Waarom blijft Europa achter?

Nieuws | de redactie
11 september 2007 | The Knowledge Economy in Europe is een rapport van de the Work Foundation voor de Europese top. Daarin wordt onder meer geanalyseerd: "In 2005 the size of Europe’s knowledge economy measured by the share of total employment in knowledge industries is similar to the US. What Europe has not seen is the accompanying economic dynamism of faster growth and higher productivity."


The report provides an interesting overview of the European situation in the fields of technology based manufacturing and knowledge based services in Europe, including the repartition of employment per country.  It also compares the Knowledge Based Economy in Europe with the situation in United States. According to the Work Foundation, “Europe has seen a significant expansion in her knowledge industries over the past decade and at a similar rate to the expansion of knowledge based employment in the US. Moreover, in 2005 the size of Europe’s knowledge economy measured by the share of total employment in knowledge industries is similar to the US. What Europe has not seen is the accompanying economic dynamism of faster growth and higher productivity. Productivity growth has fallen in many EU States rather than accelerating, in contrast to the US.”

The key underlying reason is a slow down in the pace of  technological innovation and a failure to increase investment in knowledge across the EU. The report then analysis major key issues such as the innovation policy, taxes, the role of regulation, the European social model and their consequences on the slow down development of the Knowledge based Economy in Europe. Is the social model responsible ?  No, argues the report, “the strong performance of the Nordic economies suggests there is nothing fundamentally incompatible with modern European social models and the development of a knowledge based economy.” One reason pointed out is the lake of investment in Research and Development: “Europe has expanded the number of knowledge jobs but has not made the underpinning investment in knowledge that would release wider economic benefits.”



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