Divergences in Productivity Between Europe and the United States

by Cette, Gilbert; Fouquin, Michel; Sinn, Hans-Werner

• ISBN13: 9781847206411
• ISBN10: 1847206417
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-30
• Publisher: Edward Elgar Pub

Summary

In the 1990s, labour productivity growth accelerated in the United States, yet slowed down in other industrialised countries, reversing a three decade long tendency of convergence. The book explores this phenomenon. It first identifies the methodological and statistical problems involved in measuring productivity and making cross-country comparisons in this area. Then the role of factor accumulation for the diverging trends across the OECD world, with a particular focus on the dispersion of information and communication technology (ICT), is reviewed. In-depth studies of single countries provide further insights regarding growth trends in the United States, Japan, Germany, and France. Finally, empirical investigations regarding the determinants of productivity growth at an international level complement the analyses. The results stress that public infrastructure and education, employment rates and working hours, and ICT spending play an important role in explaining the existing differences in levels and changes of productivity. This comprehensive book, on recent research regarding international gaps in productivity growth, will be of great interest to policy advisors and academics, political decision-makers and students of economics, business administration, international business and international policy.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Measuring and Explaining Productivity Gaps Between Developed Countries	p. 1
Comparing Growth in GDP and Labour Productivity: Measurement Issues	p. 11
The Breaks in Per Capita Productivity: Trends in a Number of Industrial Countries	p. 25
ICT Diffusion and Potential Output Growth	p. 40
Yeasty Investment and Mushroom Productivity Growth: An Industry Perspective on European and American Performance, 1987-2003	p. 45
Growth Patterns in the OECD Area: Evidence from the Aggregate, Industry and Firm Level	p. 64
Information Technology and the G7 Economies	p. 93
Productivity, Innovation and ICT in Old and New Europe	p. 118
Information Technology and the Japanese Economy	p. 150
Outsourcing and Productivity Growth: Sectoral Evidence from Germany	p. 175
Determinants of Productivity per Employee: An Empirical Estimation using Panel Data	p. 195
Labour Quality and Skill Biased Technological Change in France	p. 216
Index	p. 243
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