LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE EU IN POST-CRISIS PERIOD

Abstract

Labour productivity and economic growth are the major factors to sustain and improve the performance and competitiveness of countries. The paper is devoted to the analysis of recent trends of labour productivity and economic growth in the European Union (EU) countries in post-crisis period in comparison with the trends in pre-crisis and crisis periods. The paper analyses the impact of changes in labour productivity and the effect on the macroeconomic indicators. The research focuses on the European Union countries that experienced the most severe crisis and afterwards the most rapid recovery in post-crisis period (as Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia). The research findings argue that there are weak or no relations between productivity increase and economic growth in pre-crisis period and the first phase of post-crisis period; however, the increase of productivity during the crisis is a significant driver of the economy after a period of time. The research covers the time period from 2004 to 2012 that can be subdivided into three periods – 2004-2007 (pre-crisis), 2008-2010 (crisis) and starting from 2011 (post-crisis). It should be stressed that “pre-crisis” period is defined only for research purposes (to compare pre and post-crises periods) and it is not an official definition of this time period, as well economic cycles strongly vary amid the countries.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.em.19.3.7819