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Sectoral Energy- and Labour-Productivity Convergence

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  • Peter Mulder

    () (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria)

  • Henri L.F. de Groot

    () (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Abstract

This paper provides an empirical analysis of energy- and labour-productivity convergence at a detailed sectoral level for 14 OECD countries, covering the period 1970-1997. A fã-convergence analysis shows that the development of cross-country variation in productivity performance depends on the level of aggregation. Both patterns of convergence as well as divergence are found. A fÒ-convergence analysis provides support for the hypothesis that in most sectors lagging countries tend to catch up with technological leaders, in particular in terms of energy productivity. Moreover, the results show that convergence is conditional rather than unconditional, meaning that productivity levels converge to country-specific steady states, and that cross-country differences of energy-productivity levels are substantially larger than of labour-productivity levels at all levels of sectoral aggregation. Finally, searching for the fundamentals determining cross-country productivity differentials reveals a positive productivity effect of energy prices and economies of scale in several sectors, while wages, investment share, openness and specialization play only a very limited role in explaining (cross-country differences in) energy- and labour-productivity growth.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Tinbergen Institute in its series Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers with number 04-003/3.

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Date of creation: 06 Jan 2004
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Handle: RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20040003

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Related research

Keywords: energy productivity; labour productivity; convergence; sectoral analysis;

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References

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Machiel van Dijk & Richard Nahuis & Daniel Waagmeester, 2005. "Does Public Service Broadcasting Serve The Public? The Future Of Television In The Changing Media Landscape," Working Papers 05-13, Utrecht School of Economics.
  2. repec:mop:credwp:08.12.79 is not listed on IDEAS
  3. Mulder, Peter & de Groot, Henri L.F., 2012. "Structural change and convergence of energy intensity across OECD countries, 1970–2005," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1910-1921.
  4. Lucas Bretschger, 2006. "Energy Prices, Growth,and the Channels in Between: Theory and Evidence," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 06/47, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
  5. Saltari, Enrico & Travaglini, Giuseppe, 2011. "The effects of environmental policies on the abatement investment decisions of a green firm," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 666-685, September.
  6. Le Pen, Yannick & Sévi, Benoît, 2010. "On the non-convergence of energy intensities: Evidence from a pair-wise econometric approach," Open Access publications from Université Paris-Dauphine urn:hdl:123456789/6801, Université Paris-Dauphine.
  7. Peter Mulder & Henri Groot, 2007. "Sectoral Energy- and Labour-Productivity Convergence," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 36(1), pages 85-112, January.
  8. Mulder, Peter & de Groot, Henri L.F., 2013. "Dutch sectoral energy intensity developments in international perspective, 1987–2005," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 501-512.
  9. Tahir Mahmood, 2012. "Labour Productivity Convergence in 52 Industries: A Panel Data Analysis of Some European Countries," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 2(3), pages 320-339.
  10. Miketa, Asami & Mulder, Peter, 2005. "Energy productivity across developed and developing countries in 10 manufacturing sectors: Patterns of growth and convergence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 429-453, May.
  11. Dalgaard, Carl-Johan & Strulik, Holger, 2011. "Energy distribution and economic growth," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 782-797.
  12. Peter Mulder & Henri de Groot, 2003. "International comparison of sectoral energy- and labour-productivity performance; stylised facts and decomposition of trends," CPB Discussion Paper 22, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
  13. Lucas Bretschger & Sjak Smulders, 2007. "Sustainable Resource Use and Economic Dynamics," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 36(1), pages 1-13, January.
  14. Le Pen, Yannick & Sévi, Benoît, 2010. "What trends in energy efficiencies? Evidence from a robust test," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 702-708, May.
  15. Henri de Groot & Peter Mulder, 2011. "Dutch Sectoral Energy Intensity Developments in International Perspective, 1987–2005," CPB Discussion Paper 190, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

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