An Introduction to the IWH FDI Micro Database

1. Motivation and Research Questions With the integration of post-communist countries into the European and global economy after 1990, there was strong research interest into the role of multinational enterprises (MNEs) for economic restructuring and technological catching-up. Most of the existing empirical studies on locational determinants of FDI and host country effects did not take account of East Germany. This might be for different reasons: Firstly, theoretical and empirical difficulties derive from the fact that East Germany followed a distinct transition pattern as it became a region subsumed in a larger and more mature economy. Secondly, East Germany received private investment from foreign as well as West German firms. Only the first can be considered as a foreign direct investment (FDI). Finally, there had long been a lack of micro data to adequately analyse the activities of corresponding firms from a production as well as technological