Utilities and business sector services, on the
other hand, provide a more mixed picture.
Overall, the intra effect was as important as the
shift effect, mainly reflecting the major
resource re-allocation towards the “real estate,
renting and business activities” sector that
occurred in most EU countries34.
Taken together, the impact of structural
adjustments on aggregate labour productivity
growth in the aggregate economy as well as in its
sectoral components appears to be limited. One
possible explanation is that a large fraction of
aggregate labour productivity growth is driven by
what happens in each individual firm, whilst shifts
in market shares from low to high-productivity
firms across sectors play only a modest role35,
meaning that aggregate labour productivity growth
is driven by a better resource allocation within
sectors rather than between sectors.
2.4 EUROPE IN COMPARISON WITH THE
UNITED STATES
Comparing the EU and the United States, Table
5 and Chart 7 show respectively the sectoral
shares36 in value added at constant prices and
the Lilien indicator for the EU, the euro area and
the United States for the periods 1985-1989 and
1996-2001. Looking at the results as shown in
Table 5, the main differences with regard to the
manufacturing sector have arisen from the low
technology intensity sector - which is almost
twice as small in the United States as in the EU
34 Results for Greece, the UK and Belgium are underestimated in
this respect, on account of the lack of data for this sector.
35 OECD, “The role of policy and institutions for productivity and
firms’ dynamics: evidence from micro and industry data”, 2002,
EPC document.
36 See Chart 3 and footnote 21 for a more detailed comparison
between sectoral specialisation in EU countries and
specialisation in US regions.
2 SECTORAL
SPECIALISATION:
CURRENT SITUATION
AND EVOLUTION
Table 5 Sectoral output shares
(percentages of total value added)
1985-1989 1996-2001
|
USA |
EU |
EA |
USA |
EU |
EA | |
|
Total manufacturing |
17.4 |
22.1 |
22.2 |
17.3 |
20.3 |
20.5 |
|
Food products, beverages and tobacco |
1.9 |
2.6 |
2.6 |
1.3 |
2.4 |
2.3 |
|
Textiles, textile products, leather and footwear |
0.8 |
1.7 |
1.7 |
0.6 |
1.2 |
1.2 |
|
Wood and products of wood and cork |
0.8 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
0.4 |
0.5 |
|
Pulp, paper, paper products, printing and publishing |
2.5 |
2.0 |
1.8 |
1.7 |
1.8 |
1.7 |
|
Rubber, plastics and fuel products |
1.0 |
1.3 |
1.3 |
1.0 |
1.2 |
1.2 |
|
Chemicals and chemical products |
1.9 |
2.1 |
2.1 |
1.9 |
2.2 |
2.1 |
|
Other non-metallic mineral products |
0.5 |
1.1 |
1.1 |
0.4 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
|
Basic metals and fabricated metal products |
2.0 |
2.9 |
2.9 |
1.8 |
2.6 |
2.7 |
|
Machinery and equipment |
3.2 |
5.0 |
5.1 |
6.0 |
4.7 |
4.8 |
|
Transport equipment |
2.5 |
2.2 |
2.3 |
1.9 |
2.1 |
2.1 |
|
Manufacturing NEC; recycling |
0.6 |
0.9 |
0.9 |
0.6 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
|
Low technology intensity |
2.8 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
1.9 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
|
Medium-low technology intensity |
3.9 |
3.3 |
3.2 |
2.7 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
|
Medium-high technology intensity |
3.4 |
5.2 |
5.3 |
3.2 |
4.8 |
5.0 |
|
High technology intensity |
7.6 |
9.2 |
9.4 |
9.8 |
8.9 |
9.0 |
|
Electricity, gas and water supply |
2.7 |
2.4 |
2.4 |
2.4 |
2.4 |
2.4 |
|
Construction |
4.5 |
6.3 |
6.4 |
4.0 |
5.4 |
5.5 |
|
Business sector services |
48.9 |
43.6 |
43.4 |
54.4 |
47.4 |
47.2 |
|
Wholesale and retail trade |
16.4 |
11.2 |
11.2 |
19.0 |
11.5 |
11.4 |
|
Hotels and restaurants |
0.8 |
2.9 |
2.9 |
0.8 |
2.5 |
2.5 |
|
Transport and storage |
2.8 |
4.1 |
4.0 |
3.2 |
4.5 |
4.4 |
|
Post and telecommunications |
3.0 |
1.9 |
1.9 |
3.7 |
2.9 |
2.8 |
|
Financial intermediation |
7.3 |
5.5 |
5.5 |
7.8 |
5.7 |
5.6 |
|
Real estate, renting and business activities |
18.5 |
17.9 |
18.0 |
19.8 |
20.4 |
20.6 |
Sources: OECD, NCBs and ECB calculations.
Note: Data represent output shares based on value added at constant prices. The EU aggregate does not include Greece, Ireland,
Luxembourg and Sweden on account of missing sectors. The figures for the EU and the euro area refer to weighted averages.
ECB
Occasional Paper No. 19
July 2004