Editing Industrial espionage (section)

===="Operation Brunnhilde"====
Some of these activities were directed via the [[East Germany|East German]] [[Stasi]] (Ministry for State Security). One such operation, "Operation Brunnhilde," operated from the mid-1950s until early 1966 and made use of spies from many [[Communist Bloc]] countries. Through at least 20 forays, many western European industrial secrets were compromised.{{sfn|Palmer|1974|p=13}} One member of the "Brunnhilde" ring was a [[Swiss people|Swiss]] [[chemical engineer]], Dr. Jean Paul Soupert (also known as "Air Bubble"), living in [[Brussels]]. He was described by [[Peter Wright (MI5 officer)|Peter Wright]] in [[Spycatcher]] as having been "doubled" by the [[Belgium|Belgian]] [[Belgian State Security Service|Sûreté de l'État]].{{sfn|Palmer|1974|p=13}}{{sfn|Wright|1987|p=183}} He revealed information about industrial espionage conducted by the ring, including the fact that [[Russians|Russian]] agents had obtained details of [[Concorde]]'s advanced electronics system.{{sfn|Wright|1987|p=184}} He testified against two [[Kodak]] employees, living and working in Britain, during a trial in which they were accused of passing information on industrial processes to him, though they were eventually acquitted.{{sfn|Palmer|1974|p=13}}

According to a 2020 ''American Economic Review'' study, East German industrial espionage in West Germany significantly reduced the gap in [[total factor productivity]] between the two countries.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Glitz|first1=Albrecht|last2=Meyersson|first2=Erik|year=2020|title=Industrial Espionage and Productivity|journal=American Economic Review|language=en|volume=110|issue=4|pages=1055–1103|doi=10.1257/aer.20171732|issn=0002-8282|hdl-access=free|hdl=10230/33897|s2cid=27286076}}</ref>