The competitiveness of countries and that of firms are different concepts. EU GDP is stable at two-thirds of the US, but productivity growth has lagged since the 1990s. The EU does better on wealth equality and clean-tech export shares. The EU faces two supply-side disadvantages: high energy...

This paper reviews the state of EU competitiveness and introduces a strategy to improve it, based on medium-term, sector-level coordination of Member State reform policies and/or investments. The idea is illustrated with two examples: an investment and reform programme to create a single EU...

Higher levels of economic activity tend to go hand-in-hand with additional energy use and consumption of natural resources. As fossil fuels still account for 80 percent of the global energy mix, energy consumption remains closely related to greenhouse gas emissions and hence to climate...

We analyze public investment in basic research in a multi-country, multi-industry environment with international trade. In our economy, basic research generates ideas which private firms take up in applied research to develop new varieties. Such development requires industry-specific know-how. A...

We examine how basic research should be financed. While basic research is a public good benefiting innovating entrepreneurs it also affects the entire economy: occupational choices of potential entrepreneurs, wages of workers, dividends to shareholders, and aggregate output. We show that the...

What is the economic rationale for investing in science? Based on an open economy model of creative destruction, we characterize four key factors of optimal investment in basic research: the stage of economic development, the strength of the manufacturing base, the degree of openness, and the...