The happy few: The internationalisation of European firms

New developments in the world economy have increased the competitive pressures on European firms in international markets. The divide between winners and losers from globalisation no longer runs only between sectors: winners and losers are increasingly found within sectors. Current macroeconomic data is blind to this trend and cannot help policymakers to grow world-beating export performance. Eight research centres from eight EU countries, coordinated by Bruegel and CEPR, have created a network to analyse these issues and develop new facts based on firm-level trade and FDI data. The network is called EFIM (European Firms in International Markets), and this is its first report.