The paper proposes a new way of analysing the efficiency of dynamic market selection, based on the persistence of scale economies. The new methodology is used to investigate the causes of stagnating productivity growth in EU business services. The persistence of scale-related inefficiencies is...

We present a two-country two-stage growth model capturing several salient features of the special US–China relationship and reproducing the process of export-led growth and structural change in China. In phase 1, China accumulates and sterilizes US assets (and finances US consumption) as it...

This paper argues that offshoring indices often measure something different than what we think they are. Using data from input-output tables of 21 European countries from 1995 to 2006 we decompose an offshoring index, distinguishing between a domestic (structural change) and an international...

This study investigates business services firms that (start to) export, comparing exporters to firms that serve the national market only. We estimate identically specified empirical models using comparable enterprise data from France, Germany, and the UK. Our findings show that exporters are on...

This paper deals with backward and forward linkages stemming from foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) in service sectors, and their impact on the productivity of local manufacturing firms. Using a database on foreign MNEs in service sectors in Italy, over the period 1999–2005, we find...

This work explores the roles of potential simultaneity and heterogeneity in determining firms’ decisions to engage in R&D collaboration, using a sample of Italian manufacturing firms. Collaboration with other firms, research institutions, universities and other small centres are considered...

The patterns and mechanisms of job creation in business services are investigated in this article by considering the role of innovation, demand, wages and the composition of employment by professional groups. A model is developed and an empirical test is carried out with parallel analyses on a...

Previous studies have found that a tightening of the balance of payments (BP) constraint can explain the slowdown in Mexico's growth after its trade liberalization in the late 1980s. This paper develops a disaggregated model of the BP constraint with two types of exports (manufactures and...

By integrating different industry level data sources (OECD Input–Output Tables, OECD Structural Analysis Database and EUROSTAT CIS) for a selected number of European countries, this paper aims at assessing the economic impact of business services (BS) on client industries. Compared to previous...

This paper studies the role played by ICT in affecting the efficiency of business services (BS) industry, using a structural disequilibrium model of the Italian economy. The Italian BS sector presents a peculiar dynamics (compared to other EU countries) in that, after initially improving its...