This policy paper, prepared as part of the Background Study for the European Competitiveness Report 2009, analyses the external trade in goods and services between the EU and the BRICs. The paper starts with the analysis of the global position of the EU and the BRICs in world trade (using the...

On a global level, the EU emerges as the most important foreign direct investor, also if considering extra-EU investments only. This reflects the capability and propensity of EU firms to internationalize their business activities. A joint analysis of two methodologically very distinct databases...

Where is your mobile coming from? This simple question is not easy to answer as the mobile has been assembled using components from different countries (including the domestic) and by using services from the domestic and foreign economies. This multi-country nature of products is not only a...

Countries belonging to the European neighbourhood are highly diverse. Their diversity is multidimensional (geographical, socio-economic, political, cultural, religious, etc.) and the individual dimensions all have important implications for EU policies towards the region(s), for EU institutional...

Industrial policies in the EU have markedly shifted towards 'horizontal' measures and framework polices. The sustained de-industrialisation of several European economies and a general perception that countries with a strong manufacturing base emerged from the crisis in a strengthened position...

Global trade patterns are changing rapidly. Emerging economies are increasing their share of exports overall and intensifying competition in nearly all sectors. Low-cost advantage initially helped emerging economies, particularly China, penetrate low technology labour intensive sectors. More...

Global trade in goods and services was severely hit by the economic crisis in 2008, which initiated a pronounced but short-lived trade collapse. Until 2011 trade flows recovered relatively quickly, but since then global trade in goods has been rather anaemic. This development is partly the...

This study investigates in detail value chain trade of the EU and its Member States, compares it to that of other trading blocs and regions such as NAFTA and East Asia, and delves into implications of value chain trade on specialisation and competitiveness as well as on the declining income...

In this paper we do a detailed analysis of Austrian gross export data at the industry level in order to detect potential trade specialisation lock-in effects vis-à-vis the countries from Central, East and Southeast Europe (CESEE). In addition we analyse Austrian global value added export...

This research report investigates the relationship between the growing integration into global and regional value chains (VCs) and structural change in the South and South East Asian (SEA) region. The analysis includes a sample of 60 developed and developing countries covered in the OECD's...