This paper provides an extensive overview of the economic importance and evolution of the car manufacturing industry. In addition, it provides evidence that the car industry is still playing a vital role in process innovation. The currently widespread lean production method, under which...

This paper analyses the path of private consumption and its main macroeconomic determinants. These are related to the life-cycle approach which helps explaining consumption smoothing. In that respect, it is important to go beyond the simple correlation between current disposable income and...

The use of input-output analysis for the computation of secondary effects of final demand changes is well-known. These 'final demand effects' can be calculated using technical coefficients and the inverse of the Leontief matrix. This paper offers an alternative to the use of technical...

The economic impact of the port sector is usually measured at an aggregate level by indicators such as value added, employment and investment. This paper tries to define the economic relevance for the regional as well as for the national economy at a disaggregate level. It attempts to identify,...

This paper is a publication issued by the Microeconomic Analysis service of the National Bank of Belgium. This is the outcome of a first research project on the Belgian transport logistics sectors. In the past few years, the logistics business has turned out to play a significant part in wealth...

This study is a publication issued by the Microeconomic Analysis service of the National Bank of Belgium, in partnership with the Department of Transport and Regional Economics of the University of Antwerp (UA). It is the outcome of a first research project on the Belgian airport and air...

This paper provides a survey of the main developments in the iron and steel industry over the last few decades. The first chapter covers the changing conditions on international markets and identifies the main challenges facing the companies in this sector. These include the boom in China, the...

This study assesses the economic importance of air transport and airport activities in Belgium in terms of employment, value added and investment over the period 2007 - 2009. The sector considered embraces not only the activities directly connected with air transport, but also all the activities...

This study assesses the economic importance of air transport and airport activities in Belgium in terms of value added, employment and investment over the 2009-2012 period 1 . The sector considered embraces not only the activities directly connected with air transport, but also all the...

This paper presents the Belgian inter-firm network for the years 2002 to 2012. Combining raw data from VAT listings, VAT declarations and annual accounts information, we build a unique and consistent database containing values of transactions between enterprises in the Belgian economy. The...