Fundamental changes in the global trade landscape in terms of considerably expanding trade volumes and rapidly advancing global fragmentation of production processes have opened up new opportunities for many economies. The ensuing analysis determines whether these new opportunities have actually...

An Analysis Based on the European Union Structure of Earnings Survey (SES) This study provides an in-depth evaluation of earnings differences within and across countries and their evolution over time using three different waves of the Structure of Earnings Survey (SES) – for 2002, 2006 and...

This paper uses the World Input-Output Database (WIOD) to analyse changes of Europe's position in global specialisation and location patterns of exporting activity within Europe by means of a number of competitiveness indicators. We consider both manufacturing as well as tradable services. The...

The share of manufacturing in GDP is declining, whereas the share of services – and business-related services in particular – is rising in almost all advanced economies. However, as these industries are mutually dependent in various ways this study focuses on the manufacturing sector as a...

Environmental objectives of the EU and the widened energy price gap between the EU and the United States have recently given rise to concerns about the competitiveness of European manufacturing industries, particularly their energy-intensive branches. The study demonstrates that industrial...

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...

Many EU countries are currently undergoing major demographic changes, particularly in terms of shrinking total and working-age populations and population ageing. If this trend is to continue, the functioning of the labour market is at risk as labour shortages are increasingly more likely to...

By 2030, labour demand could be equal to labour supply in most of the EU, creating significant challenges for policy-makers and firms. The 'tipping point' at which labour demand will become equal to labour supply in the EU – that is, when labour will become a constraint on economic growth –...