Productivity Growth in Europe

This paper tests whether structural or firm-specific characteristics contributed more to (labor) productivity growth in the European Union between 2003 and 2008. It combines the Amadeus firm-level data on productivity and firm characteristics with country-level data describing regulatory environments from the World Bank's Doing Business surveys, foreign direct investment data from Eurostat, infrastructure quality assessments from the Global Competitiveness Report, and credit availability from the World Development Indicators. It finds that among the 12 newest members of the European Union, country characteristics are most important for firm productivity growth, particularly the stock of inward foreign direct investment and the availability of credit. By contrast, among the more developed 15 elder European Union member countries, firm-level characteristics, such as industry, size, and international affiliation, are most important for growth. The quality of the regulatory environment, measured by Doing Business indicators, is importantly correlated with productivity growth in all cases. This finding suggests that European Union nations can realize significant benefits from improving regulations and encouraging inward and outward foreign direct investment.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Dall'Olio, Andrea, Iootty, Mariana, Kanehira, Naoto, Saliola, Federica
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013-04
Subjects:	ACCESS TO FOREIGN MARKETS, ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS, AFFILIATES, ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY, AVERAGE PRODUCTIVITY, BANDWIDTH, BARRIERS TO ENTRY, BASIC METALS, BEST PRACTICES, BUSINESS ACTIVITIES, BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS, BUSINESS INDICATORS, BUSINESS LEADERS, BUSINESS OPERATIONS, BUSINESS REGULATION, BUSINESS REGULATIONS, BUSINESS_OPERATIONS, BUSINESSES, COMPANY, COMPARATIVE ECONOMICS, CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT, CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT, CURRENCY UNITS, DEFLATION, DEFLATORS, DELIVERY OF GOODS, DEREGULATION, DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DIMINISHING RETURNS, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC INTEGRATION, ECONOMIC SYSTEMS, ECONOMIES OF SCALE, EMPIRICAL STUDIES, EMPLOYMENT, EQUALIZATION, EQUIPMENT, EXCHANGE RATES, EXPANSION, EXPORTS, FINANCIAL SUPPORT, FIRM SIZE, FIRMS, FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, FOREIGN INVESTMENT, FREE TRADE, FUTURE RESEARCH, GDP, GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS, GLOBAL MARKETS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES, GOVERNMENT REGULATION, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, GROWTH RATE, IMPERFECT COMPETITION, INCOME STATEMENTS, INFORMATION SYSTEMS, INSPECTIONS, INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK, INTERNATIONAL TRADE, JOB CREATION, JOINT VENTURE, LABOR PRODUCTIVITY, LICENSES, LIMITED ACCESS, MACROECONOMIC GROWTH, MANUFACTURER, MANUFACTURING, MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES, MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY, MARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY, MARKET ENTRY, MEDIUM ENTERPRISES, MERGER, MICROENTERPRISES, MIGRATION, MULTINATIONAL, MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION, MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS, NEW MARKETS, OPEN ACCESS, OPEN ECONOMIES, OVERHEAD COSTS, OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE, PERFORMANCE INDICATOR, PERFORMANCES, POLITICAL ECONOMY, PRIVATE COMPANIES, PRIVATE SECTOR, PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCERS, PRODUCTIVITY, PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH, REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT, REGULATORY ENVIRONMENTS, REGULATORY REFORM, REGULATORY REGIMES, REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS, RESULT, RESULTS, RETAIL TRADE, SEARCH, SHAREHOLDERS, SMALL BUSINESSES, SMALL FIRMS, SUBSIDIARIES, SUBSIDIARY, TAXATION, TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TIME PERIOD, TIME PERIODS, TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY, TRANSITION ECONOMIES, TRANSPORT, VALUE ADDED, VALUE CHAINS, WAGES, WEB, WORKING HOURS,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/05/17709669/productivity-growth-europe https://hdl.handle.net/10986/15584
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