The UK Productivity and Jobs Puzzle: Does the Answer Lie in Wage Flexibility?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Pessoa, Joao Paulo; Van Reenen, John
• 署名单位: University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; National Bureau of Economic Research; Center for Economic & Policy Research (CEPR)
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12146
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 433-452
• 关键词: uncertainty; IMPACT

摘要

UK GDP per worker fell by almost 4% in the five years following Lehman's collapse in 2008, something unprecedented in post-war history. A possible reason for poor productivity is low growth in the effective capital-labour ratio. This is likely to have occurred because there has been a fall in real wages and increases in the cost of capital due to the financial crisis. We simulate various changes in the capital-labour ratio and after accounting for these changes, the evolution of total factor productivity appears much more similar to earlier severe recessions and likely to be related to underutilised resources.