Sectoral Explanations of Employment in Europe: The Role of Services

Antonello D'Agostino, Roberta Serafini () and Melanie E. Ward-Warmedinger ()
Additional contact information
Roberta Serafini: European Central Bank
Melanie E. Ward-Warmedinger: European Central Bank

No 2257, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper investigates the determinants of the service sector employment share in the EU-15, for the aggregate service sector, four sub-sectors and twelve service sector branches. Recently, both Europe and the US have experienced an increase in the share of service-related jobs in total employment. Although converging in all European countries, a significant gap in the share of service jobs in Europe relative to the US persists. Understanding the main factors behind this gap is key to achieving higher employment levels in Europe. This paper focuses on the role of barriers in the EU-15 which may have hindered its ability to absorb labour supply and therefore to adjust efficiently to the sectoral reallocation of labour. We find that a crucial role in this process has been played by the institutional framework affecting flexibility in the labour market and by the mismatch between workers’ skills and job vacancies.

Keywords: services; sectoral adjustment; employment share; Europe; US; institutions in the labour and product market (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E24 J21 J23 J24 L80 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 56 pages
Date: 2006-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-eec, nep-lab and nep-mac
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Sectoral explanations of employment in Europe: the role of services (2006)
Working Paper: Sectoral explanations of employment in Europe: the role of services (2006)
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