Celikel-Esser, Funda

The European Restructuring Monitor’s annual report for 2014 explores the rapid transformation of the public sector in Europe since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008. Initially, employment expansion in the sector helped to stabilise Europe’s economy while the private sector suffered severe job losses. However, subsequent austerity measures (or fiscal consolidation) have brought in their wake widespread restructuring in the public sector.

Traditional theory about international business suggests that companies first establish a solid home market and go global only in later stages of their life cycle. However, this view is challenged by research that shows that some firms internationalise quickly after start-up – so-called ‘born globals’. These firms are assumed to be strongly innovative and growth-oriented, and hence could well contribute to the economic and labour market recovery Europe is seeking after the global financial crisis. So far, little is known about the full economic potential of these companies and how best to support them. This study aims to close this knowledge gap by providing a summary of literature and secondary data to characterise born globals and pinpoint their main strengths and weaknesses as well as economic and labour market potential.

Flexicurity is a strategy intended to enhance both flexibility and security in the labour market and has been on the agenda of public and policy discussions across Europe since the 1990s. In light of the recent economic crisis, the question has arisen whether flexicurity, which was developed in times of good economic and labour market performance, would also work in ‘bad weather’. This research project aims to investigate the implementation of flexicurity across the European Union by analysing a large number of public and social partner-based instruments that combine an element of flexibility and security. This research should contribute to making the somewhat ambiguous concept of flexicurity more tangible, by providing numerous examples of how flexicurity can be realised.