Trade and the impact of innovations and standards: the case of Germany and the UK

The effects of patents as indicators for innovations and standards on German trade performance are analysed in general and German British trade in detail. The latter analysis goes a step further than the approach of Swann et al. (1996) and is based on a broader and more detailed database. The results show that Germany's export performance can primarily be explained by its innovative capacity and only to a small extent by its strength in standards. Furthermore, the results underscore the common view of the trade-fostering effect of international standards, while idiosyncratic' standards have ambiguous effects on exports.