While foreign trade flows have always been seen as a major determinant of growth, recently globalisation and enhanced European integration - including EMU - have impacted on the size and direction of international flows, not only of goods but also of services, capital and labour.

This conference intended to add insights from state-ofthe-art research including a micro- and a macro-perspective and a broad geographical coverage. Sessions comprised invited (keynote) and contributed Paper.

Programme (pdf format, 50kb)

Presentations 16 October 2008 Copyright rests with the authors

Presentations 17 October 2008 Copyright rests with the authors

Programme 16 October 2008
09.30-09.40	Welcome	István P. Székely, Research Director, DG ECFIN
09.40-10.00	"Boosting growth and productivity in an open Europe"	Joaquín Almunia, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Opening address [70 KB]
Session I – The international dimension of economic growth. Where do we stand? Chair: István P. Székely, Research Director, DG ECFIN
10.00-10.30	"Working through the crisis from turbo growth to sustainable development:Challenges for international linkages and economic growth"	Bart van Ark, Vice President and Chief Economist, The Conference Board, New York, and University of Groningen Presentation - [2 MB]
10.30-11.00	"The EU-US total factor productivity gap: An industry perspective"	Kieran MC MORROW, Werner Röger, and Alessandro Turrini, DG ECFIN Presentation - [264 KB] Paper - [122 KB]
11.00-11.15	Discussant	Annabelle Mourougane, OECD Presentation - [446 KB]
11.15-11.30	General Discussion
11.30-11.45 Coffee Break
Session II – Openness and growth: Foreign trade in goods and services Chair: Elena Flores Gual, Director Economies of the Member States II, DG ECFIN
11.45-12.15	"International students, university training, and multinationals in the flow oftechnology to China and India: Implications for growth and trade"	Richard B. Freeman, Harvard University and NBER Presentation - [508 KB]
12.15-12.45	"How to close the productivity gap between the US and Europe: A quantitative assessment using a semi-endogenous growth model"	Werner RÖGER, János Varga, and Jan in't Veld (DG ECFIN) Presentation - [113 KB] Paper - [325 KB]
12.45-13.00	Discussant	Reinhilde Veugelers, Bureau of European Policy Advisers, EuropeanCommission Presentation - [35 KB]
13.00-13.15	General Discussion
13.15-14.15 Lunch Break
Session III – International sources of productivity growth Chair: Lars Jonung, DG ECFIN
14.15-14.45	"Searching for the sources of productivity: From macro to micro and back"	Eric Bartelsman, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Presentation - [168 KB] Paper - [354 KB]
14.45-15.15	"The selection effect of international competition"	Andrea Finicelli, Patrizio Pagano and Massimo SBRACIA, Banca d'Italia Presentation - [546 KB] Paper - [365 KB]
15.15-15.30	Discussant	Sebastiaan Michael Straathof, CPB, The Hague Presentation - [71 KB]
15.30-15.45	General Discussion
15.45-16.15 Coffee Break
Session IV – International labour flows and economic growth Chair: Servaas Deroose, Director Macroeconomy of the euro area and the EU, DG ECFIN
16.15-16.45	"Migration and economic growth: Is there a trade-off?"	Tito Boeri, IGIER, Universitá Bocconi Presentation - [157 KB]
16.45-17.15	"Why doesn't labor flow from poor to rich countries? Micro evidence from the European integration experience"	Catia Batista, Trinity College Dublin Presentation - [173 KB] Paper - [322 KB]
17.15-17.30	Discussant	Karl Pichelmann, DG ECFIN Presentation - [114 KB]
17.30-18.00	General Discussion
Programme 17 October 2008
Session V – International capital flows and economic growth Chair: Elemér Terták, Director Financial Institutions, DG MARKT
09.00-09.30	"The macroeconomics of financial integration: A European perspective"	Philip R. Lane, Trinity College Dublin Presentation - [374 KB] Paper - [327 KB]
09.30-10.00	"Does openness to international financial flows raise productivity growth?"	M. Ayhan Kose (IMF), Eswar S. Prasad (Cornell University), and Marco E. TERRONES (IMF) Presentation - [447 KB] Paper - [529 KB]
10.00-10.15	Discussant	Paul van den Noord, DG ECFIN Presentation - [123 KB]
10.15-10.30	General Discussion
10.30-11.00 Coffee Break
Session VI – European experiences, enlargement and economic growth Chair: Jürgen Kröger, Director Economies of the Member States I, DG ECFIN
11.00-11.30	"Long-run growth and competitiveness in transition economies: An unfinished agenda"	Erik Berglöf, Chief Economist, EBRD Presentation - [2 MB]
11.30-12.00	"Offshoring, relocation and the speed of convergence in the enlarged European Union"	Kari E. O. ALHO (ETLA and University of Helsinki), Ville Kaitila (ETLA), and Mika Widgrén (Turku School of Economics, CEPR, CESifo and ETLA) Presentation - [146 KB] Paper - [685 KB]
12.00-12.15	Discussant	Júlia Lendvai, DG ECFIN Presentation - [171 KB]
12.15-13.15 Lunch Break
13.15-13.45	"Do those who stay work less?"	Katarzyna B. Budnik, National Bank of Poland
13.45-14.00	Discussant	Ronald Albers, DG ECFIN
14.00-14.15	General Discussion
Panel – International flows and growth: What role for policy? Chair: Marco Buti, Acting Director General, DG ECFIN
14.15-15.45	Panellist	Tito Boeri, IGIER, Universitá Bocconi
		Vítor Gaspar, Acting Director General, BEPA
		Subir Lall, IMF Presentation - [373 KB]
		Michael Lan­desmann, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies and Johannes Kep­ler University Linz
		Bart van Ark, The Conference Board New York, and Groningen
15.45-16.00	General Discussion