Högskolan i Skövde

As well known and much discussed, the European demographic development will mean problems for economic growth in the future. While the part of the population, which is older than 65, will continue to rise both relative to the labour force and in absolute terms, the active population between 20 and 64 probably will fall, at least relatively if not absolutely. In this paper we will treat two central questions. The first question is dealing with the demographic development and possible effects of migration in West Europe. Regarding the new member countries and the candidate countries, with the exception of Turkey, the demographic development here is even more difficult than the one in West Europe. Furthermore, migration to Europe could implicate a brain drain, which may deteriorate the economic and social situation in the countries of emigration. In this part we even will discuss, whether the population situation in Europe could lead to an enlargement of the EU or other arrangements of co-operation with countries, which traditionally are not seen as candidates for membership. The second main question in the paper will discuss the implications of the population development and of migration for economic growth. A difference can be made between growth of total GDP, GDP per head of population and GDP per employed person. Yet the main emphasis of the empirical growth discussion will deal with GDP pc. We will even discus, whether the possibilities of falling growth could be leveled out by higher formation of physical and human capital, changes of participation rates and working hours

This paper deals with the theoretical and empirical relations between living standard, quality of life, globalization and international competitiveness of countries. While economists are not convinced that competitiveness of countries is a useful concept, because firms and industries compete economically and not countries, the general public, journalists and politicians seem to feel that competitiveness is important. E.g., one of the goals of the European Union is to become the most competitive economy in the world. Furthermore, economists argue, that economic globalization has the potential of increasing economic welfare for all. In this case, the general public is more sceptical. Finally, the general public but even other scientists than economists, seem to believe that living standard and the quality of life are only weakly related to each other. The following results can be mentioned. We found strong positive correlations between our main variables. Our hypotheses are with other words supported.

According to the Lisbon Agenda of the year 2000, the goal of the European Union is to become in 2010 the most competitive economy in the world, able to achieve high employment, rising economic growth and rising living standards. Furthermore, social and regional cohesion and a positive environmental development shall be attained, though according to the Barroso Commission the focus is now on employment and growth, while social and environmental aspects are seen as longer-term goals. The Lisbon Agenda aims to prepare the European Union for the challenges of globalization. Since the Lisbon Summit in 2000, the EU has been enlarged with 12 new members, among them the Baltic States Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The purpose of this paper is firstly to investigate how - economic - globalization can be defined and measured and secondly, how competitiveness can be expressed. While globalization is measured mostly in absolute figures, regarding competitiveness, a - relative - comparison of countries is shown. The focus is on the Baltic States, with Sweden as a comparison. Though competitiveness of nations is according to Krugman a discussable phenomenon, Porter and the World Economic Forum (WEF) are presenting indicators for this concept in the yearly published Gobal Competitiveness Report. According to the WEF, international competitiveness of nations can be expressed by high growth and living standard in the medium and long run and by high and rising employment. [From the publication]

The paper describes the theoretical and empirical interactions between globalization and internationalization on one hand and living standards and the quality of life on the other hand. The empirical results for 58 countries show high and positive correlations between rankings of the main variables.

According to the public opinion in several European countries during the 1990s, the European economies were growing, regarding total production and GDP, but in contrast to the USA, employment was stagnating, while unemployment was rising. It was therefore questioned, whether economic growth could solve the problems of rising unemployment and stagnating employment. Furthermore, after the change of the economic system in the Central- and Eastern Europe Countries (CEEC), though economic growth in several CEEC since the middle of the 1990s was very strong, especially in the Baltic countries, unemployment was rising and employment was falling. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse the 1990s with respect to the following questions. Is the European economic development, defined as the situation in the EU15, characterized by jobless growth, i.e. a situation with growing GDP but rising unemployment and stagnating employment? Is the development in the USA significantly different from the one of the EU15? The enlargement of the EU with 8 CEEC in May 2004 and the expectation of a common monetary policy in the future with the stability and growth pact valid even for the new members leads to the question whether the economic development of the new members is comparable to the one in the “old” EU15. Therefore an investigation of growth and employment in the three Baltic countries as a part of the CEEC is performed.

In this paper living standards and quality of life in 32 European countries are described and discussed. To express living standards, both Gross domestic product per head of population in purchasing power parities (GDPpcPPP) and the Human development index (HDI) from the UNDP, consisting of GDPpcPPP, life expectancy at birth and an education index are used. Quality of life is expressed by the Quality of life index (QLI) from the Economist and consists of 9 different aspects. Furthermore, the author investigated the possible importance of the income distribution for GDP pc and HDI. The results of some statistical calculations showed that there are high and positive correlations between GDP pc, life expectancy a birth and an education variable. Because of the construction of HDI, even the correlations between these variables and the index are high. Furthermore the rankings between the 32 countries, regarding HDI, GDP pc PPP and QLI have high positive correlations. How important is income distribution? While the correlations between different income distribution variables are high and have the expected signs, the correlations between income distrbution on one hand and GDP pc and HDI on the other hand had the expected signs, but are not significant.

This comment discusses D. Koreleski's article in Acta Scientarium Polonorum - Oeconomia 6(3). The aim of the comment is firstly to discuss the article and secondly to present some completing ideas.

This paper investigates the situation and future development of human resources in Europe. It is discussed whether economic growth and growth of living standard in the future against the background of demographic changes is possible.

According to the Lisbon agenda, the European Union has “…. A new strategic goal….: To become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion” (Presidency conclusions, Lisbon European Council, march 2000). In this paper we are dealing with the questions, firstly how Sweden is living up to the Lisbon Agenda and secondly, how the Swedish national economy has developed, compared to the total EU15, regarding macroeconomic performance and international competitiveness. It seems that Sweden is relatively hesitant regarding participation in the EU, and especially regarding the full membership in the Economic and Monetary Union. Therefore, in this paper it is investigated, whether this scepticism could be explained with a different or worse Swedish development, compared to the total EU15. Furthermore, we have a look whether this sceptic attitude has influenced the Swedish fulfilment of the Lisbon agenda so far. Macroeconomic performance will be described by the development of some important macroeconomic variables, like the growth rate, the rate of inflation and unemployment, the development of employment and the balance of trade and current payments. Though the concept of international competitiveness of nations seems to be a very popular object of economic political discussion, the concept is not quite clear. We will even investigate, how different authors (e.g. Krugman, 1994; and Porter, 1990) are dealing with this concept. The Swedish competitive position according to the World Economic Forum will be described and compared with other members of the European Union. Finally as a measure of relative development and competitiveness, the Swedish position in the United Nations Development Report (Human Development Index), will be investigated and compared with EU members. The description and analysis will be performed in two stages: a first period before Swedish membership in the EU15 and a second period since 1995. The question here is to investigate, whether differences can be seen for Sweden before and after 1995. The planned paper could contribute to Swedish Economic European Research in following ways. The Swedish national economy is compared with the EU15 regarding macroeconomic performance, international competitiveness and how Sweden fulfils the goals of the Lisbon agenda. Furthermore, it will be investigated, whether the Swedish sceptical attitude towards European integration could be explained with a different development of the Swedish national economy, compared with the European economy

This paper is dealing with the Lisbon Agenda, i.e. in which way the European Union members are developing regarding growth and employment and if there is a possibility to fulfill the Lisbon goals in 2010. Special attention is on the Baltic countries. Even forecasts for growth and employment are presented. Social cohesion and environmental aspects are not dealt with.

The article discusses the influence of globalization on economic processes and human resources. It looks at quantitative developments which can illustrate internationalization between the 1970s and the 1990s. The problems which arise when two or more countries are starting to trade and specialize internationally are explained, as well as the international movements of capital.

The article explores how economic growth and knowledge creation can be related to each other. Growth of production and growth of production possibilities are the two aspects of economic growth. Other variables which describe economic growth include the growth of gross national product. Knowledge capital has public goods character which can be used by all workers. Sweden has relatively high economic growth since 1995.

Measured in GDP and population, the German national economy is the third largest one in the OECD behind the USA and Japan345. But as national accounts and foreign trade statistics show, the German economy is much more open for international trade than the two larger economies, i.e. foreign trade in Germany is – related to GDP – much larger. In absolute terms, yet, foreign trade in the USA is larger than in Germany. But though the Japanese economy is twice as large as the German one, German foreign trade is larger than the Japanese one. It is well known that both the German and the Japanese economies are stagnating, i.e. GDP is not growing very much in these countries.

The Lisbon Agenda from 2000 aims to make the European Union the most competitive economy in the world in 2010. This paper discusses the concept of international competitiveness of nations. While journalists and politicians believe that it is important for a country to be competitive, economist have often a different opinion. The World Economic Forum (WEF) presents two indices: the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and the Business Competitiveness Index (BCI). While Europe and the EU on average seem to be not very competitive, several of the European countries are internationally highly ranked. For the WEF a consequence of competitiveness is high standard of living. The paper shows that several of the European countries belong to the ones with the highest living standard in the world. In the sample, 40 European and 4 non-european countries are included. Finally, it could be shown that the correlation coefficients between the rankings of GCI, BCI and living standards are high and positive.

To become a member of the European Union, certain conditions have to be fulfilled. First of all, a country has to apply for membership. Furthermore, the country must geographically be situated in Europe, though there is some space of discussion (Cyprus, Turkey, and some territories and countries outside Europe). Finally the country has to meet the Copenhagen criteria (stability of institutions, functioning market economy, ability to take on the obligations of membership). Since 2004, new members of the EU even have to join the Economic and Monetary Union, when they fulfil the Maastricht criteria (low inflation and long-run interest rates, low public deficits and debts, stable exchange rates and independent national central bank). The purpose of this paper is to investigate some economic aspects and challenges of the enlargement of the EU since 2000. Even possible future enlargements will be discussed. Among the economic aspects the size, internationalisation and globalisation will be discussed mostly in macroeconomic terms. Furthermore, the question of Europe's international competitiveness and the Lisbon agenda from 2000 will be treated. The time perspective regarding the economic development in the past is approximately the years from 2000 to 2007, i.e. the actual development in 2008 and 2009 will not be dealt with. Finally, the question will be asked, whether past and future enlargements lead to a stronger or weaker European Union

As well known and much discussed, the European demographic development will mean problems for economic growth in the future. While the part of the population, which is older than 65, will continue to rise both relative to the labour force and in absolute terms, the active population between 20 and 64 probably will fall, at least relatively if not absolutely. In this paper we will treat two central questions. The first question is dealing with the demographic development and possible effects of migration in West Europe. Regarding the new member countries and the candidate countries, with the exception of Turkey, the demographic development here is even more difficult than the one in West Europe. Furthermore, migration to Europe could implicate a brain drain, which may deteriorate the economic and social situation in the countries of emigration. In this part we even will discuss, whether the population situation in Europe could lead to an enlargement of the EU or other arrangements of co-operation with countries, which traditionally are not seen as candidates for membership. The second main question in the paper will discuss the implications of the population development and of migration for economic growth. A difference can be made between growth of total GDP, GDP per head of population and GDP per employed person. Yet the main emphasis of the empirical growth discussion will deal with GDP pc. We will even discus, whether the possibilities of falling growth could be leveled out by higher formation of physical and human capital, changes of participation rates and working hours.

At least according to the Swedish public debate, men and women are not treated equally. There are differences in income, employment, unemployment, carrier possibilities, but even in education opportunities, especially post graduate studies, and in medical treatment, which cannot be explained. Though one should be careful to use the expression of discrimination, when people of different sex or ethnic background are treated differently, it seems that at least in Sweden - and probably even in other European countries – income differences cannot be explained with differences in labour productivity. Therefore our first conclusion is that discrimination is existing, that people with different sex and different ethnic background are treated differently. Gary Becker, in his Economics of Discrimination, has discussed, how discrimination is influencing among other aspects the total economy, e.g. expressed in GDP (in constant prices). Based on Becker we would expect that discrimination influences the total economy negatively. In this paper, we are investigating, whether we can see signs of female discrimination, i.e. we are excluding ethnic aspects. Furthermore, we are investigating the relation or relations between female discrimination and macroeconomic performance, expressed as growth, employment, price stability, GDPpc and net exports. Macroeconomic performance will be expressed by an index. If female discrimination in Europe is existing and influences macroeconomic performance negatively, this has important implication for the Lisbon agenda, which aims at making the EU the “... the most competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy,...capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion”. If female discrimination influences macroeconomic performance negatively, and if there is female discrimination in post graduate education, then female discrimination makes it more difficult to achieve the goals of the Lisbon agenda.