The euro area has experienced a sustained decline in labour productivity growth since the 1980s. In the economic literature this phenomenon is commonly explained by a decline in capital deepening and lower total factor productivity (TFP) growth. However, the decline in labour productivity growth...

Extending the common baseline model in various dimensions does not fundamentally change the low contribution of labor quality to productivity growth in Germany. Labor quality growth is low owing to a small increase in the share of workers with higher education, a negative contribution from a...

Composition of the euro area workforce evolves over time and in response to changing labour market conditions. We construct an estimate of growth in euro area labour quality over the period 1983-2004 and show that labour quality has grown on average by 0.6% year-on-year over this time period....

Concerns about export growth within the euro area peripheral countries due to a lack of competitiveness within the euro area are a key policy issue. Our analysis suggests that: (i) Long-term price elasticities for intra-euro area exports are at least double those for extra-euro area exports, so...