Transitions to the Knowledge Economy in Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands

Abstract

The “digital revolution” that began in the late 1960s has transformed product markets and production processes in rich democracies. Observers depict the changes underway as a transition from the Fordist industrial economy to a new “knowledge economy,” characterized by rapid technological innovation and associated with a heightened premium on higher education.1 Although the challenges of this transition are broadly similar across the rich democracies, individual countries have navigated the course differently.