European Central Bank (ECB) - Directorate General Economics
Date Written: July 2004
Abstract
This paper analyses trends in sectoral specialisation in the EU and concludes the following: 1) The European production structure appears more homogenous than that of the US. 2) While sectoral specialisation has shown a slight increase in some smaller euro area countries towards the end-1990s, it is too early to detect any potential impact of EMU. 3) Despite some changes in sectoral composition, the business cycles of euro area countries became more synchronised over the 1990s, which may be seen as reassuring from the point of view of the single monetary policy. 4) Sectoral re-allocation accounts for as much as 50% of the increase in labour productivity growth in business sector services in the euro area. 5) The slowdown of European labour productivity growth relative to the US since the mid-1990s is explained by a stronger performance in the US wholesale and retail trade, financial intermediation and high-tech manufacturing sectors.
van Riet, Ad and Ernst, Ekkehard and Madaschi, Christophe and Orlandi, Fabrice and Santos Rivera, Alvaro and Robert, Benoît and Döpke, Jörg and Backinezos, Constantina and Bardakas, Ioanna and Gordo Mora, Esther and Barontini, Christian and Cassidy, Mark and Trento, Sandro and Walch, Erik and Buitenkamp, Bouke and Wagner, Karin and Reis, Hugo and Herrala, Risto and Sethi, Faisel and Gustavsson, Kurt and Labhard, Vincent, Sectoral Specialisation in the EU: A Macroeconomic Perspective (July 2004). ECB Occasional Paper No. 19, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=752068 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.752068
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