Industrial Espionage and Productivity
研究了1970-1989年间东德在西德的工业间谍活动如何通过信息流动缩小东西德行业全要素生产率差距，发现若无间谍活动，东德相对西德的TFP比率在冷战结束时将低13.3%。
In this paper, we investigate the economic returns to industrial espionage. We show that the flow of information provided by East German informants in the West over the period 1970–1989 led to a significant narrowing of sectoral TFP gaps between West and East Germany. These economic returns were primarily driven by relatively few high-quality pieces of information and particularly large in sectors closer to the West German technological frontier. Our findings suggest that the East-to-West German TFP ratio would have been 13.3 percent lower at the end of the Cold War had East Germany not engaged in industrial espionage in the West.