International comparison of sectoral energy- and labour-productivity performance; stylised facts and decomposition of trends

This paper simultaneously explores trends in energy- and labour productivity for 14 OECD countries and 13 sectors over the period 1970-1997. A principal aim of this paper is to trace back macroeconomic productivity developments to developments at the level of individual sectors, in order to correct trends in technology-driven productivity improvements for the impact of structural effects. First, we document trends in macroeconomic energy- and labour productivity performance, examining the role of the Manufacturing, Services, Transport and Agricultural sector. Second, we take a closer look at the role of 10 Manufacturing sectors in driving aggregate Manufacturing energy- and labour-productivity performance. A cross-country decomposition analysis reveals that in some countries structural changes contributed considerably to aggregate energy-productivity growth while in other countries they partly offset energy-efficiency improvements. In contrast, structural changes only play a minor role in explaining aggregate labour-productivity developments. We identify for each country the percentage contribution of each sector to aggregate structural and efficiency changes. Furthermore, we find labour productivity growth to be higher on average than energy productivity growth. Over time, this bias towards labour productivity growth is increasing in the Transport, Agriculture and aggregate Manufacturing sectors, while it is decreasing in Services and most Manufacturing sectors.

Economic Literacy: An International Comparison

Many studies show that most people are not financially literate and are unfamiliar with even the most basic economic concepts. However, the evidence on the determinants of economic literacy is scant. This paper uses international panel data on 55 countries, merging indicators of economic literacy with a large set of macroeconomic and institutional variables. Results show that there is substantial heterogeneity of financial and economic competence across countries, and that human capital indicators (PISA test scores and college attendance) are positively correlated with economic literacy. Furthermore, inhabitants of countries with more generous social security systems are generally less literate, lending support to the hypothesis that the incentives to acquire economic literacy are related to the amount of resources available for private accumulation.Economic Literacy, Human Capital, Social Security

Sickness Absence: An International Comparison

Previous attempts to analyse international differences in patterns of worker absenteeism have not been convincing because of the difficulty in obtaining internationally comparable data. In this paper, we apply the technique described by Barmby, Ercolani and Treble(1999) to data on full-time workers in 9 countries who have deposited Labour Force Survey returns with the Luxembourg Employment Study. We use the resulting dataset to verify relationships between absence and age, gender and other socio-economic characteristics of workers. These relationships prove to be similar across countries with widely differing mean rates of absence. Since our dataset uses individual observations we are also able to carry out a multivariate analysis of absence and its correlates. The most revealing result of the analysis is that the gender difference in absence rates that is apparent in the raw data is shown to be entirely due to differences in the age structures of the male and female workforce and their marital status.

Household Portfolios: An International Comparison

This paper presents an overview of the main findings of an international project on Household Portfolios coordinated by the authors. Contributions to the project deal with the state of the art in analytical, computational, and econometric methods of analysis of household portfolio choice, identify stylized facts and trends observed in five major countries, and discuss issues relating to the portfolios of two important population groups, namely the elderly and the rich. In this paper, we integrate the main findings of the project, compare portfolio behavior across countries, and contrast theoretical predictions to empirical findings. This allows us to identify a number of stylized facts and portfolio puzzles that future theoretical and empirical research should attempt to analyze and resolve.

An International Comparison of Small Business Employment

Contrary to popular perceptions, the United States has a much smaller small-business sector (as a share of total employment) than other countries at a comparable level of economic development, according to this new CEPR report. The authors observe that the undersized U.S. small business sector is consistent with the view that high health care costs discourage small business formation, since start-ups in other countries can tap into government-funded health care systems

Public sector efficiency: an international comparison

We compute public sector performance (PSP) and efficiency (PSE) indicators, comprising a composite and seven sub-indicators, for 23 industrialised countries. The first four sub-indicators are "opportunity" indicators that take into account administrative, education and health outcomes and the quality of public infrastructure and that support the rule of law and a level playing-field in a market economy. Three other indicators reflect the standard "Musgravian" tasks for government: allocation, distribution, and stabilisation. The input and output efficiency of public sectors across countries is then measured via a non-parametric production frontier technique. JEL Classification: C14, H50Efficiency, Free Disposable Hull, Government expenditure, Production possibility frontier

An International Comparison of Employee Training

This article uses data from the 1994 International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) to examine employee training in the seven participating countries: Canada, the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, and Sweden.employee training; international comparison

Hungary’s external liabilities in international comparison

Hungary’s net external liabilities have increased significantly in recent years and its external liabilities-to-GDP ratio currently stands at a very high level by international standards. As the credit market crisis emanating from the Unites States has put renewed emphasis on the vulnerability of emerging economies, it may be useful to look more closely at the factors shaping developments in a country’s external liabilities in general, and those specific for the Hungarian economy in particular. A review of the academic literature sheds light on the fact that in emerging economies the increase in external debt due mainly to the gradual easing in liquidity constraints and increasing financial integration is a natural process. International comparisons appear to reinforce this view. Accordingly, similar developments have taken place in recent years in each of the newly joined EU Member States and Hungary. However, these comparisons also reveal that Hungary’s external liabilities are higher than those of countries at a comparable stage of economic development. It is also important to note that the stock of external liabilities was higher in Hungary than in other countries even in the period prior to EU accession. This implies that the outflow of income related to a country’s high external debt can by itself keep debt at a high level. Consequently, further substantial improvement in external balance and faster economic growth are required in order to reduce the external liabilities-to-GDP ratio.external liabilities, Hungary, external debt.