LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH AND CONVERGENCE IN AGRICULTURE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Zbigniew Gołaś

doi:10.32479/ijefi.8041

Abstract

The main objective of the presented paper is to examine and assess the changes in labour productivity in the EU agriculture in the context of the diversity of its level and dynamics of change underlying the identification of labour productivity convergence/divergence processes taking place in agriculture. The labour productivity convergence processes in the EU agriculture were analysed based on data from the period between 2005 and 2016, by testing two its basic types, namely sigma and beta convergence. The analysis applied statistical measures describing the degree of labour productivity differentiation in agriculture of the EU countries and cross-sectional regression function. The research showed that sigma and beta convergence exist in general in the EU-28 countries.Keywords: labour productivity, convergence, agriculture, EU.JEL Classifications: Q13, O47, C2DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.8041

Highlights

In the aspect of integration processes taking place in the EU, a particular importance should be placed on the issue of labour productivity (LP), conditioned by two basic factors
It should be emphasised that the level of LP is widely recognised as one of the most important development parameters of economies because it leads to lower costs, increased supply of cheaper goods and services, it makes the market more dynamic and increases the purchasing power of societies, their wealth and competitive capacity
One of the most commonly used models which explains the increase in the studied feature i = 1,....,N, between the period t0 i t0+T using the initial value of this feature was used to verify the beta-convergence hypothesis of LP in the EU agriculture, using cross-sectional data (Ciołek, 2005; Kusideł, 2013): In εit0,t0 +T

Summary

INTRODUCTION

In the aspect of integration processes taking place in the EU, a particular importance should be placed on the issue of labour productivity (LP), conditioned by two basic factors. It should be emphasised that the level of LP is widely recognised as one of the most important development parameters of economies because it leads to lower costs, increased supply of cheaper goods and services, it makes the market more dynamic and increases the purchasing power of societies, their wealth and competitive capacity. The main goal of the presented article is to examine and assess the changes in LP across the EU agricultural sector at the backdrop of diversification of its level and dynamics of change, forming the grounds for identifying the processes of convergence/ divergence of LP taking place in agriculture

SOURCE MATERIALS AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

CHANGES IN LP IN THE EU

Findings

CONCLUSION