Tuesday, November 16, 2004

EU vs US labor and productivity data

Taken from WSJ. French and German workers are as productive, on a per hour basis, as US workers, although US workers tend to work more hours per year, which leads to greater GDP per worker per year. Two effects worth noting: (1) workers who work fewer hours should be more productive per hour, as one's effectiveness tends to degrade over a long workday (2) excluding less productive workers (i.e. having a higher unemployment rate, as Germany and France do at 9-10% vs 5% here) should lead to higher average productivity.

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2 comments:

  1. Richard3:43 PM

    The US is always talking about its great productivity and dissing the French. It is clear that the civilized (until Sarkozy) French can produce at greater per hour worked rates, have a life, eat good food, and live in a civilized country where health care and education are givens!

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  2. Guillaume Caillet9:27 PM

    Don't dis Sarko, I'll tell Jean Reno.

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