A Disaggregate Look at Deteriorating Productivity in Chile: Has There Been Structural Change?

The recent evolution of productivity has been a puzzle for economists. After a period marked by historic growth (1987-1997), aggregate productivity stagnated (1998-2012). The analysis in this paper focuses on productivity in nine major sectors of the economy to establish tentative hypotheses to try to explain the recent behavior of productivity at the aggregate level. The evidence suggests that it is necessary to deepen the analysis of the labor market and the cost of energy as potential barriers to productivity growth.