Friday, October 13, 2006
[IWS] Work Foundation: KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY in EUROPE [12 October 2006]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Work Foundation (U.K.)
The Knowledge Economy in Europe [12 October 2006]
A report prepared for the 2007 EU Spring Council
Prepared by Ian Brinkley and Neil Lee October 2006
http://www.theworkfoundation.com/products/publications/azpublications/knowledgeeconomyineurope.aspx
or
http://www.theworkfoundation.com/Assets/PDFs/KE_Europe.pdf
[full-text, 23 pages]
Low investment limits the knowledge economy dividend, report finds
12 October 2006
http://www.theworkfoundation.com/aboutus/media/pressreleases/theknowledgeeconomyineurope.aspx
European countries together have a knowledge economy that is as big if not bigger than that of the US, with over 40 per cent of workers employed in knowledge-based industries*. But the continent has not matched the US in terms of economic growth and productivity largely because it has not invested as much in its knowledge base and may be suffering a slowdown in technological progress as a result.
----------
A new report from The Work Foundation today argues that those nations that have invested most in knowledge for example in research and development, information and communications technology, and higher education have tended to enjoy relatively better economic dynamism.
However, investment alone is not enough. The ability of companies to implement technological innovations efficiently is also an important factor in explaining differences of economic performance.
The Knowledge Economy in Europe finds that between 1994 and 2004, R&D spending as a share of GDP across the EU15 (there are no comparable figures for the EU25) increased by less than 0.1 per cent and actually fell in France, the UK, the Netherlands and Ireland. In 2004, the US invested 2.7 per cent of GDP in R&D, compared with 1.9 per cent in the EU15.
Ian Brinkley, director of the Knowledge Economy Programme at The Work Foundation, said: The indications are that the countries prepared to invest in knowledge and have the ability to make the most of that knowledge on the whole perform better.
As the Lisbon Agenda recognised, knowledge is critical to the economic destiny of the EU, and the continent is now well on the path to being a knowledge economy both in terms of GDP from its knowledge industries and in terms of employment in knowledge work.
Where it falls down is that it has simply failed to invest enough. The priority must now be for policy makers to encourage organisations especially private sector organisations to invest much more in knowledge in the future. The continents technological progress is slowing down: that is precisely the wrong direction to be headed as knowledge rises in importance.
The report finds:
* Over the past decade most of the new jobs across the EU15 have come from the expansion of the knowledge-based industries, rising by 24 per cent against just 6 per cent in overall employment growth. Between 1995 and 2005, technology and knowledge based industries created 2.5 times more net jobs than the rest of the economy.
* The biggest single group of knowledge economy jobs is education and health, which account for over 19 per cent of all jobs in Europe.
* The Nordic countries and the UK have the biggest shares of employment in the knowledge economy; Sweden has 54 per cent, while Denmark, the UK and Finland are close behind with 50 per cent.
* Europe has particular strength in knowledge-based services. Employment increased by 31 per cent between 1995 and 2005 in knowledge-based services twice as fast as in non-knowledge services. Business services and communications jobs grew by 54.5 per cent.
* Employment in knowledge based industries in the US is less than in the Nordic countries, the UK and the Netherlands. The US has about 38 per cent of its workers in knowledge economy jobs (using comparable, but different definitions).
* The target of 3 per cent of GDP invested in research and development in the EU set by the Lisbon 2000 EU strategy council is unrealistic. R&D investment across the EU has increased by less than 0.1 per cent of GDP in 10 years, so 3 per cent is unachievable. A revised target of 2.5 per cent by 2015 is ambitious yet achievable.
* Fiscal measures such as tax incentives to increase R&D have a role, but their impact is likely to be small. For example, tax credits in the UK are likely to add only 0.1 per cent to the amount UK businesses invest in R&D.
* As well as in R&D, Europe lags behind the US in ICT spending. In 2004, the US invested 4.6 per cent of GDP in IT. By contrast, Europe invested 3 per cent.
The report also disputes the notion that product and labour market regulation explains lower economic growth. Nordic countries, with relatively high levels of labour market regulation, are among the most successful knowledge-based economies in the world. In addition, Europe as a whole has been moving close to US levels of product market regulation, and has cut levels of labour market regulation over recent years.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Work Foundation (U.K.)
The Knowledge Economy in Europe [12 October 2006]
A report prepared for the 2007 EU Spring Council
Prepared by Ian Brinkley and Neil Lee October 2006
http://www.theworkfoundation.com/products/publications/azpublications/knowledgeeconomyineurope.aspx
or
http://www.theworkfoundation.com/Assets/PDFs/KE_Europe.pdf
[full-text, 23 pages]
Low investment limits the knowledge economy dividend, report finds
12 October 2006
http://www.theworkfoundation.com/aboutus/media/pressreleases/theknowledgeeconomyineurope.aspx
European countries together have a knowledge economy that is as big if not bigger than that of the US, with over 40 per cent of workers employed in knowledge-based industries*. But the continent has not matched the US in terms of economic growth and productivity largely because it has not invested as much in its knowledge base and may be suffering a slowdown in technological progress as a result.
----------
A new report from The Work Foundation today argues that those nations that have invested most in knowledge for example in research and development, information and communications technology, and higher education have tended to enjoy relatively better economic dynamism.
However, investment alone is not enough. The ability of companies to implement technological innovations efficiently is also an important factor in explaining differences of economic performance.
The Knowledge Economy in Europe finds that between 1994 and 2004, R&D spending as a share of GDP across the EU15 (there are no comparable figures for the EU25) increased by less than 0.1 per cent and actually fell in France, the UK, the Netherlands and Ireland. In 2004, the US invested 2.7 per cent of GDP in R&D, compared with 1.9 per cent in the EU15.
Ian Brinkley, director of the Knowledge Economy Programme at The Work Foundation, said: The indications are that the countries prepared to invest in knowledge and have the ability to make the most of that knowledge on the whole perform better.
As the Lisbon Agenda recognised, knowledge is critical to the economic destiny of the EU, and the continent is now well on the path to being a knowledge economy both in terms of GDP from its knowledge industries and in terms of employment in knowledge work.
Where it falls down is that it has simply failed to invest enough. The priority must now be for policy makers to encourage organisations especially private sector organisations to invest much more in knowledge in the future. The continents technological progress is slowing down: that is precisely the wrong direction to be headed as knowledge rises in importance.
The report finds:
* Over the past decade most of the new jobs across the EU15 have come from the expansion of the knowledge-based industries, rising by 24 per cent against just 6 per cent in overall employment growth. Between 1995 and 2005, technology and knowledge based industries created 2.5 times more net jobs than the rest of the economy.
* The biggest single group of knowledge economy jobs is education and health, which account for over 19 per cent of all jobs in Europe.
* The Nordic countries and the UK have the biggest shares of employment in the knowledge economy; Sweden has 54 per cent, while Denmark, the UK and Finland are close behind with 50 per cent.
* Europe has particular strength in knowledge-based services. Employment increased by 31 per cent between 1995 and 2005 in knowledge-based services twice as fast as in non-knowledge services. Business services and communications jobs grew by 54.5 per cent.
* Employment in knowledge based industries in the US is less than in the Nordic countries, the UK and the Netherlands. The US has about 38 per cent of its workers in knowledge economy jobs (using comparable, but different definitions).
* The target of 3 per cent of GDP invested in research and development in the EU set by the Lisbon 2000 EU strategy council is unrealistic. R&D investment across the EU has increased by less than 0.1 per cent of GDP in 10 years, so 3 per cent is unachievable. A revised target of 2.5 per cent by 2015 is ambitious yet achievable.
* Fiscal measures such as tax incentives to increase R&D have a role, but their impact is likely to be small. For example, tax credits in the UK are likely to add only 0.1 per cent to the amount UK businesses invest in R&D.
* As well as in R&D, Europe lags behind the US in ICT spending. In 2004, the US invested 4.6 per cent of GDP in IT. By contrast, Europe invested 3 per cent.
The report also disputes the notion that product and labour market regulation explains lower economic growth. Nordic countries, with relatively high levels of labour market regulation, are among the most successful knowledge-based economies in the world. In addition, Europe as a whole has been moving close to US levels of product market regulation, and has cut levels of labour market regulation over recent years.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 8:57 AM
