Economist
The Conference Board
klaas.devries@conferenceboard.org
Klaas de Vries is an economist with The Conference Board. He closely follows developments in the global economy and researches the structural drivers of global growth and competitiveness relating to productivity and trade. He develops and maintains several large-scale growth and productivity datasets with an international focus, relating to the aggregate economy and underlying industries. These include the Total Economy Database™, the International Comparisons of Manufacturing Productivity and Unit Labor Costs dataset, and the forward looking Global Economic Outlook.
Prior to joining The Conference Board, de Vries worked at the University of Groningen, where he studied economic development and structural growth issues. He has published articles on structural transformation in emerging markets in general and on the dynamics of structural change in Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular. Selected external publications by de Vries include:
Bart van Ark, Abdul Erumban, and Klaas de Vries, “Productivity and Innovation Competencies in the Midst of the Digital Transformation Age: An EU-US Comparison,” European Commission Discussion Paper No. 119, October 2019.
Abdul Erumban, Robert Inklaar, and Klaas de Vries, “Global Growth Accounting: The Role of Shifting Investment Patterns,” In Productivity Dynamics in Emerging and Industrialized Countries (New York: Routledge India, 2018), 154-174.
Bart van Ark, Klaas de Vries, and Kirsten Jäger, “Is Europe’s Productivity Glass Half Full or Half Empty?” Intereconomics 53, no. 2, (March 2018): 53-58.
De Vries holds a master’s degree in history from the University of Groningen and continues his coursework in economics.