The impact of industry 4.0 on the selected macroeconomic indicators in slovak republic, Germany, the USA and Japan

Abstract

Rapid development of communication and information technologies with their orientation on big data have significantly changed the character and the needs of national economies. The onset of the 4th Industrial Revolution significantly affects the structural changes of individual economies (companies) as well as their requirements for workforce. The Industry 4.0 concept was created in Germany, and now is being implemented in various countries under different names. In our study, we focus on the development of the selected macroeconomic indicators in Slovak Republic as compared to other selected countries (Germany, USA and Japan). The countries above are traditionally considered to be the drivers of innovation. The aim of this study is the analysis of trends in macroeconomic indicators of these economies so that to derive recommendations for future workforce preparation. The analyzed indicators are GDP growth rate, employment development, labor productivity, value added, expenditure on science and research and education.