What drives firm and sectoral productivity in the United Kingdom and in selected European
countries?
This paper examines the link between barriers to trade and investment and productivity
performance, in the United Kingdom and selected European countries using both firm-level
and sectoral data. Barriers to trade and investment appear to be a robust determinant
of productivity in the long term. Control variables such as spending on R&D and human
capital also play a role, though their effects depend on the way they are measured
or on the sample. The results are robust across a range of productivity measures as
well as to changes in the sectoral coverage and the set of controls.
Published on November 23, 2020
In series:OECD Economics Department Working Papersview more titles