Turkish-German networks:
Researchers expect increasing profit from immigration.  [30.10.11]

It began 50 years ago. The Federal Republic of Germany invited Turkish citizens to come on work visas. Today, researchers at the University of Hohenheim expect potentially high profits for both Germany and Turkey as a result of this partnership.

"Aha!" exclaimed Prof. Dr. Pyka as he looked out of the window of his colleagues' office at the State University of Dokuz Eylülin Izmir since he saw "the same German firms as the ones around the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart". 

Numerous talks prove that personal relationships between citizens of Germany and Turkey are widespread and intensifying. It is often people with a migratory background, whose families came from Turkey, some of them three generations ago, and are now living in Germany.

Agreement to recruit workers on 30th October 1961

The official starting point of the migration movement is the agreement between the governments of Germany and Turkey to recruit workers for a limited time period, which was signed in Bad Godesberg on the 30th October, 1961. .

Today, approximately 1.6 million Turkish citizens live in Germany and there are many German citizens who have a migratory background coming from Turkey. According to the Federal Statistics Office, last year Germany exported goods worth €16 bn to Turkey and Turkey exported €10 bn worth of goods to Germany.

"The importance of migration in business is too often ignored"

For Prof. Dr. Pyka, the economic impact of migration is clear. "As an innovation economist, we are used to thinking in terms of networks. Innovation can only happen thanks to collaboration via networks. And immigrants build up networks which transcend national borders."

Prof. Dr. Pyka sees evidence for his theory in studies done in the USA. "In Silicon Valley, every second firm was founded by someone from either India or China. It is often people who studied in the USA and start up companies simultaneously in the USA and their home countries." It results in a win-win situation for both sides. "The USA profit from the lower wages in Asia and the developing countries benefit from the transfer of know-how."

In Europe, "the topics of social integration and the drain on social welfare programmes are often discussed in society at the expense of the wide-ranging economic implications."

Research projects aimed at influencing government policies

A research project being conducted by German and Turkish researchers from the universities of Hohenheim and Dokuz Eylül in Izmir is aimed at changing the status quo. The three-year study will be examining the financial gains resulting from immigration.

"We are specifically interested in the details about which conditions contribute to building successful networks and which factors inhibit them", says Dominik Hartmann, who has a Master's degree in Economics and is project leader for Prof. Dr. Pyka's team. 

Hartmann is hoping to derive concrete proposals for handing the issue of immigration from their findings. But this is scientifically-speaking terra incognita. The team leader wants to "try out new methods of analysis regarding these issues and then develop them further".

Database analysis and personal interviews

Reviewing the data already stored in the databases is the first step. The researchers are, for example, combing the databases of the patent office looking for patents submitted by German-Turkish citizens. Other smaller parts of the project look at which branches of the economy show a high degree of cooperation between the two countries, such as automobile and machine production and textile manufacturing, and also creative industries, such as film, music and fashion. There are also scientific joint ventures which can be found in the databases of the EU's projects.

The next step will be focusing on key individuals. "By next year, we want to have identified such key persons and interview them and have a closer look at their personal networks."

Of particular interest are the so-called "hidden champions". "It is possible that success does not depend on the major decision-makers, but rather on individuals who have the right contacts. We're interested in answeringsuch questions as: What knowledge bases are being tapped? How are contacts capitalised upon in both countries? Where are the strengths and weaknesses in these networks?"

Project team with a migration background

The project immediately attracted attention at both universities. "Finding team members was absolutely no problem", says Hartmann. In the meanwhile, exchange students from Turkey are working together with German Turks of the third generation working in various scientific fields.

Exchange programmes are also being organised by Prof. Dr. Pyka, who is also putting his talents as a network-builder to work in the interests of the entire University. But his plans go even further than that. "I will not exclude the possibility that German-Turkish double degrees will be possible in Business and Economics in future", Prof. Dr. Pyka announced. And he also wishes to see more cooperation between the two countries regarding PhD programmes.

Background: Research "heavyweights"

Researchers in Hohenheim were able to raise nearly €31 mil from sponsors last year. Outstanding research projects which receive at least a quarter of a million euros in funding (or €125,000 in Business, Economics and Social Sciences) will be presented in a series entitled "Schwergewichte der Forschung“. 

Contact for press:

Dominik Hartmann, Universität Hohenheim, Fachgebiet VWL insb. Innovationsökonomik, Tel.: 0711/459-24480, E-Mail: d.hartmann@uni-hohenheim.de

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