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Elmeskov, Jørgen --- "Structural reforms – where does Europe stand today?" [2003] ELECD 102; in Tumpel-Gugerell, Gertrude; Mooslechner, Peter (eds), "Structural Challenges for Europe" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2003)

Book Title: Structural Challenges for Europe

Editor(s): Tumpel-Gugerell, Gertrude; Mooslechner, Peter

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781843764748

Section: Chapter 2

Section Title: Structural reforms – where does Europe stand today?

Author(s): Elmeskov, Jørgen

Number of pages: 22

Extract:

2. Structural reforms ­ where does
Europe stand today?
Jørgen Elmeskov1

The end of 2002 (the time of writing) seems like an opportune moment to
discuss Europe's progress in structural reform.2 The impetus for structural
reform appears to be fading despite the positive outcomes of past structu-
ral reform and despite the very long unfinished agenda many European
countries face. Against that background, this chapter will focus on progress
in structural reform in EU countries and how it relates to real incomes. This
is not to deny that structural reform may have other beneficial effects, such
as increasing the cyclical resilience of economies. But to keep things simple,
structural reform will be reviewed only from the point of view of how it can
contribute to higher real incomes. The first section below gives an overview
of recent trends in real incomes across the main regions of the OECD and
some of the proximate reasons behind these trends. The second section
reviews progress on aspects of structural reform together with evidence on
its effects. A brief final section sums up and provides some pointers for
future policies.


1. THE ABILITY TO GENERATE REAL INCOME:
UNITED STATES, EUROPEAN UNION AND
JAPAN COMPARED

In terms of generating real incomes, the United States leads Japan and
Europe by a wide margin. Using GDP per capita as the measure of real
income, Figure 2.1 (Panel A), shows that Japan and the European Union
are, respectively, about a quarter and a third below ...