We start by laying out some stylized facts on regional growth in Europe from 1960 onwards (Section 2). On this basis we proceed in Section 3 to an econometric analysis on how these facts can be explained, allowing for a broad range of causal factors as well as the possibility that the dynamics...

The character of the structural changes in international trade, and the possibility that these might impact countries differently, has been a matter of great concern for many observers from the 1950s onwards. The view that all sectors do not offer the same prospects for growth, and that the...

High-tech is a commonly used catch-word for industries that use a relatively large share of their resources on R&D and develop many new products and processes. It is a widely held view that high- tech is good for growth, and that countries that succeed in high- tech industry perform well....

This paper discusses the impact of the completion of the EC internal market on the competitive position of EFTA firms (and, hence, also on economic growth in EFTA countries). The discussion falls in three parts. First, the process of European economic integration in the last decades - as...

There has always been a strand of thought that has emphasized learning as a potential source of comparative advantage. This tradition points to the learning creating effects that relations between firms or sectors within the domestic economy may have, and the impact of this on the development of...

It is a well established fact that a number of East Asian countries have had much faster economic growth than most other countries for several decades. Many observers have held that this growth success is related to the interventionist policy stance that has characterised many of these...

During the last decades we have seen a revival of interest in the works of Joseph Schumpeter and evolutionary ideas in economics more generally. This paper presents an overview and interpretation of these developments. Following an introductory discussion of the concepts and ideas (and their...

The tendency towards regional convergence that characterised most of the member states of the European Union from the 1950s onwards came to an end around 1980. To the extent that there has been any tendency towards convergence since then, it has been at the country level, related to the catch up...

This paper demonstrates how various factors influence the probability of attempts at organisational innovation and the effects of such innovation. An integrated firm-level dataset obtained from two recent waves of the Norwegian Community Innovation Survey (CIS3 & 4) and firms’ financial...