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The Independent:
If Hadza nomads get by on 14 hours' work a week, why can't we?

26 July 2014

A substantial literature already surrounds the UK ''productivity puzzle'', whereby post-recession output and employment have risen while national productivity markedly drops: $42.1 contribution to GDP per hour worked in 2013, compared with a eurozone average of $43.7 and a G7 rate of $48.4. Explanations for the plunge range from the misallocation of resources and the post-crash investment famine to, in several studies, the long-term fall in real wages. Professor John Van Reenen of the London School of Economics argues in a paper that ''low wages and weak investment mean a big fall in the amount of effective capital per worker and this accounts for most of the fall in labour productivity''.

This article was published in The Independent on July 26, 2014
Link to article here

Related Publications
The UK Productivity and Jobs Puzzle: Does the Answer Lie in Labour Market Flexibility?, Joao Paulo Pessoa and John Van Reenen, Centre for Economic Performance Special Paper No.31, June 2013

Related Links
Joao Paulo Pessoa webpage
John Van Reenen webpage
Productivity and Innovation webpage

Read more... The Independent