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Can productivity still grow in service-based economies?: Literature overview and preliminary evidence from OECD countries

Author

Listed:
  • Stéphane Sorbe
  • Peter Gal
  • Valentine Millot

Abstract

Services employ an ever-increasing share of workers in all OECD countries. This trend is likely to continue as it reflects deep structural forces, such as increasing consumption of services with rising incomes and population ageing and the growing role of intangible assets. Services are very diverse, but overall tend to have weaker productivity levels and growth rates than manufacturing. As a result, the shift to services entails a moderate but persistent drag on productivity growth. Still, there are reasons to hope for a pick-up in service productivity in the future, including thanks to new technologies (e.g. digital platforms, artificial intelligence). This concerns both “knowledge intensive” services (e.g. information and communication) and less knowledge intensive ones (e.g. personal transport). Harnessing this productivity potential requires adjusting policies to foster innovation and efficient use of new technologies, enhance competitive forces by reducing information asymmetries, barriers to entry and switching costs, and increase the tradability of services within countries and across borders.

Suggested Citation

  • Stéphane Sorbe & Peter Gal & Valentine Millot, 2018. "Can productivity still grow in service-based economies?: Literature overview and preliminary evidence from OECD countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1531, OECD Publishing.
  • Handle: RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1531-en
    DOI: 10.1787/4458ec7b-en
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    Cited by:

    1. Philip Flegler & Hagen Krämer, 2021. "Das Produktivitätsparadoxon der unternehmensbezogenen Dienstleistungen," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 74(03), pages 38-45, March.
    2. Simon Bruhn & Johanna Deperi, 2022. "The Contribution of Digital Firms to Productivity Growth in the Manufacturing Sector: A Decomposition Approach," GREDEG Working Papers 2022-42, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    3. Wroński Marcin, 2019. "The productivity growth slowdown in advanced economies: causes and policy recommendations," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 55(4), pages 391-406, December.
    4. 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.
    5. Javier Papa & Luke Rehill & Brendan O'Connor, 2021. "Patterns of Firm-Level Productivity in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 52(3), pages 241-268.
    6. De Palma Francesco & Ligonnière Samuel & Saadaoui Jamel & Thommen Yann, 2022. "The role of wage bargaining institutions in the Phillips curve flattening;," Working Papers of BETA 2022-21, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    7. Peter Bauer & Igor Fedotenkov & Aurelien Genty & Issam Hallak & Peter Harasztosi & David Martinez Turegano & David Nguyen & Nadir Preziosi & Ana Rincon-Aznar & Miguel Sanchez Martinez, 2020. "Productivity in Europe: Trends and drivers in a service-based economy," JRC Research Reports JRC119785, Joint Research Centre.
    8. Jing, Chunxiao & Foltz, Jeremy D., 2024. "Can the Service Sector Lead Structural Transformation in Africa? Evidence from Côte d'Ivoire," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343566, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Porath, Yehuda & Sorbe, Stephane, 2019. "How Do Restrictions to Trade in Services Affect Productivity?," Conference papers 333035, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    10. Stéphane Ciriani & François Jeanjean, 2022. "Competition, technological change and productivity gains: a European sectoral analysis," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 42(2), pages 927-946.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    automation; measurement; online platforms; productivity; services; structural change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • L80 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - General
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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