On June 26 the OECD Global Forum on Productivity organised an online workshop dedicated to the widening productivity gap between the United States and the European Union, and its determinants.
The event gathered leading experts and policymakers to discuss critical factors shaping this divergence, including intangible assets, sectoral total factor productivity (TFP) growth, labour mobility, investment, and technology adoption.
After the opening remarks by Álvaro S. Pereira (OECD Chief Economist and G20 Finance Deputy) and Géraldine Mahieu (Director, DG ECFIN, European Commission), Antonin Bergeaud (HEC Paris) delivered a keynote address, taking a long-term perspective on the productivity divergence across the Atlantic.
Other presenters further explored the role of :
- Intangibles and TFP growth across sectors (Session 1, presented by Plamen Nikolov, DG ECFIN, European Commission).
- Capital-labour ratio dynamics and labour mobility (Session 2, presented by Eliana Viviano, Bank of Italy).
- Services, start-ups dynamics, and technology adoption (Session 3, presented by Martin Borowiecki, OECD Economics Department).
The workshop concluded with a policy-focused panel discussion moderated by Jens Lundsgaard (OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation), bringing together the day’s speakers to identify actionable policy solutions to help narrow the transatlantic productivity divide.