How Europe's Economies Learn

Book excerpt: When seeking to bench mark the performance of European economies, commentators often look to compare them to the economies of Japan and the United States. How Europe's Economies Learn shows how this is seriously misleading, and how any such comparison needs to be complemented with an understanding of the fundamental differences between Europe's economies. The contributors provide an up-to-date description and analysis of the way differences in state systems and institutional contexts, such as labour markets, education and training systems, and financial systems, shape learning processes and innovation performance across the member nations of the European Union. In doing so, it draws important conclusion for how policy strategies should be designed at the national and European levels in order to further promote the goals of the Lisbon process.