Growth

This science-based study provides a synthesis of existing knowledge for policymakers on the prospects for a sustainable, inclusive forest-based bioeconomy in Europe, including:
• The importance of forests and the forest-based sector in contributing to a European bioeconomy;
• The assessment of a forest-based bioeconomy in view of innovation and economic, social and environmental sustainability;
• Future issues that may affect the development of a forest-based bioeconomy.

This is the sixth edition of the Aid for Trade at a Glance publication. Since 2007, successive editions of this flagship publication have shed light on the steps being taken by developing country governments and their development partners to leverage trade for development. The 2017 edition adds further weight to the already substantial body of evidence highlighting the effectiveness of aid for trade. It focuses on how and why trade connectivity is critical for inclusiveness, sustainable growth and poverty reduction. It is intended to inform both practice and policy regarding aid for trade’s contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This paper describes the current and future economic situation in Europe: While Europe has enjoyed a strong recovery, medium-term perspectives are less exciting, hence the necessity for European government to use this window of opportunity to improve their fiscal policy and implement reforms aimed at transforming the short-term recovery into a long-term one. The recovery is also a great occasion for European Countries to strengthen their economic and monetary ties, and therefore deepen the Economic and Monetary Union.

While there is general agreement within the euro zone that further reform is needed, there is however disagreement as to which measures should be implemented. In a nutshell, member states disagree over the balance between risk sharing and risk reduction. Risk reduction proponents place the emphasis on crisis prevention, while those who emphasise risk sharing focus on crisis mitigation. This book represents a concerted effort by four prominent scholars from France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands to summarise the discussion in those countries and analyse in which areas the member states may find common ground to press ahead with reforms. The authors have been asked to provide a background to how the euro has been perceived in their respective countries and identify which EMU reforms would be acceptable in the short- to medium-term perspective.

In this paper we quantify the "Cost of Non-Europe", i.e. the trade-related welfare gains each country member has reaped from the European Union. Thirty years after the terminology of Non-Europe was used to give estimates of the gains from further integration, we use modern versions of the gravity model to estimate the trade creation implied by the EU, and apply those to counterfactual exercises where for instance the EU returns to a "normal'', shallow-type regional agreement, or reverts to WTO rules. Those scenarios are envisioned with or without the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU (Brexit) happening, which points to interesting cross-country differences and potential cascade effects in doing and undoing of trade agreements.

This report looks at how regional policies can support productivity growth and jobs. While there has been a remarkable decline in inequality in OECD countries, inequality among regions within certain countries has increased over the same time period. Regions that narrowed productivity gaps tended to benefit from economically vibrant tradable sectors and integration with well-functioning cities. This report considers in detail the role of the tradable sector as a driver of productivity growth and its relationship with employment. It addresses the possible risks of a growing tradable sector and how diversification is central to strengthening regional economic resilience. It considers how regions integrate global value chains and highlights the role of regional and policy links in fostering productivity growth and job creation. It asks what policies can help better anticipate or cushion shocks from trade in specific regions and, more generally, what strategies and framework conditions are conducive for regional productivity and employment growth.

This study analyses the key challenges for Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs) in developing a long-term, structured industrial policy, with a global view. The policy should promote structural change and raise the industrial contribution to GDP to the 20% target set by the European Commission (EC) in December 2014.
New means of production incorporate a mix of processes located in both highcost and low-cost countries and are based on a wide range of factors enabled by technological developments. Significant changes in consumption are increasingly driven by individual needs which are more sensitive to social and environmental aspects. Together these require a more flexible, hybrid and servitisation-oriented industrial paradigm.
The way LRAs can guide this shift strictly depends on their ability to combine strengths in traditional sectors with innovative trajectories of industrial development in dynamic new sectors. Faced with a growing complexity of industrial challenges, LRAs are called on to design and implement a systemic industrial policy coordinated with national and EU level policies, pulled by vision and pushed by competition.