Workforce Ageing and Labour Productivity in Europe

Iñigo Calvo-Sotomayor, Jon Paul Laka and Ricardo Aguado
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Iñigo Calvo-Sotomayor: Department of Strategy and Information Systems, University of Deusto, 48007 Bilbao, Spain
Jon Paul Laka: Department of Quantitative Methods, University of Deusto, 48007 Bilbao, Spain
Ricardo Aguado: Department of Economics, University of Deusto, 48007 Bilbao, Spain

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 20, 1-16

Abstract: This article analyses the influence of workforce ageing on labour productivity in Europe. This question is relevant because of the impact it may have on economic activity, social security systems sustainability and the wellbeing of the population. The method applied is a quantitative contrast using the panel data technique for 24 countries in the period 1983–2014. This research is framed in the open conversation in the literature on the possible impact of ageing on productivity and takes as reference the seminal work of James Feyrer and the contrast model developed by Shekhar Aiyar, Christian Ebeke, and Xiaobo Shao. The results obtained show how a 1% increase in the workforce between the ages of 55 and 64 is related to a decrease of the annual increase in productivity between −0.106% and −0.479%. The main contribution of the article is to provide, as far as the authors are aware, the first evidence of this negative relationship for the period 1983–2014, in addition to suggesting that the influence of ageing on productivity may be reduced by the evolution of the economies in question toward capital and/or knowledge-intensive sectors.

Keywords: ageing; productivity; workforce ageing; Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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