Boosting productivity in the United Kingdom’s service sectors

Abstract

This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. 2  ECO/WKP(2020)37 BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM'S SERVICE SECTORS UnclassifiedOECD Working Papers should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its member countries. The opinions expressed and arguments employed are those of the author(s).Working Papers describe preliminary results or research in progress by the author(s) and are published to stimulate discussion on a broad range of issues on which the OECD works.Comments on Working Papers are welcomed, and may be sent to the Economics Department, OECD,

Services trade in the United Kingdom and the global economy

“…Labour markets have proven quite resilient, but this has not materialised into stronger output. Although it is difficult to identify one factor behind the productivity weakness (this is the so-called UK productivity puzzle), subdued investment, low RD spending, a high share of low-skilled workers in the workforce and a lack of management skills have been put forward as important sources of the weakness (Mourougane and Kim, 2020). The share of the services sector in output and employment is now 7 to 10 times higher than those of manufacturing (Figure 3).…”