This paper investigates the impact of training and education on productivity, in particular linking to a literature that emphasizes the need to reorganise production following adoption of ICT. The paper examines training at the total economy level and variation across industries, focusing...

UK manufacturing productivity has for a long time lagged behind the US. Explanations put forward for the `productivity gap' include disparities in capital stock levels, the quality of the labour force and different rates of technology adoption. The questions addressed in this paper are, `has...

This paper considers the contribution of information and communications technology (ICT), to international productivity performance. It first uses an international industry data set and a growth accounting framework, to show that ICT has typically had a lower impact on productivity in Europe...

This paper provides an overview of sectoral productivity in Europe for the period 1995-2004. In an earlier discussion paper, we considered the trends in output and employment, however, taken separately, these may reflect differences in size and input intensities. Productivity measures...

Differences in the growth patterns of output and employment in sectors across countries is likely to offer policy makers insight into the type of conditions that might be conducive to economic growth and prosperity. However, the relative growth of industries within Europe and indeed across the...

This paper provides a unique cross-country comparative perspective on the impact of information and communication technology on the demand for skilled labour. It employs panel data for the US, the UK and France, comprising several skill categories for each country for the 1980s and 1990s. The...

The productivity performance of the UK relative to its major competitors has been a concern for much of the postwar peeriod. There is a general perception that, in recent years, its position has improved, however, most work stops short of the period in question. Newly constructed data from the...