The rapid growth of offshoring has sparked a contentious debate over its impact on the U.S. manufacturing sector, which has recorded steep employment declines yet strong output growth - a fact reconciled by the notable gains in manufacturing productivity. We maintain, however, that the dramatic...

The study aims to analyze the modalities of vocational training in rural areas in order to identify systematic contents that are relevant to define the perception of the general role of continuing vocational training in the economic and social development of rural areas, the functions of...

In his 1966 Inaugural Lecture at Cambridge, entitled On the Causes of the Slow Rate of Economic Growth in the UK, the Hungarian-born British economist, Nicholas Kaldor presented a series of "laws" to account for the growth rate differences between Britain on the one hand, and the more successful...

We analyze productivity growth differentials across the EU in the perspective of intangible, as well as tangible, capital accumulation. Based on a new international dataset on intangibles, we identify three main EU regions corresponding to the Northern area, Central Europe and the Mediterranean...

We use a new industry-level dataset to quantify the role of ICT in explaining productivity growth in the UK, 1970-2000. The dataset is for 34 industries covering the whole economy (31 in the market sector). Using growth accounting, we find that ICT capital played an increasingly important, and...

Why did European productivity growth slow down while American growth accelerated since the 1990s? In this article we provide a detailed analysis of the sources of growth from a comparative industry perspective, based on our recent book Economic Growth in Europe. We argue that Europe’s falling...

Between 2003 and 2008 productivity patterns diverged between the fast growing, newest members of the European Union and the slower paced, elder ones – as would be expected. However, there are also striking divergences within the latter group, with productivity in Southern Europe going into...

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the effect of durable goods and ICT on Euro Area economic growth and productivity change; when expenditure on consumer durables is recorded as capital investment. The capitalization of consumer durables impacts both the levels and growth rates of the...

The paper analyses the recent supply side developments in France, Germany, and Italy by employing a non-parametric approach to estimate potential GDP. The analysis reveals marked heterogeneity among the three countries with regard to the contribution made by labour input. Where similarities can...

We use a new industry-level dataset to quantify the role of ICT in explaining productivity growth in the UK, 1970-2000. The dataset is for 34 industries covering the whole economy (31 in the market sector). Using growth accounting, we find that ICT capital played an increasingly important, and...