Comparative levels of labour productivity and labour costs in manufacturing in Belgium and the Netherlands, 1921-1990

Belgium and The Netherlands share a lot of common characteristics in historical development, geographical location, political and institutional structure and in the size and degree of the openness of their economies. However, detailed comparisons of economic development of Belgium and The Netherlands have been largely neglected until now. This paper presents a comparative description of the development of labour productivity in Belgian and Dutch manufacturing for the period 1921-1990. Three comparative benchmark estimates of output and productivity for the years 1937, 1960 and 1987 were calculated, mainly based on census information. Levels of manufacturing productivity are extended backward and forward by linking time series of productivity change from 1921 to 1990 to the benchmarks.

The Impact of Technology on Economic Growth: Some New Ideas and Empirical Considerations

R&D based models relating technical change and economic growth have been unsuccessful in explaining the recent productivity paradox: R&D efforts have risen continuously in advanced countries during the postwar period whereas productivity growth has, if anything, declined. Several explanations of the paradox are offered, together with empirical ways of testing them. The notion that R&D efforts are more and more attributed to product differentiation, thus enlarging consumers'' welfare while simultaneously exhibiting only limited effects on economic growth, looks very promising in explaining the productivity paradox.research and development ;

The use of life cycle assessment as an early R&D decision tool: bottlenecks and potential solutions

At an ever increasing rate innovative chemistry and technology platforms are reshaping manufacturing environments to become factories of the future as being more productive, lean and flexible. The use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in early process development phases has been challenged many times to assess whether or not this willingness to strive for innovation is an environmentally sustainable one. This paper provides general solutions to two major bottlenecks in applying LCA in R&D decision trees; (1) the lack of sufficient process data in early development phases and (2) the lack of knowledge on the effect of scale and learning on the environmental sustainability of a chemical product or process. The first issue is tackled with the use of multiple linear regression modeling, while for the second bottleneck the concept of deriving experience curves is proposed and illustrated. While this paper has taken a step in the direction of including LCA as a decision making tool in early process development phases, it stresses that more research should be conducted especially on Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM), since it makes little sense to optimize in-house production without a proper procurement and Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Instruments for personnel selection in the 21st century: research and practice

Instruments for Personnel Selection in the 21st Century: Research and Practice. This article presents an evidence-based overview of innovative selection techniques that were developed in the last years to provide an answer to key questions concerning the contemporary practice of selection. In addition, we aim to point out gaps in the current knowledge about these novel techniques to guide future research. The article shows that innovative selection instruments such as conditional reasoning tests, integrity tests, and implicit association tests might offer opportunities to measure value-based competencies, and maladaptive traits. Furthermore, contextualized personality questionnaires, business-related intelligence tests, situational judgment tests, and so-called serious games enable organizations to improve their image, which creates branding opportunities to promote the company as an attractive employer. Finally, we conclude by stating that practitioners and researchers face numerous selection challenges. Examples are the selection of a diverse as well as competent workforce and the reliable and valid implementation of unproctored Internet testing