Is the Europe-U.S. retail trade productivity gap a genuine phenomenon or the result of a variety of measurement issues? This research question, which raised concerns during most of the decade preceding the Great Recession, has two primary motivations. First, I hope to gain a better understanding...

The deterioration in 1995 of Europe productivity performance relative to the U.S. coincided with the ?renaissance? of the U.S. statistical system, which has been upgraded in many important respects. With these efforts, there is now a consensus in the economics profession that the U.S....