Publication date: 17 December 2025Author: Olivier Redoulès, Economist and Director of Studies at RexecodePublisher: European Employers’ Institute (EEI) This synthesis brings together the findings of EEI’s three-part research series on the EU–US labour productivity gap, covering the period 1995–2024. It confirms that the divergence in labour productivity between the European Union and the United States […]
Publications
The European Employers’ Institute works with researchers, academics, and practitioners to produce relevant studies. The studies below are available. More coming soon.
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Synthesis – The widening transatlantic divide of labour productivity
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EU labour productivity divergence accelerates post-2019, the third EEI study on productivity shows
Read MorePublished: 2 December 2025 A new study by the European Employers’ Institute (EEI), conducted by Rexecode, finds that the EU–US labour productivity gap has widened significantly since 2019. In 2024, EU hourly labour productivity reached $72/hour (PPP) compared with $116/hour in the United States – a 38% gap. Over 2019–2024, US productivity grew by +9.7%, […]
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Understanding the EU-US labour productivity gap #3 – The amplified divergence (2019–2024)
Read MorePublished: 2 December 2025 Author: Olivier Redoulès, Economist, Rexecode This third study provides an updated assessment of the EU–US labour productivity gap over the period 2019–2024. The findings confirm that the EU’s productivity lag – already structural – has widened sharply in recent years. In 2024, EU hourly labour productivity averaged $72/hour (PPP) compared with […]
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Understanding the EU-US labour productivity gap #2 – A granular analysis
Read MorePublished: 30 October 2025 Author: Olivier Redoulès, Economist and director of studies at Rexecode, Paris This study provides a detailed analysis of the European Union’s (EU) labour productivity growth and its persistent gap with that of the United States (US). The analysis is set against a backdrop of a well-documented economic divergence between the EU […]
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Core EU economies drive the widening EU–US productivity gap, the second EEI study on productivity reveals
Read MorePublished: 30 October 2025 The second study on productivity, commissioned by the European Employers’ Institute (EEI) and conducted by Rexecode (France) offers a detailed country- and sector-level analysis of the EU–US productivity gap over the 1995–2019 period. The findings show that the core EU economies – Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands – […]
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EEI study digs deep into why the EU’s labour productivity lags behind the US
Read MorePublished: 15 September 2025 The overall economy-wide hourly labour productivity in the EU has grown by an average of 1% per year over the past 25 years, compared to 1,8% in the US. An independent study commissioned by the European Employers’ Institute (EEI), and led by the research institute Rexecode, identifies 11 key factors behind […]
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Understanding the EU-US labour productivity gap #1 – The broad perspective
Read MorePublished: 15 September 2025 (Revised version: 26 November 2025) Author: Olivier Redoulès, Economist and director of studies at Rexecode, Paris The current economic landscape is marked by significant concerns regarding Europe’s economic performance. Recent influential reports, notably the Draghi Report and the Letta Report, both published in 2024, along with other analytical works, highlight a […]
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Can the EU restrict subcontracting? A legal perspective
Read MorePublished: 9 September 2025 Can subcontracting practices be restricted? Author: Erik Sinander, Associate Professor at Stockholm University This legal study examines recent proposed restrictions to subcontracting in EU labour law. In the legal debate, it has, for example, been proposed that subcontracting should be limited to a certain number of tiers and that some sort […]
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EEI legal study explores risks of restricting subcontracting and its impact on business freedom in the EU
Read MorePublished: 3 September 2025 A new independent legal study, commissioned by the European Employers’ Institute (EEI) and led by the Associate Professor at Stockholm University, Erik Sinander, looks into the legal implications of restricting subcontracting following the call of the European Parliament “to introduce an EU general legal framework limiting subcontracting and ensuring joint and […]