Knowledge intensity and employment structures in the European countries

Building a knowledge-based economy is closely related to innovation growth and should be reflected in the growing importance of sectors that intensively use technology and a highly skilled workforce (i.e. human capital). The growing importance of knowledge in an economy is demonstrated, inter alia, by changes in the employment structure. This paper attempts to identify how employment structure in the service sector depends on the level of knowledge-intensity in a national economy. The analysis cov- ered EU member countries (except Greece and Croatia) during the 2006–2011 period. The intensity of knowledge use seems to vary widely among European countries. Countries advanced in their use of knowledge, having high values of KIE (‘knowledge-intensity leaders’ and ‘knowledge-intensity supporters’) have an employment structure dem- onstrating their structural focus on the industries that require specialized knowledge.