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Labor Productivity Developments in Austria in an International Perspective

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Abstract

After World War II, Austria, like other European countries, had for decades been improving its labor productivity, continuously catching up relative to the United States. Only then U.S. labor productivity grew at an accelerated pace from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s on the back of new technologies implemented in distribution as well as finance and business services, did Austria – and in particular its service sector – fall behind. Unlike the U.S.A., Austria did not benefit from a technology-driven boom. By contrast, the productivity performance of Austrian manufacturing, without the production of information and communications technologies, is comparable to that in the U.S.A. and in Germany. Hence, to boost labor productivity in Austria, a high priority should be given to policies stimulating the diffusion of new technologies in the service sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Schneider, 2014. "Labor Productivity Developments in Austria in an International Perspective," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 3, pages 13-35.
    • Handle: RePEc:onb:oenbmp:y:2014:i:3:b:2
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    Cited by:

    1. Gerhard Fenz & Christian Ragacs & Martin Schneider & Klaus Vondra, 2020. "Entwicklung von Produktivität und Profitabilität heimischer Unternehmen während der EU-Mitgliedschaft," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q1-Q2/20, pages 60-74.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor productivity; growth accounting; services; information and communications technologies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

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