Great European Crisis: Shift or Turning Point in Job Creation from Job Destruction

Abstract

The new century globalization in trade and finance—both between euro area and other world economic areas and within euro zone—quickens the pace of “creative destruction” and thereby speeds the flow of technology across European countries. In a previous work, we proposed the category of labor as a product opposed to labor as a factor of production. Coexisting forms of labor in societies range from an upper class, the labor product class, to different types of post-Fordist labor, where, notwithstanding the intensity of technology, labor input is declining. Have the 2008–2014 crises and the delays in the reforms of institutional architecture shifted or modified the long term trends? This paper describes a naïve model of diverse forms of labor substitution developed using certain rules, which proved fruitful in describing the substitution of primary energy sources (constrained logistic functions). The model is used to answer the question and to measure the structural gaps between four different EU countries (Germany, Spain, France and Italy) compared to the UK economy.

Appendix 1

Classification of technology and knowledge intensive sectors (NACE Rev. 2)

NACE activities	Description	NACE Code
Agriculture, forestry and fishing; mining and quarrying	Agriculture, forestry and fishing	A
	Mining and quarrying of energy producing materials	B
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply; water supply and construction	Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply	D
	Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities	E
	Construction	F
High-technology manufacturing	Manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemicals and botanical products	21
	Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products	26
	Manufacture of aircraft and spacecraft and military vehicles	30.3–30.4
Medium high-technology manufacturing	Manufacture of chemicals, chemical products and man-made fibers	20
	Manufacture of electrical equipment	27
	Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.	28
	Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers	29
	Manufacture of railway locomotives and rolling stock	30.2
	Manufacture of other transport equipment	30.1–30.9
Low-technology manufacturing	Manufacture of food products	10–12
	Manufacture of textiles	13–14
	Tanning and dressing of leather; manufacture of luggage, handbags, saddlery, harness and footwear	15
	Manufacture of wood and wood products	16
	Manufacture of pulp, paper and paper products	17–18
	Other manufacturing	31–32

NACE activities	Description	NACE Code
Medium low-technology manufacturing	Manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel	19
	Manufacture of rubber and plastic products	22
	Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products	23
	Manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products	24–25
	Repair and installation of machinery and equipment	33
Total knowledge-intensive services	Water transport	H50
	Air transport	H51
	Information and communications	J
	Financial and insurance activities	K
	Professional, scientific and technical activities	M
	Employment activities	N78
	Security and investigation activities	N80
	Public administration and defense; compulsory social security	O
	Education	P
	Human health and social work activities	Q
	Arts, entertainment and recreation	R
Total less knowledge-intensive services	Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	G
	Transport and storage and communication (except H50 and H51)	H
	Accommodation and Food and beverage service activities	I
	Real estate activities	L
	Administrative and support service activities (except N78 and N80)	N
	Other service and activities	S
	Activities of households as employers	T
	Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies	U