Deindustrialization? A global perspective

Jesus Felipe () and Aashish Mehta

Economics Letters, 2016, vol. 149, issue C, 148-151

Abstract: Recent studies show that, within countries, manufacturing labor productivity growth has outstripped aggregate labor productivity growth, putting significant downwards pressure on national manufacturing employment shares. We compile the first (nearly) global database of national manufacturing employment and output levels over time, and use it to document two facts seemingly at odds with these results: (1) the manufacturing sector’s share of global employment did not fall between 1970 and 2010; and (2) manufacturing and aggregate labor productivity at the global level grew at similar rates. We show that these trends occurred because rapid within-country manufacturing productivity growth was counterbalanced by a shift of manufacturing jobs towards lower productivity economies.

Keywords: Deindustrialization; Industrialization; Globalization; Manufacturing jobs; Labor productivity; Structural transformation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L60 O10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (31)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:149:y:2016:i:c:p:148-151

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2016.10.038

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