Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/153152 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2007
Series/Report no.: 
ECB Working Paper No. 718
Publisher: 
European Central Bank (ECB), Frankfurt a. M.
Abstract: 
We use tests for multiple breaks at unknown points in the sample, and the Stock-Watson (1996, 1998) time-varying parameters median-unbiased estimation methodology, to investigate changes in the equilibrium rate of growth of labor productivity–both per hour and per worker–in the United States, the Eurozone, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan over the post-WWII era. Results for the U.S. well capture the ‘conventional wisdom’ of a golden era of high productivity growth, the 1950s and 1960s; a marked deceleration starting from the beginning of the 1970s; and a strong growth resurgence starting from mid-1990s. Evidence clearly suggests the 1990s’ productivity acceleration to have reached a plateau over the last few years. Results for the Eurozone point towards a marked deceleration since the beginning of the 1980s, with equilibrium productivity growth stabilising over the most recent period.
Subjects: 
bootstrapping
frequency domain
median-unbiased estimation
Monte Carlo integration
Structural break tests
time-varying parameters
variance ratio
JEL: 
E30
E32
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
940.38 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.