According to the European Commission, labour productivity will become the key driver of growth in the EU (European Commission, 2012, 2013, 2014). For the EU and for the euro area, labour input acts as a drag on growth over the projection period (2010-2060), as the working-age population is projected to decline. As a result, labour input contributes negatively to annual output growth on average over the projection period. Hence, labour productivity growth becomes the sole source for potential output growth in both the EU and the euro area starting from 2028.
As a source of working conditions, collective bargaining is a key determinant of labour productivity. There is consensus that vertical coordination of collective bargaining has a positive impact on economic performance (OECD, 2004, 2009; ILO, 2011, 2013, 2015), while at the company level, productivity agreements can make the production more efficient and increase work performance through incentives and welfare measures.
The main research question underpinning this project is how the aspirations of policy makers are manifest at a micro-level and how these strategies are seen by the actors to translate into outcomes, seeking to illuminate why the productivity problem persists in some of the observed countries.
Start date: 01/04/2016
Finish date: 30/09/2017
Financing: DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion – Social Dialogue (Grant Agreement VS/2016/0096)
Responsable researcher: Oscar Molina
Team: Alejandro Godino
