Aging and Economic Competitiveness in the Core of “North Euro-Zone

The paper addresses the problem of aging in close relationship with the changes produced by this phenomenon in the economic structure of countries. Two of the channels through which an aging population can influence the sectoral structure of an economy are the demand for specific products and services and the offer of a labour force with certain characteristics (related to age, skills, culture and so on). This article is founded on the success stories of some of the most affected by the phenomenon countries (Germany, Netherlands, Austria and Finland) that seem to have managed preserving a positive correlation between productivity and the aging workforce, in recent years. The originality of the paper is given by the comparative perspective from which these most attractive economies are analysed, with the main purpose to identify the driving factors of their long-term competitiveness. In addition, modern econometric analysis using Dynamic OLS (DOLS) and ARDL models based on panel data on five economic sectors and 19 years scientifically fundaments some solutions possibly to be adopted by other countries facing the same demographic challenges. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.27.3.14028