There has been much discussion of the differences in macroeconomic performance and prospects between the US, Japan and the euro area. Using Markov-switching techniques, in this paper we identify and compare specifically their major business-cycle features and examine the case for a common...

This paper presents evidence for structural differences in economic growth dynamics between the current EU and the central- and eastern European accession countries. Two important results emerge from the analysis. First, accession countries have posted higher average growth and wider output...

We compute public sector performance (PSP) and efficiency (PSE) indicators, comprising a composite and seven sub-indicators, for 23 industrialised countries. The first four sub-indicators are u0093opportunityu0094 indicators that take into account administrative, education and health outcomes...

We quantify the degree of persistence in unemployment rates of transition countries using a variety of methods benchmarked against the EU. In part of the paper, we work with the concept of linear u0093Hysteresisu0094 as described by the presence of unit roots in unemployment. Since this is...

We examine job flows in the 1990s for a sample of 13 European countries. By using a dataset of continuing firms that covers all sectors, we find firm characteristics to be important determinants of job flows, with smaller and younger firms within services typically having a larger degree of job...

Dieser Bericht untersucht die spezifischen Merkmale des sozialen Dialogs in Kleinst- und Kleinunternehmen in der EU, wobei er sich insbesondere auf Tarifverhandlungsverfahren und Arbeitnehmerbeteiligung im Bereich von Gesundheitsschutz und Sicherheit am Arbeitsplatz konzentriert. Darüber hinaus...

Micro and small companies constitute the backbone of private business in Europe, accounting for nearly 99% of all enterprises, more than half of total employment in the private sector and an even greater proportion of new jobs. Despite their crucial place in the economy, there has been little...

This working paper examines how social dialogue has addressed the impact of the crisis. In order to make reasonable comparisons between countries as diverse as Brazil, China, Japan and the USA it is necessary to take into account the institutional, political, economic and social backgrounds....

The markets for bank accounts across the EU differ considerably among Member States, i.e. they are still fragmented along national lines and there is limited integration across different Member States. But even within national markets, there is evidence of major obstacles to consumer choice and...