THE IMPACT OF STATISTICS ON A COMPETITIVE AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY

2. ADELHEID BÜRGI-SCHMELZ Director General, Swiss Federal Statistical Office THE IMPACT OF STATISTICS ON A COMPETITIVE AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY

3. 1. Introduction 2. Success Factors2.1 The Impact of Science and Technology 2.2 The Impact of Human Capital on the Economic Well-Being 3. The Role of Official Statistics 4. Three Examples Showing the Demand for Indicators in Swiss Politics4.1 Carbon Dioxide Emissions 4.2 Health Care 4.3 Swiss Universities 5. Conclusion Overview

4. 1. Introduction “I love the winning, I can take the losing, but most of all I love to play.” (Boris Becker, 1967- )

5. Table 1: Growth Competitiveness Index rankings and 2003 comparisons Source: World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2004-2005 October 13, 2004.

6. Figure 1: Parts (in %) of economic activities in Swiss GDP 2002 Source: Swiss Federal Statistical Office

7. 2. Success Factors “We want to be first; not first if, not first but; but first!” (John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963)

8. Table 2: Patent applications to the EPO by country 1998-2001 Source: Eurostat. National Patent Indicators Statistics in focus. Science and Technology. ISSN 1609-5995. 9/2004.

9. Table 3: Gross domestic expenditure on R&D as a percentage of GDP. Source : OECD, Main Science and Technology Indicators, May 2004.

10. Figure 2: Summary Innovation Index Source: European Innovation Scoreboard 2003. http://trendchart.cordis.lu/scoreboard2003/index.html

11. Table 4: Social internal RoR Source: OECD. See Annex 3 for notes (www.oecd.org/edu/eag2004).

12. Estimating the macroeconomic returns to education A large body of empirical research has confirmed a positive link between education and productivity. Better educated employees are generally more productive, and may raise the productivity of coworkers….. Studies of the macroeconomic returns to education are methodologically diverse and based on two broad theoretical approaches. The first, a neo-classical approach, models the relationship between the stock of education and the long-run level of GDP. Most studies follow this tradition. A second approach derives from “new-growth” theory and models the relationship between the stock of education and the rate of growth of GDP. Whether increases in the stock of education primarily affect the level of output, or its growth rate, is still unclear. Concerning the magnitude of the returns, the available studies indicate that in the neo-classical models a one-year increase in average education raises the level of output per capita by between 3 and 6%. Studies of the “new-growth” variety find that the same increase in average education raises the rate of growth of output by around 1%. Box 1: Estimating the macroeconomic returns to education Source: Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators – 2004 Edition. OECD Code 962004081P1. 9/2004. http://www.oecd.org/edu/eag2004, p. 187

13. 3. The Role of Official Statistics “If you have knowledge, let others light their candle with it.” (Winston Churchill, 1874-1965)

14. 4. Three Examples Showing the Demand for Indicators in Swiss Politics “Es ist nicht genug zu wissen, man muss es auch anwenden; es ist nicht genug zu wollen, man muss es auch tun.” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832)

15. Figure 3: Carbon Dioxide Emissions according to the CO2 Law Source: Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (SAEFL)

16. Figure 4: Cost per medical visit and density of physicians – general practitioners, 2003; Source: Datenpool Santésuisse, 4/2004. Analysis: obsan 2004.

17. Figure 5: Number of medical visits and density of physicians – specialists, 2003; Source: Datenpool Santésuisse, 4/2004. Analysis: obsan 2004.

18. 5. Conclusion “For knowledge itself is power.” (Francis Bacon, 1561-1626)

19. Thank you for your attention