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Enterprise Productivity

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Enterprise Productivity

A Three-Speed Europe

ECB,

5 min read
5 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

In “a three-speed Europe,” Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain struggle to get in gear.

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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Scientific
  • Overview

Recommendation

European Union nations fall into three distinct economic groups, according to economists Andrea Dall’Olio, Mariana Iootty, Naoto Kanehira and Federica Saliola of the European Central Bank. The superstars are fast growers such as the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania – the newer EU entrants that have only recently joined the global economy. In the middle tier are the stalwarts like slow-and-steady Germany, France and the United Kingdom. Bringing up the rear are Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The European Union’s struggles remain a timely and riveting topic, but the writing here is dense and scholarly; don’t expect an easy read. Nonetheless, getAbstract recommends this authoritative report to investors, executives and policy makers.

Summary

As the European Union expanded in the period from 2003 to 2008, the group experienced decidedly choppy economic results. “New Europe” – or the 12 nations that joined the EU during that time, among them Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, and Slovenia – enjoyed productivity growth that was three to four times that of the 15 earlier members of the EU, or “Old Europe.” Complicating the analysis is the huge gap among the EU15 nations themselves: Northern European economies fared well, but Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain saw their productivity actually decline...

About the Authors

Andrea Dall’Olio, Mariana Iootty, Naoto Kanehira and Federica Saliola are economists at the World Bank.

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