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Cyclical Downturn or Slowing Trend? A Review Article on Productivity Puzzles across Europe

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  • John Fernald

Abstract

Productivity Puzzles across Europe examines European productivity before, during, and since the Great Financial Crisis, with a special focus on country-specific labour-market institutions. This review emphasizes first, that European productivity growth has been slowing for decades - it is not just a recession and post-recession phenomenon. Second, the book's analysis of labour markets, which highlights incentives to hoard labour, is relevant for understanding cyclical fluctuations in total factor productivity (TFP) around that trend. For example, institutions in Germany encouraged use of intensive margins (hours per worker and maybe effort), so measured TFP fell sharply in the recession but then rebounded quickly. The labour-market analysis in the book sheds little light on the slowing TFP trend.

Suggested Citation

  • John Fernald, 2018. "Cyclical Downturn or Slowing Trend? A Review Article on Productivity Puzzles across Europe," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 34, pages 110-117, Spring.
    • Handle: RePEc:sls:ipmsls:v:34:y:2018:6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Askenazy, Philippe & Erhel, Christine, 2015. "The French Productivity Puzzle," IZA Discussion Papers 9188, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. John G. Fernald & J. Christina Wang, 2016. "Why Has the Cyclicality of Productivity Changed? What Does It Mean?," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 8(1), pages 465-496, October.
    3. Philippe Askenazy & Lutz Bellmann & Alex Bryson & Eva Moreno Galbis, 2016. "Productivity Puzzles Across Europe," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-01379283, HAL.
    4. Cette, Gilbert & Fernald, John & Mojon, Benoît, 2016. "The pre-Great Recession slowdown in productivity," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 3-20.
    5. Gustavo Adler & Romain A Duval & Davide Furceri & Sinem Kılıç Çelik & Ksenia Koloskova & Marcos Poplawski Ribeiro, 2017. "Gone with the Headwinds; Global Productivity," IMF Staff Discussion Notes 17/04, International Monetary Fund.
    6. John G. Fernald & Robert E. Hall & James H. Stock & Mark W. Watson, 2017. "The Disappointing Recovery of Output after 2009," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 48(1 (Spring), pages 1-81.
    7. Antonin Bergeaud & Gilbert Cette & Rémy Lecat, 2016. "Productivity Trends in Advanced Countries between 1890 and 2012," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(3), pages 420-444, September.
    8. Askenazy, Philippe & Bellmann, Lutz & Bryson, Alex & Moreno Galbis, Eva (ed.), 2016. "Productivity Puzzles Across Europe," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198786160, Decembrie.
    9. Bergeaud, A. & Cette, G. & Lecat, R., 2015. "Productivity trends from 1890 to 2012 in advanced countries," Rue de la Banque, Banque de France, issue 07, June..
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Recession; Downturn; Europe; Cyclical; Slowdown; Productivity; Productivity Puzzle; Review; Productivity Puzzles across Europe;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Y3 - Miscellaneous Categories - - Book Reviews
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • E20 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe

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