Sectoral specialisation in the EU: a macroeconomic perspective

Fabrice Orlandi, Christian Barontini, Mark Cassidy, Sandro Trento (), Erik Walch, Bouke Buitenkamp, Karin Wagner, Hugo Reis, Risto Herrala (), Faisel Sethi, Esther Gordo (), Ioanna Bardakas, Christophe Madaschi, Ekkehard Ernst, Alvaro Santos Rivera, Jörg Döpke, Vincent Labhard (), Ad van Riet, Benoît Robert, Constantina Backinezos and Kurt Gustavsson

No 19, Occasional Paper Series from European Central Bank

Abstract: This paper analyses trends in sectoral specialisation in the EU and concludes the following: 1) The European production structure appears more homogenous than that of the US. 2) While sectoral specialisation has shown a slight increase in some smaller euro area countries towards the end-1990s, it is too early to detect any potential impact of EMU. 3) Despite some changes in sectoral composition, the business cycles of euro area countries became more synchronised over the 1990s, which may be seen as reassuring from the point of view of the single monetary policy. 4) Sectoral re-allocation accounts for as much as 50% of the increase in labour productivity growth in business sector services in the euro area. 5) The slowdown of European labour productivity growth relative to the US since the mid-1990s is explained by a stronger performance in the US wholesale and retail trade, financial intermediation and high-tech manufacturing sectors. JEL Classification: E32, E22, E23, E24

Keywords: euro area; labour productivity; productivity growth; sectoral specialisation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004-07
Note: 431994
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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