Searching for the "Productivity Slowdown": Some Surprising Findings from West German Manufacturing

Flaig, Gebhard; Steiner, Viktor

doi:10.2307/2109626

Cited by 17 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Flaig and Steiner (1993) argue that the rate of capacity utilisation should be taken into account when calculating TFP growth on the basis of the above applied growth accounting approach, since otherwise TFP (i.e., the Solow residual) is influenced by a varying utilisation of the production factors labour and capital over the business cycle. Hall (1988) shows that the (primal) Solow residual is not affected by changes in capacity utilisation, i.e.…”

Section: Determination Of Mark-up Ratiosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is more competition conducive to the macroeconomic performance in the euro area?

Weyerstraß

Jaenicke

2011

Empirica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Determination Of Mark-up Ratiosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is more competition conducive to the macroeconomic performance in the euro area?

Weyerstraß

Jaenicke

2011

Empirica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As has also been shown by Flaig and Steiner (1993), the rate of productivity growth in West German manufacturing industries changed little between 1961 and 1985.…”

Section: Figure 3 Skills Ratio and Earnings Ratio For Industries Clasmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…Hence, the estimating equation can be interpreted as a conditional relative labor demand equation derived from cost-minimization with the level of output given and capital treated as a quasi-fixed factor of production (see Flaig and Steiner, 1993). This specification yields an estimate of the substitution elasticity of around -0.5.…”

Section: Estimation Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative Earnings and the Demand for Unskilled Labor in West German Manufacturing

Steiner

Wagner

1998

Globalization, Technological Change, and Labor Markets

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We analyze the economic factors which have contributed to the dramatic decline of the employment share of unskilled labor in German manufacturing, in particular the role played by the relatively rigid earnings structure. Potential effects of intensified international competition and skill-biased technological change on the relative employment and earnings position of unskilled workers are also discussed. We find that the substitution elasticity between unskilled and skilled labor is rather low. The decline in the employment share of unskilled workers attributable to an inflexible earnings structure therefore seems to have been modest compared to the trend decline in the skills ratio. We also find some modest effects from international competition and technological change on the employment share of unskilled labor. JEL classification: J23, J31 AcknowledgementWe thank Bertrand Koebel for providing us with national accounts data and his estimates of total productivity growth and user costs of capital. Bernd Fitzenberger and Lawrence Mishel provided helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper presented at the conference "Globalization, Technological Change, and the Welfare State", American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, June 9 -10, 1997, Washington, D.C. Of course, all remaining errors are our sole responsibility. 3 Non-technical SummaryThe U.S. labor market and its employment performance over the last twenty years or so is often cited as a model for some of the European countries, and Germany in particular. While the U.S. economy has been more successful in creating jobs for the unskilled than the German economy, this seems to have come at the cost of a dramatic increase in earnings inequality in the U.S. which has hardly changed in Germany. These differential labor market developments in the U.S. and Germany seem to support the hypothesis of a trade-off between more jobs for unskilled workers on the one hand, and a less equal earnings distribution on the other. However, the few empirical studies which try to test this hypothesis for various countries have failed to provide conclusive results. For Germany, there has so far been very little research on the empirical importance of this alleged trade-off.In this paper, we analyze the economic factors which have contributed to the dramatic decline of the employment share of unskilled labor in German manufacturing, in particular the role played by the adjustment of relative earnings to increased international competition and technological change. Although the reduction in the relative supply of unskilled labor has certainly contributed to this development, it is only part of the story. The decline in the demand for unskilled relative to skilled labor (skills ratio) has also played an important role. On the basis of a simple econometric model, we find a trend decline in the skills ratio in the whole manufacturing sector of 3% per year. The estimated substitution elasticity from our preferred specification of the ...

show abstract

“…A -Ensemble des ENFNA -0,55 -0,6 -0,65 -0,7 -0,75 -0,8 -0,85 -0,9 ln(Y/K) observé/*' 1975197819811984198719931996B -Branches manufacturières -0,5 -1,0 19761979198219851988199119941997 C -Branches tertiaires -0,5 -ln(Y/K)sup -0.8 1976-0.8 1979-0.8 1982-0.8 1985-0.8 1988-0.8 1991-0.8 1994-0.8 1997-0.8 Période d'estimation de l'équation : 1975-0.8 -1989. ln(Y/K)inf = ln(Y/K)estimé -2 a. ln(Y/K)sup = ln(Y/K)estimé + 2 a.…”

Section: Branches Et Groupes De Branches Présentent Des Variations DIunclassified

Le progrès technique a-t-il ralenti depuis 1990 ?

Accardo¹,

Bouscharain²,

Jlassi³

1999

estat

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

[fre] Le progrès technique a-t-il ralenti depuis 1990 ? Le rythme du progrès technique est habituellement mesuré par celui de la productivité globale des facteurs (PGF). L'analyse de son évolution suggère un ralentissement entre les périodes 1975-1990 et 1990-1997. Cette rupture éventuelle semble essentiellement imputable aux branches tertiaires et résulte de mouvements divers. La productivité du capital s'est redressée dans les branches manufacturières. Dans les branches tertiaires, sa baisse s'accélère au contraire, du fait de la branche des services marchands aux entreprises. La productivité du . travail, quant à elle, ralentit dans l'ensemble des branches et plus nettement dans le secteur tertiaire. Ce ment est encore plus net si on prend en compte l'évolution de la structure de qualification des actifs. Finalement, le ralentissement de la productivité des facteurs, essentiellement dû aux branches de services, semble confirmé. Il convient toutefois de souligner les difficultés d'évaluation du capital et du produit, notamment dans les services. En outre, l'absence d'un taux d'utilisation des capacités, spécifique au secteur tertiaire, et les incertitudes sur le degré de correction des qualifications fragilisent ces résultats. Enfin le trend de productivité semble être mal corrigé du cycle économique, et son évaluation sur la période récente, correspondant à une phase basse du cycle, en est probablement affectée. [eng] Has Technological Progress Slowed Down Since 1990? The rate of technological progress is usually measured by the rate of total factor productivity (TFP). Analysis of its growth suggests a slowdown between periods 1975-1990 and 1990-1997. This possible break seems to be essentially ascribable to the service sectors as a result of various trends more marked when growth in the proportion of skilled workers is taken into account. Capital productivity recovered in the manufacturing sectors, but its drop sharpened in the service sectors due to the corporate market services sector. Labour productivity slowed in all sectors, although more especially in the service sector. This slowdown is all the We establish that the service sectors are mainly responsible for the slowdown in factor productivity. Note, however, the problems involved in evaluating capital and return especially in services. These results are made fragile by the absence . of a capacity utilisation rate specific to the service sector and uncertainties over the extent of skills correction. The productivity trend appears to be poorly corrected by the business cycle. This probably affects its evaluation for the recent period, which was a low point in the cycle. [ger] Hat sich der technische Fortschritt seit 1990 verlangsamt? Der Rhythmus des technischen Fortschritts wird gewôhnlich anhand desjenigen der globalen Produktivitàt der Faktoren gemessen. Die Analyse seiner Entwicklung lâBt auf eine Verlangsamung zwischen den Zeitràumen von 1975-1990 und 1990-1 997 schlieBen. Dieser etwaige , Bruch scheint im wesentlichen auf die tertiâren Branchen zu...

show abstract

Searching for the "Productivity Slowdown": Some Surprising Findings from West German Manufacturing

Cited by 17 publications

References 8 publications

Is more competition conducive to the macroeconomic performance in the euro area?

Is more competition conducive to the macroeconomic performance in the euro area?

Relative Earnings and the Demand for Unskilled Labor in West German Manufacturing

Le progrès technique a-t-il ralenti depuis 1990 ?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About