Opinion
The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted an increasing number of rich-country firms to reduce their reliance on global supply chains and invest more in robots at home. But it is probably too soon to tell whether this switch will increase productivity growth in advanced economies.
Opinion
Eastern Germany has suffered from three decades of deindustrialization since the collapse of communism, largely because of poor policy decisions. But by becoming an electric-vehicle powerhouse, the region can help to drive Europe's green transition and secure its own future prosperity.
Opinion
Germany needs an industrial revival of the sort it experienced in the late nineteenth century, but this will be possible only if the state offers technological backing to German companies. The US government’s successful Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency should serve as a model.
Opinion
Although national industrial policies have a bad reputation, there is a strong case for government support to sectors that will increasingly rely on artificial intelligence. In this regard, the German government’s plan to promote production of electric-car batteries may accelerate an industrial renaissance in Europe.
Opinion
Eastern Germans vote, think, and feel differently than western Germans do, as the results of the September 1 regional elections make clear. To help tackle the underlying economic causes of this divide, the federal government should introduce incentives to encourage foreign investment in the east of the country.
Blueprint
Europe needs to know how it can realise the potential for industrial rejuvenation. How well are European firms responding to the new opportunities for growth, and in which global value chains are they developing these new activities? The policy discussion on the future of manufacturing requires an understanding of the changing role of manufacturing in Europe’s growth agenda.
Opinion
Austrian firms invested heavily in Central and Eastern Europe. They offshored the parts of the value chain that required specialized skills and produced valuable research. This resulted in lowered growth in Austria.
Blog Post
The pay gap between workers and CEOs in Germany is driven by a lack of managers. Income inequality could fall if there were more managers available for companies to hire. Firms should start hiring more CEOs who are women or from abroad.
Opinion
The Volkswagen scandal has raised questions about the German model of production. If the success of the company’s diesel-powered vehicles was due in part to fraudulent efforts to conceal the amount of harmful pollutants they emitted, will similar revelations at other companies call into questions the country’s transformation from “the sick man of Europe” to an export-driven economic powerhouse?
Blog Post
What has contributed to Germany's exceptional export performance compared to other European countries?
Working Paper
What explains Germany’s superb export performance? Is Germany’s export behaviour very distinct compared to other European countries?