Der anhaltende Produktivitätsvorsprung der USA sowie die zunehmende Konkurrenz aus den Schwellenländern führen in Europa seit Mitte der 1990er-Jahre zu einer intensiven Auseinandersetzung mit Fragen der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit. Höhepunkt ist der jüngste Appell der Europäischen Kommission zur...

The southern European periphery suffered a severe setback in its catching-up process versus Western Europe after the financial crisis with GDP dropping by 10% between 2008 and 2012 and unemployment increasing to 20% for Greece, Portugal and Spain. We analyze first the reason for this setback,...

The policy brief synthesises key policy findings from Area 3. The over-riding goal is to foster the transition to a new growth path for Europe, with a dynamic manufacturing and services base, greater social inclusiveness, less unemployment and higher sustainability based on excellence in clean...

This paper aims to redefine the term competitiveness to enhance its usefulness for the evaluation of country performance and for policy conclusions. We attempt to establish a definition that is adequate if economic policy strives for a new growth path that is more dynamic, socially inclusive and...

This essay suggests that there is a need for a Catalytic Industrial Policy (CIP) aimed at maximising positive outcomes on three axes at the same time - the green, the digital and the social - in order to speed up their realisation. Respective investments need to be guided in the desired...

The EU member states of Central Eastern Europe (EU-CEE) have experienced rapid convergence in the decades following their EU accession, and have built up strong export-oriented manufacturing sectors boosted by foreign direct investment inflows. While this growth model has brought many positives,...

I study the impact of industrial policies on industrial development by considering an important episode during the East Asian miracle: South Korea's heavy and chemical industry (HCI) drive, 1973--1979. Based on newly assembled data, I use the introduction and termination of industrial policies...

Increasing production of green technologies in the EU holds great potential for the European economy. This study uses trade data and input-output tables to estimate the impacts on GDP and employment of reshoring to the EU the production of five major green technologies: photovoltaics, wind...

We summarize and compare previous studies considering the impact of R&D subsidies on firm-level labor productivity. These studies conclude quite consistently that the subsidies provided by Tekes do not have statistically significant impact on its client firms’ labor productivity. These studies...

To steer economies onto a sustainable path in a way that is compatible with the urgent priorities of economic developers, sustainability needs to come with new business opportunities, growing markets and, most importantly, new jobs. The big question becomes then how do you wed economic growth...