Concerns about European prospects for competitiveness, jobs and growth are high on the European Union agenda and regulatory reform, both at national and EU levels, is widely recognised as a crucial tool for improving the performance of European companies. Despite the single market, selective sectoral regulatory reform and certain reforms at the national level, regulation in Europe still tends to discourage new entrants, impede new production methods and inhibit the exit of existing competitors. It often increases costs without providing compensatory benefits, reduces operational flexibility and distorts capital expenditure, creating obstacles to innovation. The authors in this book argue that regulatory reform can, more often than not, help improve the competitiveness of companies while generating net growth effects for the European Union as a whole.In this book, the authors discuss the horizontal issues involved in regulatory reform. Following an extended introduction by the editors, two general chapters address regulation and growth, and the regulatory burdens and failures in Europe. Other chapters deal with national competition policy, state aid, EU environmental policy, reforms in product markets, labour market reforms, the regulatory environment of small and new firms, and the current, insufficient EU reforms to improve regulatory quality. Throughout the book the authors aim to demonstrate how the market can function more efficiently and offer policy recommendations to show how regulatory reform can improve competitiveness at the firm level as well as performance at the industry, national and EU levels.

This book draws lessons on the importance of meritocracy for economic growth by analysing Italy's economic decline in the past few decades. Connections, rather than merit, are a long-standing feature of the Italian elites, even in the corporate sector. This became a significant problem when Italy's economy could no longer grow due to imitation, devaluation, and public debt, and faced the challenges of becoming a frontier knowledge-based open economy. This book uses international comparisons on social capital, governance, the role of the public sector, efficiency of the judiciary, education, gender and social inequality, social mobility, corporate standards, financial structures, and more to evaluate Italy's economic performance. It argues that the arrogance of mediocracy is more damaging than that of meritocracy. Italy experienced an economic miracle after the Second World War, and it is still an advanced economy and a member of the G7. Until the 1960s it seemed destined to catch up with the best-performing countries. Then the growth engine stopped, its debt skyrocketed, and Italy became a weaker member of the Eurozone. Many other countries in the world have heavy historical legacies and low social capital, and many others have to make the jump from imitation led growth to endogenous growth. The lessons drawn from studying Italy's case can therefore have important international applications.

Concerns about European prospects for competitiveness, jobs and growth are high on the European Union agenda and regulatory reform, both at national and EU levels, is widely recognised as a crucial tool for improving the performance of European companies. Despite the single market, selective sectoral regulatory reform and certain reforms at the national level, regulation in Europe still tends to discourage new entrants, impede new production methods and inhibit the exit of existing competitors. It often increases costs without providing compensatory benefits, reduces operational flexibility and distorts capital expenditure, creating obstacles to innovation. The authors in this book argue that regulatory reform can, more often than not, help improve the competitiveness of companies while generating net growth effects for the European Union as a whole.In this second volume, the authors discuss the vertical issues involved in regulatory reform. The authors describe in detail the regulatory reforms which are needed or have been initiated in nine major industrial sectors, including automobiles, textiles and clothing, retail trade, chemicals, banking, road transport, telecoms, electricity and (scheduled) air transport. In the companion volume, Regulatory Reform and Competitiveness in Europe, 1: Horizontal Issues, the authors address regulation and growth, and the regulatory burdens and failures in Europe. The book also deals with national competition policy, state aids, EU environmental policy, reforms in product markets, labour market reforms, the regulatory environment of small and new firms, and the current, insufficient, EU reforms to improve regulatory quality.