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The Global Productivity Slump: Common and Country-Specific Factors

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  • Barry Eichengreen
  • Donghyun Park
  • Kwanho Shin

Abstract

Productivity growth is slowing around the world. In 2014, according to the Conference Board’s Total Economy Data Base, the growth of total factor productivity (TFP) hovered around zero for the third straight year, down from 1 per cent in 1996-2006 and ½ per cent in 2007-12. In this paper we identify previous episodes of sharp and sustained decelerations in TFP growth using data for a large sample of countries and years. TFP slumps are ubiquitous: we find as many as 77 such episodes, depending on definition, in low-, middle- and high-income countries. Low levels of educational attainment, unusually high investment rates and weak political systems are among the significant country-specific correlates of TFP slumps, while increases in risk (higher TED spreads) and energy-price shocks are among the significant global factors.

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  • Barry Eichengreen & Donghyun Park & Kwanho Shin, 2015. "The Global Productivity Slump: Common and Country-Specific Factors," NBER Working Papers 21556, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21556
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    2. Rod Tyers & Yixiao Zhou, 2023. "Automation and inequality with taxes and transfers," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 70(1), pages 68-100, February.
    3. Giorgio Calcagnini & Germana Giombini & Giuseppe Travaglini, 2021. "The Productivity Gap Among Major European Countries, USA and Japan," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 7(1), pages 59-78, March.
    4. Ahn, JaeBin & Choi, Moon Jung, 2020. "From firm-level imports to aggregate productivity: Evidence from Korean manufacturing firm data," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    5. Rod Tyers & Yixiao Zhou, 2018. "Automation, taxes and transfers with International rivalry," CAMA Working Papers 2018-44, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    6. David M. Byrne & John G. Fernald & Marshall B. Reinsdorf, 2016. "Does the United States Have a Productivity Slowdown or a Measurement Problem?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 47(1 (Spring), pages 109-182.
    7. Anderton, Robert & Jarvis, Valerie & Labhard, Vincent & Morgan, Julian & Petroulakis, Filippos & Vivian, Lara, 2020. "Virtually everywhere? Digitalisation and the euro area and EU economies," Occasional Paper Series 244, European Central Bank.
    8. Bakhtiari, Sasan, 2017. "Corporate credit ratings: Selection on size or productivity?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 84-101.
    9. Bakas, Dimitrios & Kostis, Pantelis & Petrakis, Panagiotis, 2020. "Culture and labour productivity: An empirical investigation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 233-243.
    10. Ichiro Muto & Nao Sudo & Shunichi Yoneyama, 2023. "Productivity Slowdown in Japan's Lost Decades: How Much of It Can Be Attributed to Damaged Balance Sheets?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 85(1), pages 159-207, February.
    11. Yosuke Okazaki & Nao Sudo, 2018. "Natural Rate of Interest in Japan -- Measuring its size and identifying drivers based on a DSGE model --," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 18-E-6, Bank of Japan.
    12. Rod Tyers & Yixiao Zhou, 2023. "The Tech War: Distributional Consequences Of International Rivalry," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 23-07, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    13. David Martinez Turegano, 2021. "The transmission of productivity through global value chains: formal concept and application to recent developments in the EU27," JRC Research Reports JRC122076, Joint Research Centre.
    14. Guanghua Wan & Peter J. Morgan & Justin Yifu Lin & Guanghua Wan & Peter J. Morgan, 2016. "Factors Affecting the Outlook for Medium-term to Long-term Growth in China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 24(5), pages 20-41, September.
    15. Rod Tyers & Yixiao Zhou, 2022. "A Bamboo Curtain: The Grim Australian Consequences of China Conflict," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 22-20, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.

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    JEL classification:

    • E0 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General
    • E1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights

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