Nordic Capital introduces the sixth edition of the Brain Business Jobs index – business-friendly policies behind Eastern and Southern Europe’s outstanding growth

The European Centre for Entrepreneurship and Policy Reform (ECEPR), with support from Nordic Capital, publishes the sixth edition of the Brain Business Jobs index. It outlines that, while Switzerland, Sweden, and Ireland remain the top three knowledge economies in Europe, the distribution of knowledge-intensive jobs has become more even across the continent.

Since 2017, the Brain Business Jobs index, produced by ECEPR, has studied the geography of Europe’s Brain Business Jobs. It measures the share of people (15-64) in 31 nations and 277 regions across Europe that are employed in certain knowledge-intensive sectors and companies.

The authors suggest that high concentrations of knowledge-intensive jobs correlate with low unemployment rates, and that some variation in growth rate can be explained by political decision-making and tax rate levels.

"Currently, Europe is going through difficult times, with war, inflation, and a recent global pandemic. Yet change is on the horizon. Each year, we see the same trend of increased competition and economic integration in Europe. To understand what is happening in Europe, it is no longer enough to look at individual countries, as progress is increasingly happening in Europe as a whole. The economic geography of Europe is ever-changing, a sign of competition and progress," said Klas Tikkanen, COO, Nordic Capital Advisors.

In the 2023 index, Switzerland, Sweden, and Ireland remain the top three nations in Europe.

The top 15 countries with the highest concentration of knowledge-intensive jobs in Europe

But things are changing. Whereas Northern and Western Europe have long been at the forefront of economic development, it seems like Eastern and Southern Europe are gradually catching up. While Germany, the UK, and France have seen a modest Brain Business Jobs increase of 28, 16, and 9 percent, respectively, since 2014, Lithuania, Cyprus, and Portugal, all score above 60 percent.

The top 15 countries with the highest increases of knowledge-intensive jobs in Europe

Interestingly, Eastern Europe excels in the list of the best-performing regions. Budapest (23.9%), Bratislava (22.8%), and Prague (19.9%) make up the top three, followed by Munich, Paris, and Stockholm. The study finds that these exceptional numbers can be explained as being due to an unusually high share of knowledge-intensive jobs being located exclusively in the capital regions, many of whom successfully combine competitive taxes with a strong pool of talents within key sectors, leaving little room for the rest of the nation to tag along.

Main findings of the 2023 report:

• Switzerland, Sweden, and Ireland are the top knowledge economies in Europe
• Knowledge-intensive jobs have become more evenly distributed over Europe
• The most successful new European firms focus on AI, software, digital media, digital infrastructure and platforms, and business services
• New Nordic firms in knowledge-intensive hubs have a significant lead in funding
• Knowledge-intensive jobs are key to reduce regional unemployment
• Nations with low taxes tend to see higher growths of knowledge-intensive jobs
• Out of the top regions, Eastern Europe (4) is trailed by Western (3), the Nordics (2), and Southern (1)
• Southern European capital regions have 600,000 more Brain Business Jobs than Western European capital regions, and those in Eastern Europe have twice as many as its Nordic counterparts

For more information, please contact Nima Sanandaji at nima@sanandaji.se