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Stagnation of productivity in France: A legacy of the crisis or a structural slowdown?

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  • Gilbert Cette
  • Simon Corde
  • Rémy Lecat
Abstract
[eng] The productivity slowdown has been analysed either as an effect of the crisis, resulting from the financial and demand shocks, or as a more structural decline. In France, using macroeconomic and microeconomic data, we identify downward breaks in the trends of labour productivity and total factor productivity in the 2000s, several years before the crisis. These breaks result in historically weak rhythms of the trends. Using data on firms located in France, we highlight that, at the technological frontier, productivity has accelerated, especially over the recent period, which contradicts the hypothesis of a decline in innovation. The most productive firms in a given year do not, however, improve their relative advantage. The convergence of firms’ productivity does not seem to have slowed down in the 2000s, which does not confirm the hypothesis of a decrease in the dissemination of innovation. On the other hand, the dispersion of productivity between firms has increased, which suggests increasing difficulties in the reallocation of production factors, labour and capital, between firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Gilbert Cette & Simon Corde & Rémy Lecat, 2017. "Stagnation of productivity in France: A legacy of the crisis or a structural slowdown?," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 494-495-4, pages 11-36.
    • Handle: RePEc:nse:ecosta:ecostat_2017_494-495-496_2
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    3. Paul Bouche & Gilbert Cette & Rémy Lecat, 2021. "News from the Frontier: Increased Productivity Dispersion across Firms and Factor Reallocation," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 12(2).
    4. Antonin Aviat & Frédérique Bec & Claude Diebolt & Catherine Doz & Denis Ferrand & Laurent Ferrara & Eric Heyer & Valérie Mignon & Pierre-Alain Pionnier, 2021. "Dating business cycles in France: a reference chronology," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03373425, HAL.
    5. Santos, João & Borges, Afonso S. & Domingos, Tiago, 2021. "Exploring the links between total factor productivity and energy efficiency: Portugal, 1960–2014," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    6. Yoann Morin & Lionel Védrine, 2022. "Do agglomeration economies affect firms’ returns to training? Evidence based on French industrial firms," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(5), pages 1135-1156, October.
    7. Thomas Grjebine & Jérôme Hericourt & Fabien Tripier, 2019. "Sectoral reallocations, real estate shocks and productivity divergence in Europe: a tale of three countries," Post-Print hal-02501064, HAL.
    8. Ramon Xifré, 2021. "Non‐Price Competitiveness Factors—A simple measure and implications for the five largest euro area countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(11), pages 3091-3110, November.
    9. Catherine Bruneau & Pierre-Luis Girard, 2021. "Labor Productivity in France: Is the Slowdown of its Growth Inevitable or are there Levers to fight it?," Athens Journal of Business & Economics, Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER), vol. 7(1), pages 9-40, January.
    10. Thomas Grjebine & Jérôme Héricourt & Fabien Tripier, 2023. "Sectoral reallocations, real estate shocks, and productivity divergence in Europe," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 159(1), pages 101-132, February.
    11. Solange Vivienne Manche & Juan Sebastian Carbonell, 2022. "Repoliticising the Future of Work: Automation and the End of Techno-Optimism," Post-Print hal-04112195, HAL.
    12. Guillaume Cléaud & Francisco de Castro Fernández & Jorge Durán Laguna & Lucia Granelli & Martin Hallet & Anne Jaubertie & Carlos Maravall Rodriguez & Diana Ognyanova & Balazs Palvolgyi & Tsvetan Tsali, 2019. "Cruising at Different Speeds: Similarities and Divergences between the German and the French Economies," European Economy - Discussion Papers 103, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    13. Redha Fares, 2022. "Bankruptcy, Performance and Market Selection: Evidence from Firms in France," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph22-01 edited by Claude Mathieu.

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