- Table of contents
- 1. The necessity to compete in quality 1
- 2. Quality: definitions and main indicators chosen 4
- 2.1. Quality and its links to competitiveness 4
- 2.2 Link to competitiveness 6
- 2.3 The three main indicators for quality 7
- 3. Europe as provider of quality: a contested quality premium 11
- 3.1. The unit value as an indicator of quality 11
- 3.2. Unit values differ widely across Europe 11
- 3.3. The quality premium in European exports 16
- 3.4 Relation to other indicators (GDP per capita) 18
- 4. The importance of quality for specific industries 19
- 4.1. Quality as an exogenous characteristic and strategic result 19
- 4.3 Industry characteristics related to the importance of the quality mode 23
- 4.4 Europe's trade surplus comes from quality sensitive industries 25
- 5. Specialisation of countries in quality segments 27
- 5.1.Upgrading quality within industries 27
- 5.2 Export specialisation for countries in price segment 28
- 5.3 Climbing up the quality ladder 30
- 5.4 Country specific specialisation in high price segments 31
- 6. Towards a better understanding of competition in quality 34
- 6.1 Quality and strategy 34
- 6.2 Country characteristics influence quality position 38
- 6.3 Comparing Europe to the USA and Japan 39
- 7. A monitoring system for quality upgrading 42
- 8. Summary: Europe as a contested provider of quality 46
- Annex 1: Abbreviations used 52
- Annex 2: Industries with top and low importance of quality 53
- References 54
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