To assess the synchronization of business cycles in Europe we extract the cyclical component of industrial production in five European countries using the filter of Baxter and King (1999). The hypothesis of a joint business cycle is tested by using the frequency domain common cycle test...

The paper presents evidence of serious skill shortages in the information technology (IT) sector and in ITrelated occupations in France, Germany, Singapore the UK and the US. The extent to which higher education (HE) has responded to the increased demand for skills by providing an increasing...