VAN ARK, Bart

International comparative productivity measurement and analysis, innovation and technology, digital transformation, economic growth, development economics, economic history and international economics and business.

1994 Ph.D. in Economics, University of Groningen
1986 M.A. (Doctoraal) in Economics, University of Groningen
1985 M.A. in Agricultural and Development Economics, University of Groningen
1981 B.A. in Economics, University of Groningen

(2020-present) Professor of Productivity Studies, Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS), UK
(2020-present) Managing Director & Principal Investigator of The Productivity Institute, UK
(2008-2020) Executive Vice-President, Chief Economist & Head of Economy, Strategy and Finance Center, The Conference Board, New York, USA
(2004-2020) Professor in Economic Development, Technological Change and Growth, Faculty of Economics & Business, University of Groningen, Netherlands (as of 2008 part-time)
(2000-2004) Professor in Economics of Productivity and Technology Policy, Faculty of Economics, University of Groningen, Netherlands,
(2002-2008) Director, Groningen Growth and Development Centre
(2004-2008) Project Lead, EUKLEMS project
(1990-2000) Economics Lecturer, Faculty of Economics, University of Groningen, Netherlands,
(1988-1990) Research Officer, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, London, UK

Books

• Timmer, M.P., R. Inklaar, M. O’Mahony and B. van Ark (2010), Economic Growth in Europe, A Comparative Perspective, Cambridge University Press.
• O’Mahony, M. and B. van Ark (2003), EU Productivity and Competitiveness: An Industry Perspective. Can Europe Resume the Catching-up Process?, DG Enterprise, European Union, Luxembourg.
• B. van Ark and N.F.R. Crafts, eds. (1996), Quantitative Aspects of Post-War European Economic Growth, CEPR/Cambridge University Press.

Papers Published in Refereed Journals

• Bart van Ark, Klaas de Vries and Dirk Pilat (2024). Are pro-productivity policies fit for purpose? The Manchester School, 92:2, pp. 191–208.
• Klaas de Vries, Abdul Erumban and Bart van Ark (2021), Productivity and the pandemic: short-term disruptions and long-term implications, International Economics and Economic Policy, 18 (541-570), July
• Bart van Ark, Klaas de Vries and Abdul Erumban (2021), How to Not Miss a Productivity Revival Once Again, National Institute Economic Review, 255:1, pp. 9-24.
• Bart van Ark and Anthony Venables (2020), A Concerted Effort to Tackle the UK Productivity Puzzle, International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 39, pages 3-15, Fall.
• Bart van Ark (2016), “Europe’s Productivity Slowdown Revisited: A Comparative Perspective to the United States,” in: Philippe Askenazy, Lutz Bellmann, Alex Bryson & Eva Moreno Galbis, eds., Productivity Puzzles Across Europe, Oxford University Press, pp. 26-48.
• Bart van Ark (2016), The Productivity Paradox of the New Digital Economy, International Productivity Monitor, No. 31, Fall, pp. 1-15.
• Vivian Chen, Harry X. Wu and Bart van Ark (2009), More Costly or More Productive? Measuring Changes in Competitiveness in Manufacturing Across Regions in China, The Review of Income and Wealth, Vol. 55 (special issue 1), pp. 514-537.
• Bart van Ark, Mary O’Mahony and Marcel Timmer (2008), The Productivity Gap between Europe and the U.S.: Trends and Causes, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 22 (1), Winter, pp. 25-44.
• Robert Inklaar, Marcel Timmer and Bart van Ark (2008), Market Services Across Europe and the U.S., Economic Policy, Vol. 23 (53), January, pp. 139–194.
• Marcel P. Timmer and Bart van Ark (2005), IT in the European Union: A driver of productivity divergence?, Oxford Economic Papers, vol. 57 no. 4, pp. 693-716.
• Marcel P. Timmer, Robert Inklaar and Bart van Ark (2005), Alternative Output Measurement for the U.S. Retail Trade Sector, Monthly Labor Review, July, pp. 39-45.
• Bart van Ark and Jakob de Haan (2000), The Delta-Model Revisited: recent trends in the structural performance of the Dutch economy, International Review of Applied Economics, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 307-321.
• Bart van Ark and Herman de Jong (1996), Accounting for Economic Growth in the Netherlands since 1913, The Economic and Social History in the Netherlands, volume 7.
• Bart van Ark and Dirk Pilat (1993), Productivity Levels in Germany, Japan, and the United States: Differences and Causes, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity: Microeconomics 2, Washington D.C., December.
• Angus Maddison and Bart van Ark (1989), International Comparisons of Purchasing Power, Real Output and Labour Productivity: A Case Study of Brazilian, Mexican and US Manufacturing, Review of Income and Wealth, March, pp 31-55.