The UK Productivity “Puzzle” in an International Comparative Perspective
研究发现英国自2007年以来的生产率放缓并非特例，美国和北欧也经历了类似放缓，且资本形成并非主因，全要素生产率增长放缓是共同解释。
ABSTRACT The UK's slow productivity growth since 2007 has been referred to as a “puzzle,” as if it were a particularly UK‐specific problem. We highlight how the United States and northern Europe experienced very similar slowdowns. In all three regions, the slowdown in total factor productivity (TFP) growth accounts for the slowdown in labor productivity growth. We find no evidence in capital‐output ratios, investment rates, or internal rates of return that something substantive changed in the capital‐formation process after 2007—other than a slowdown in TFP and output growth that induced slower capital formation. Hence, capital formation is not an important independent factor in the post‐2007 productivity slowdown. For the UK, weak investment is a longstanding concern going back to the 1990s, though considerations of non‐national accounts intangible assets somewhat ameliorate the investment shortfalls. The common slowdown in TFP growth is fairly broad‐based across industry groups. Industry‐specific issues, such as in mining, account for some of relative ground lost after 2007 rather than indicating a systematic UK competitiveness problem.