International outsourcing is an important aspect of economic globalization. Since outsourcing leads to more specialization, it is expected to reduce production costs and to increase productivity. <span>This study uses microdata on Dutch firms to investigate the effects of international and domestic...</span>

This contribution uses an extensive and unique set of combined Dutch micro-data to analyze the relationship between three dimensions of globalization and unemployment. These dimensions are firm level exports, offshorability of jobs, and working for a foreign-owned firm. Both the probability of...

In Lisbon, the European Union has set itself the goal to become the most competitive economy in the world in 2010 without harming social cohesion and the environment. The motivation for introducing this target is the substantially higher GDP per capita of US citizens. The difference in income...

Increases in inequality between low and high-skilled workers are likely to affect welfare state policies in upcoming decades. Demand for redistribution puts pressure on marginal income-tax rates and other social security measures. We come to this conclusion by confronting expected supply and...

This paper simultaneously explores trends in energy- and labour productivity for 14 OECD countries and 13 sectors over the period 1970-1997. A principal aim of this paper is to trace back macroeconomic productivity developments to developments at the level of individual sectors, in order to...

This paper provides an empirical analysis of convergence patterns for energy- and labour-productivity developments at a detailed sectoral level for 14 OECD countries, covering the period 1970-1997. Cross-country differences of energy-productivity levels are shown to be substantially larger...

Structural funds are the most intensively used policy instrument by the European Union to promote economic growth in its member states and to speed up the process of convergence. This paper empirically explores the effectiveness of European Structural Funds by means of a panel data analysis for...

India's impressive economic performance over the past few decades has had a positive net impact on the Dutch economy. Peculiar for India is its relatively strong position on the global markets for services. Imports of cheap Indian products have slightly improved Dutch households' purchasing...

China’s spectacular economic performance over the past few decades has had a positive net impact on the Dutch economy. Imports of cheap Chinese products have lowered Dutch inflation. Increasing Chinese exports to Europe have strengthened the role of the Netherlands as a key European...

This paper investigates the impact of the emergence of China and Eastern Europe as increasingly important players on the world market for a small open economy such as the Netherlands. We describe and compare in detail revealed comparative advantages across the different country groups. This...