Sectoral Energy- and Labour-Productivity Convergence



in contrast with labour costs, in most sectors energy costs form only a small part of total
production costs and, hence, firms do not have the incentive to search for best-practice
technologies at the international market, as opposed to labour-augmenting technologies.

In any case, since productivity growth is primarily driven by technological change,
our results suggest that patterns of international technology flows do exist, while at the same
time they seem to be limited and at least to some extent sector-specific. There is some reason
to believe that technology diffusion and knowledge spillovers are local rather than global (cf.
Keller, 2002). This suggests the need for specific attention to be paid to the spatial dimension
of technology diffusion in driving energy- and labour-productivity growth in different
countries.

References

Abramovitz, M. (1986), ‘Catching Up, Forging Ahead, and Falling Behind’, Journal of
Economic History
, 47, pp. 385-406.

Ark, B. van (1993), International Comparisons of Output and Productivity, Monograph Series
nr.1, Groningen, Growth and Development Centre.

Ark, B. van and D. Pilat (1993), ‘Productivity Level in Germany, Japan, and the United
States: Differences and Causes’,
Brookings Papers on Economic Activity.
Microeconomics
, 2, pp. 1-46.

Ark, B. van and N. Crafts (eds) (1996), Quantitative Aspects of Post-War European Growth,
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Barro, R.J. (1991), ‘Economic Growth in a Cross-Section of Countries’, Quarterly Journal of
Economics
, 106, pp. 407-443.

Barro, R.J. and X. Sala-i-Martin (1992), ‘Convergence’, Journal of Political Economy, 100,
pp. 223-251.

Barro, R.J. and X. Sala-i-Martin (1995), Economic Growth, New York, McGraw Hill.

Baumol, W.J. (1986), ‘Productivity Growth, Convergence and Welfare: What the Long-Run
Data Show’,
American Economic Review, 76, pp. 1072-1085.

Baumol, W.J., R.R. Nelson and E.N. Wolff (1994), Convergence and Productivity; Cross-
National Studies and Historical Evidence
, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Bernard, A.B. and C.I. Jones (1996a), ‘Comparing Apples to Oranges: Productivity
Convergence and Measurement across Industries and Countries’,
American Economic
Review, 86, pp. 1216-1238.

Bernard, A.B. and C.I. Jones (1996b), ‘Productivity Across Industries and Countries: Time
Series Theory and Evidence’,
Review of Economics and Statistics, 78, pp. 135-146.

Bernard, A.B. and C.I. Jones (2001), ‘Comparing Apples to Oranges: Productivity
Convergence and Measurement Across Industries and Countries: Reply’,
American
Economic Review
, 91, pp. 1168-1169.

Bernard, A.B. and S.N. Durlauf (1996), ‘Interpreting Tests of the Convergence Hypothesis’,
Journal of Econometrics, 71, pp. 161-173.

20



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