Competitiveness and regional growth in the European Union: Disparities in unit labour costs

Abstract

This paper aims at analysing the relation between competitiveness and economic growth for the period 1995-2000 (2002 for some variables). To this aim we analyse the evolution of the unit labour cost by sector (‘traded’ and ‘non-traded’ sector) and decomposition between the unit labour requirement and the unit price of labour. Results show the existence of high regional disparities, varying with the sector. We also find diverse combinations in productivity and unit price of labour terms, leading to the existence of different competitive strategies. Finally, we can find some evidence of a particular relation between the different patterns of competitiveness and regional economic growth.unit labour cost, productivity, wages, competitiveness, economic growth, European regions