Et stort flertal af de tyske virksomheder synes godt om en ny borgerlig-grøn regering efter valget i september. Der er behov for forandringer, og næsten halvdelen mener, at der er behov for en reform af den tyske industristruktur med flere offentlige investeringer, viser en undersøgelse blandt 200 virksomheder. Halvdelen ser kampen mod klimaforandringerne som en fordel. De tager ikke striden mellem USA og Kina som seriøs. De kører videre som hidtil. De har teknisk styr på digitaliseringen, men der mangler kvalificerede medarbejdere til digitaliseringen.
Insights from corporate Germany on key
election topics
To better grasp the sentiment of corporate Germany on key election topics DB
conducted a representative survey with 200 companies. Key insights are:
Conservative-green coalition: A turn for the better or worse.
Unsurprisingly, 85% of respondents expect this first-of-its-kind coalition to
bring along (at least some) change. A relative majority (42%) welcomes the
prospect of a long overdue overhaul of the industrial structure (42%) or a
public investment program (39%). A similarly large share (40%), however,
is worried about weakening competitiveness as an industrial powerhouse
and a debt-financed expansion of the social welfare state.
Industrial policy: In fashion in corporate Germany soon as well? The
corporate sector seems to be divided about the benefits of a more active
role of the state. While 42% agree with securing jobs during the pandemic
with taxpayers’ money, 37% think that active industrial policy distorts
competition. What is striking here is the relatively high share (36%) of
supporters of active industrial policy also among the smaller companies as
in the past the Mittelstand was not a fan of industrial policy.
Climate policies: Corporate Germany evenly split in prospective winners
and losers. Camp one is worried about higher energy and electricity prices
and forced investments that are not profitable in the short run. For camp
two, the looming transformation to a net-zero world seems to be credibly
cushioned by state subsidies, the timely adjustment of corporate strategies
and even increasing the demand for their products.
EU fiscal union: Corporate Germany is not as fiscally conservative
as one might have thought. Only 60% of respondents oppose permanent
common borrowing and joint liability. First disbursements of the EUR 750bn
NGEU are expected in the course of July. The perceived success in terms of
higher resilience and potential growth of recipient countries will be decisive
for enlarging or shrinking the future share of this group.
China-US decoupling: Seems to be a non-issue (for now). Only one third
of surveyed companies are more than marginally affected by the ongoing
strategic and systemic rivalry. Those affected are either planning to readjust
their value chains (25%) or they deliberately forego specific deals (22%).
Only 12% feel the need to increasingly focus on one of the two markets.
Digitalisation: Almost 2/3 see themselves well equipped – skilled labour
is the key bottleneck. Shortage of skilled labour is by far the bigger
constraint than digital infrastructure.
