Europe grew rapidly for many years, but now, faced with greater challenges, several of the large economies in Europe have either failed to generate enough jobs or have failed to achieve the highest levels of productivity or both. This study explores why Europe's growth slowed, what contribution information technology makes to growth, and what policies could facilitate economic transformation. It emphasizes a system with strong work incentives and a high level of competitive intensity. Europe doesn't need to eliminate its protections for individuals, the authors conclude, but both social programs and policies toward business must be reoriented so that they encourage economic change.
- Cover
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Chapter 1 New Policies and New Goals for Changing Times
- The Need for Sustained Economic Reform in Europe
- Reform Progress to Date
- A Framework for Transforming the European Economy
- Summarizing the Nature of the Reform Proposals
- Feasibility of Reform Proposals
- Chapter Summaries
- Concluding Remarks
- Chapter 2 Europe's Postwar Success and Subsequent Problems
- What Drove Rapid Growth in Postwar Europe?
- The European System's Advantages for Postwar Catch-Up
- The 1973-95 Global Growth Slowdown
- The Impact of Slower Productivity Growth: The US Lesson
- The Impact of the Productivity Growth Slowdown on the European Economy
- Cyclical and Structural Sources of Low Employment
- Skill Differences and the Distribution of Wages
- Taxes, Transfers, and the Willingness to Work
- Demographic Changes: Extended Life Expectancy and Changes in Cohort Size
- The Possibility of an Unstable Labor Market: A Warning Parable
- Economic Performance since 1995
- The Diagnosis
- Appendix 2.1 A Model of Employment and Productivity
- Chapter 3 What Drives Productivity Growth and How to Improve It in Europe
- Policy Implications of the OECD Growth Analysis
- Understanding What Drives Productivity Improvements Based on US Experience
- Can Growth Accounting Track US Productivity Trends and Reveal the Role of IT?
- Industry Data and Case Studies: How Much More Do They Explain?
- A Summary Explanation for the Post-1995 Improvement in US Productivity Growth
- Case Study Evidence on the Importance of Regulation and Competition in Europe
- Lessons for Europe about Procompetitive Productivity-Enhancing Regulation
- The Role of IT in Productivity in Europe: Is an IT Policy Needed?
- The Role of IT in European Economic Growth
- Chapter 4 The Productivity Puzzle in Britain
- Economic Performance in the Postwar Period
- Resolving the Productivity Puzzle: Capital, Skills, and Other Factors
- Productivity Differences Associated with Nationality of Ownership and with Being Part of a Multinational Company
- Case Study Evidence of Barriers to Productivity in Britain
- Why Does the OECD Conclude that Product Markets in Britain Are Deregulated?
- Conclusions on the Productivity Gap in Britain
- Chapter 5 Reforming the Labor Market and Social Programs
- Reform and European Labor-Market Values
- Social Policy Reforms
- The Wage-Setting Process: Making Jobs Available
- Labor-Market Reforms: European Solutions That Have Raised Employment
- Appendix 5.1 The Nonobserved Economy, Undeclared Work, and European Economic Reforms
- Chapter 6 What Europe Should Do: Getting the Macroeconomics Right
- The Stability and Growth Pact
- Fiscal Policy Leading Up to and after the SGP
- Problems with the SGP
- Reform Proposals from Economists
- The European Commission's Reform Proposal for the SGP
- Modifying the European Commission Proposals
- Getting the Macroeconomics Right: The ECB Mandate and Its Stated Goals
- External Assessments of What the ECB Has Actually Done
- Is the ECB Following the Right Monetary Policy?
- Macroeconomic Policy to Support Reform
- Chapter 7 Are Current Reform Efforts on the Right Track?
- Where Does EU Competition Policy Stand Now and What More Is Needed?
- Reform: Driven by Individual European Governments, Reinforced at the EU Level
- A Summary of Reforms to Date in the Four Largest Economies
- A Big Push or a Slow and Incremental Approach to Reform?
- Conclusion: Progress Has Been Made, but Much More Is Needed
- References
- Index
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