2011年-世界发展银行全球_Europe_2020___The_Employment_Skills_and_Innovation_Agenda_42页_2mb

Europe 2020: Employment, Skills and Innovation Agenda Summary

Core Content

This document outlines the World Bank's analytical work supporting the Europe 2020 Strategy, focusing on three main areas: raising employment rates, enhancing skill levels, and spurring innovation and technology absorption. It emphasizes the need for structural reforms and policy interventions to address challenges in the EU-10 countries, which include former Eastern Bloc nations. The report also highlights the importance of these reforms in the context of post-crisis recovery and long-term growth.

Main Viewpoints

• Macroeconomic Context: The EU-10 countries had been steadily catching up with the EU-15 before the global financial crisis, which significantly impacted their growth. The crisis led to a sharp decline in GDP, especially in countries with large pre-crisis imbalances, such as Latvia, which saw an 18% GDP drop in 2009.
• Employment Challenges: EU-10 countries have low employment rates, particularly among older workers, less-educated individuals, women, and minority groups like the Roma. These groups are more likely to be inactive due to early retirement, disability, or caregiving responsibilities.
• Policy Recommendations: The report proposes a range of policy directions to improve employment and labor market outcomes, including enhancing productivity and employability of older workers, evaluating retirement age and pre-retirement benefits, assessing disability pension eligibility, reducing the tax wedge, and encouraging female labor participation through pro-natalist policies.
• Skills Development: Skills development is a critical factor for economic growth. The document highlights the need for early childhood development programs, comprehensive schooling reforms, tertiary education improvements, and lifelong learning systems.
• Innovation and Technology Absorption: R&D spending, especially applied research and collaboration with industry, is crucial for fostering innovation. The report suggests restructuring public R&D institutions, improving the institutional framework, and increasing financing for start-ups and innovative firms.

Key Information

Section 1: The Macroeconomic Environment in EU-10 Countries

• GDP Growth: The EU-10 experienced strong GDP growth (nearly 6% average from 2000–08), with GDP per capita reaching the highest levels since the 1989 transition.
• Impact of Crisis: The global financial crisis severely disrupted growth, with the EU-10 GDP declining by 3.6% in 2009, more than the global average but slightly less than the EU-15.
• Recovery: The recovery started in 2010 but was fragile and uneven. Countries with smaller pre-crisis imbalances, like Poland, recovered more quickly.
• Demographic Trends: Aging populations and low fertility rates are projected to reduce the labor force, especially in EU-10 countries. Migration may partially offset these trends, particularly in higher-income countries.
• Tax Wedge: High employee-employer tax wedges are associated with lower employment rates, especially for low-skilled workers. Hungary has the highest tax wedge in the OECD, while the Czech Republic is below average.

Section 2: Raising Employment Rates

• Employment Rates: The average employment rate in EU-10 countries was 67% in 2009, below the EU-15 average (70%) and the Europe 2020 target (75%).
• Impact of Employment Increase: Raising employment rates to the Europe 2020 target could boost GDP by 15.6%, 11.0%, and 5.5% in Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic, respectively, by 2025.
• Older Workers: Older workers, especially women, are the main contributors to inactivity. Reducing inactivity among older workers could have the largest impact on overall employment rates.
• Roma and Vulnerable Groups: The Roma population, being Europe's largest minority, faces significant labor market challenges. Policies should aim to promote their inclusion and improve their employment opportunities.
• Retirement Age: Raising the retirement age and equalizing it for men and women is essential to address demographic challenges and reduce inactivity.

Section 3: Raising Skill Levels

• Education Reforms: The report highlights the importance of early childhood development (ECD) programs, comprehensive schooling reforms, and lifelong learning systems.
• Skill Mismatch: There is a growing mismatch between new and old jobs in Poland, driven by changes in the skill requirements of the labor market.
• Education Quality: Low educational attainment and skill levels are linked to inactivity, especially among older workers. Poland's education reforms have shown improvements in PISA scores.
• Higher Education: Reforming higher education financing and improving data collection can enhance access and efficiency of tertiary education.
• Policy Examples: Lithuania and Poland have implemented education reforms that have led to improved PISA scores. Finland and Ireland are cited as examples of effective lifelong learning systems.

Section 4: Technological Innovation and Absorption

• R&D Spending: Efficient R&D spending is crucial for economic growth. The report emphasizes the need to redesign public R&D funding systems to focus on applied research and industry collaboration.
• R&D Institutions: State-owned research institutes should be restructured to better align with industry needs through commercialization and employee-led privatization.
• Absorptive Capacity: Enhancing absorptive capacity through R&D and innovation is key to economic growth. The report highlights the importance of institutional frameworks and funding for start-ups.
• Patent Applications: Patent applications with foreign co-investors are an indicator of innovation and technology absorption, which is still relatively low in EU-10 countries.
• Financing for Innovation: Increasing financing for start-ups and innovative companies, such as through the National Capital Fund (NCF) in Poland, is recommended to support innovation.

Conclusion

The Europe 2020 Strategy requires a multifaceted approach to achieve smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth. The World Bank's analysis suggests that raising employment rates, enhancing skill levels, and increasing innovation and technology absorption are the most impactful interventions. These reforms are essential to address demographic challenges, improve labor market outcomes, and foster long-term economic growth in the EU-10 region.