: Evidence from Inheritance Rules for Land," IZA Discussion Papers 13665, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Feld, Lars P. & Köhler, Ekkehard A. & Nientiedt, Daniel, 2021. "The German Anti-Keynes? On Walter Eucken’S Macroeconomics," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(4), pages 548-563, December.
    5. Gregori Galofré-Vilà & Christopher M Meissner & Martin McKee & David Stuckler, 2019. "The economic consequences of the 1953 London Debt Agreement," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 23(1), pages 1-29.
    6. Eric Bengtsson & Engelbert Stockhammer, 2018. "Wages, income distribution and economic growth in Scandinavia," Working Papers PKWP1811, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    7. Feld, Lars P. & Nientiedt, Daniel, 2023. "Examining the ordoliberal tradition in classical liberal thought," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 23/5, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    8. Myszczyszyn Janusz, 2021. "Development of Transport as a Factor of the Economic Miracle (Wirtschaftswunder) of West Germany," Studia Historiae Oeconomicae, Sciendo, vol. 39(1), pages 189-215, December.
    9. Braun, Sebastian Till & Weber, Henning, 2021. "How do regional labor markets adjust to immigration? A dynamic analysis for post-war Germany," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    10. repec:zbw:rwirep:0345 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Duarte Pablo, 2018. "Monetary Policy, Privileges and Economic Development: Ordoliberal Lessons for the EMU," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 69(1), pages 135-152, July.
    12. Braun, Sebastian & Kvasnicka, Michael, 2014. "Immigration and structural change: Evidence from post-war Germany," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 253-269.
    13. Boldyrev, Roman (Болдырев, Роман) & Nevskiy, Sergei (Невский, Сергей), 2014. "Monetary reforms in post-war Germany (1948): preparation, conduct, outcome (conclusion) [Денежные Реформы В Послевоенной Германии (1948): Подготовка, Проведение, Итоги]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 6, pages 25-53, December.
    14. Arnaud Chevalier & Benjamin Elsner & Andreas Lichter & Nico Pestel, 2018. "Immigrant Voters, Taxation and the Size of the Welfare State," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 994, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    15. Huber, Kilian Maria, 2020. "Are bigger banks better? Firm-level evidence from Germany," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121861, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Sebastian Braun & Michael Kvasnicka, 2012. "Immigration and Structural Change – Evidence from Post-war Germany," Ruhr Economic Papers 0345, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    17. Alexiou, Constantinos, 2022. "Evaluating the falling rate of profit in the context of the UK economy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 84-94.
    18. Focacci, Chiara Natalie & Perez, Carlota, 2022. "The importance of education and training policies in supporting technological revolutions: A comparative and historical analysis of UK, US, Germany, and Sweden (1830–1970)," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    19. Boldyrev, Roman (Болдырев, Роман) & Nevskij, Sergei (Невский, Сергей), 2014. "Monetary reforms in post-war Germany (1948): preparation, holding, results [Денежные Реформы В Послевоенной Германии (1948): Подготовка, Проведение, Итоги]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 5, pages 38-65, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic growth; productivity; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N14 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe

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