Developed economies struggling to get back on tack to growth - According to the annual report of the US research institute, Conference Board, on productivity trends in the world, Europe faces certain dangers if it does not undergo serious reforms. The institute highlights the fact that although the rise in US productivity has been weaker than in the European Union over recent years, the biggest economic power in the world still has some major advantages for recovering than Europe. The increase in productivity in developed economies has slowed down in recent years to an average rate of 1-1.5%. In developing countries, however, the rise in productivity has speeded up to reach a peak of 8% in 2007 in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). The “Performance 2008: productivity, employment and growth in the World's economies illustrates the fact that swift adaptations to competitive pressure and greater innovation in emerging economies has led to a global and sustainable competitive environment. The study also demonstrates: 1) that the rate of productivity growth in Europe, Japan and the US was low in 2007. With 1.1%, productivity growth at work in the US stagnated in comparison with the trend recorded for structural productivity, which stood at between 1.5%-2.5%. Growth rates for Europe and Japan are estimated to be around 1.4%; 2) with a 1.1% increase in growth in output worked in the US, the rate was close to that in many European countries such as Germany (1%) and France (0.6%). Only five European countries (Austria, Finland, Greece, Ireland and the United Kingdom) had higher rates than the US. The United Kingdom had the best performance in the EU15 with a 2.9% rate, thanks to very strong growth in GDP - 3.1%; 3) at the other end of the scale, productivity growth in Brazil, Russia, India and China was 7.6% on average between 2000-07, with an acceleration to 8.3% in 2007. China performed particularly well. Productivity in output at work varies from only 0.3% in Brazil to 10.5% in China. Growth in GDP went from 3% in China to 11.6% in Brazil. Employment growth was slow in Russia (0.6% in 2007) followed by China (1%) but swifter in Brazil (2.7%) and in India (2.5%) The report estimates that developed economies have to undergo comprehensive restructuring in innovation in an effort to get back on the growth track and make up ground lost to developing countries whose companies are becoming highly competitive on the global market. China and several central and eastern European countries have competitive edge through particularly keen technological innovation developed by their companies that function in a completely innovative way. The US appears better armed than Europe and Japan because they have undergone restructuring over a number of years in their economic model, which, according to the study, Japan and Europe have still not done.