Sectoral specialisation in the EU a macroeconomic perspective

worked between countries. The OECD STAN database contains sectoral time series data on the
number of persons employed and full-time equivalent employment for six sector aggregates.

Using data on full-time equivalent employment, a measure of part-time work per economic
sector can be constructed. Table 1 depicts how much the average working week fell short of a
full-time working week in several EU countries in 1999. Data on other countries were
unavailable in the STAN database. Although in all countries the average working week is less
than full-time, in most countries the average employee works more than 90% of a full-time week
- indicating that part-time work is not widespread in those countries. One notable exception is
the Netherlands, where the average employee works only 82% of a full-time week.

The table above also sheds light on sectoral differences in part-time work. Part-time work is virtually
absent in the construction sector and in industrial sectors. In almost all countries, the average
employee in these sectors works almost a full-time week. In the services sectors, on the other hand,
part-time work is far more widespread.

The chart depicts the development of the
average working week as a percentage of full-
time equivalent over the past two decades. The
graph reveals a persistent downward trend in
working hours in most countries, with Spain
being the only country with a relatively stable
average working week. The general downward
trend indicates that part-time work has become
increasingly more widespread in these
countries in the past two decades.

Sources: OECD. NCB calculations.

To some extent, the rise in part-time work is
the result of sectoral shifts. These economies
have experienced a pronounced shift away
from agriculture and manufacturing towards
the services sectors, where the share of part-
time work is relatively large. However, in
most countries, this composition effect accounts for only a small part of the total increase in
part-time work. Rather, the general increase in part-time work is explained by all sectors
showing a persistent upward trend in the share of part-time workers.

The rise in part-time work over the past two decades provides a partial explanation for the
persistent negative labour productivity growth in some sectors shown in Table 3 in the main
text. However, other measurement errors, such as improperly accounting for increases in
quality, are likely to also play a role. Although theoretical arguments favour the use of data on
hours worked rather than the number of labourers, the gain in accuracy of the results is likely to
be limited. First, sectoral differences in the extent of part-time work are persistent, implying
that using data on hours worked is unlikely to qualitatively change the results. Second, any
possible gains will have to be weighed against the lack of internationally comparable data on
hours worked, and additional measurement errors that are introduced by these data. Of course,
in countries where part-time work is relatively widespread, most notably the Netherlands,
significant deviations from the reported results may be observed.

ECB

Occasional Paper No. 19
July 2004

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