In March 2023, the European Commission published a legislative proposal for an EU response to the US Inflation Reduction Act: the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA). It is an unconvincing policy proposal, both for what is in it and for what is not in it. The proposal has five problematic aspects....

Using new and unique survey evidence on digitalisation activities and investment in climate change of non-financial firms in the EU and the US, this article documents the trend towards twin digital and green investment in the corporate landscape after the COVID-19 pandemic. We use information...

This paper analyzes M&A patterns of R&D projects in the antidiabetics industry. For this purpose, we construct a database with all corporate individual antidiabetics R&D projects over the period 1997 - 2017, and add detailed information on firms' technology dimension using patent information,...

The literature on within-firm organizational change and productivity suggests that firms can make more efficient use of certain technologies if complementary forms of organization are adopted. This issue may be of even greater importance for the case of greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement...

Transition economies that formerly were within the Soviet Union’s political and economic sphere had on the eve of the crisis much lower GDPs per capita than the EU15 or the United States, despite exhibiting higher growth. In part, increasing total-factor productivity (TFP), a ‘residual’...

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 Policy Contribution accompanies the Policy Brief, 'No Green Growth Without Innovation'. Written by Senior Non-Resident Fellow Philippe Aghion, Senior Resident Fellow Reinhilde Veugelers and Researcher Clément Serre, this paper discusses the state of green innovation and goes into more...

This paper discusses rising enrolment rates, access, governance, underperformance in research and teaching, lack of internationalisation, private returns to education and the funding problems of European universities. Our proposals for reform are based on more autonomy for universities, higher...

Universities are key players in the successful transition to a knowledge-based economy and society. However, this crucial sector of society needs restructuring if Europe is not to lose out in the global competition in education, research and innovation. To allow a more evidence based process of...

Senior Resident Fellows Reinhilde Veugelers and Bruno van Pottelsberghe provide recommendations for the term of new Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes in this supplement to Bruegel's Memos to the New Commission: Europe's Economic Priorities 2010-2015. They argue that Kroes should move past...