Fragmentation, Incomes, and Jobs : An Analysis of European Competitiveness
Increasing fragmentation of production across borders is changing the nature of international competition. As a result, conventional indicators of competitiveness based on gross exports are becoming less informative and new measures are needed. Thi...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/04/19344013/fragmentation-incomes-jobs-analysis-european-competitiveness http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17720 |
| Summary: | Increasing fragmentation of production
across borders is changing the nature of international
competition. As a result, conventional indicators of
competitiveness based on gross exports are becoming less
informative and new measures are needed. This paper proposes
an ex-post accounting framework of the value added and
workers that are directly and indirectly related to the
production of final manufacturing goods. The framework
focuses on manufactures global value chain income and
manufactures global value chain jobs. The paper outlines
these concepts and provides trends in European countries
based on a recent multi-sector, input-output model of the
world economy. The analysis finds that since 1995, revealed
comparative advantage of the European Union 27 is shifting
to activities related to the production of nonelectrical
machinery and transport equipment. The workers involved in
manufactures global value chains are increasingly in
services, rather than manufacturing industries. The analysis
also finds a strong shift toward activities carried out by
high-skilled workers, highlighting the uneven distributional
effects of fragmentation. The results show that a global
value chain perspective is needed to inform the policy
debates on competitiveness. |
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