EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS ON MAIN PRODUCTIVITY FACTORS AMONG MAJOR EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Abstract

In the thesis, a macro analysis of the European economic construction is made to a sample of 12 major European nations. The introductory chapter contains all necessary information regarding the key milestones of the analysis starting from a macro prospective of the European economic productivity history since the post 2nd World War. It makes an effort to explain the selection and characteristics of the variable selected as well as the origins and construction of the database. In particular, an analysis on some growth economic factors which have been driving major European member states from the 90’s through the 2008 financial crisis until recent years is made, knowing that fragmentation is the main boundary that afflicts them, but also the whole European Union, i.e. states’ economies reacts differently to the same shock. Acknowledging that each member state has its own fiscal policy, while the monetary one is decided at a central level, we will investigate weather common TFP determinants affect in the same way the path of growth of the countries under analysis.