Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Intangibles, Knowledge-Intensive Services and Labour Productivity Growth

Simon, Daniel LU (2026) EKHS21 20261
Department of Economic History
Abstract
This thesis examines the coexistence of continued structural change toward more knowledge- and intangible-intensive economic activity with the simultaneous slowdown in labour productivity growth across advanced European economies since the early 2000s. Using Sweden and four comparable European economies over 1995-2021, the thesis investigates three sectoral mechanisms linking the knowledge-economy transition to labour productivity growth, namely within-sector intangible deepening, structural reallocation toward knowledge-intensive services, and the timing of intangible investment effects. Using the EU KLEMS and INTANProd 2025 database, the analysis combines growth-accounting decomposition, shift-share analysis and panel regression methods.... (More)
This thesis examines the coexistence of continued structural change toward more knowledge- and intangible-intensive economic activity with the simultaneous slowdown in labour productivity growth across advanced European economies since the early 2000s. Using Sweden and four comparable European economies over 1995-2021, the thesis investigates three sectoral mechanisms linking the knowledge-economy transition to labour productivity growth, namely within-sector intangible deepening, structural reallocation toward knowledge-intensive services, and the timing of intangible investment effects. Using the EU KLEMS and INTANProd 2025 database, the analysis combines growth-accounting decomposition, shift-share analysis and panel regression methods. The findings show that all three mechanisms are identifiable and largely operate in the predicted direction, but unevenly and at magnitudes insufficient to generate correspondingly strong aggregate productivity growth. The findings, therefore, refine rather than reject the knowledge-economy narrative, pointing toward a conditional reading in which structural depth supports productivity growth without being equivalent to it, and shifting emphasis from the presence of knowledge-economy assets toward their productivity consequences. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Simon, Daniel LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
A Sectoral Analysis of Sweden and Comparable European Economies, 1995-2021
course
EKHS21 20261
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Labour productivity, Intangible assets, Knowledge-intensive services, Structural change, Growth accounting, Shift-share analysis, Fixed-effects panel regression, EU KLEMS, INTANProd
language
English
id
9243120
date added to LUP
2026-09-07 13:22:31
date last changed
2026-09-07 13:22:31
@misc{9243120,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examines the coexistence of continued structural change toward more knowledge- and intangible-intensive economic activity with the simultaneous slowdown in labour productivity growth across advanced European economies since the early 2000s. Using Sweden and four comparable European economies over 1995-2021, the thesis investigates three sectoral mechanisms linking the knowledge-economy transition to labour productivity growth, namely within-sector intangible deepening, structural reallocation toward knowledge-intensive services, and the timing of intangible investment effects. Using the EU KLEMS and INTANProd 2025 database, the analysis combines growth-accounting decomposition, shift-share analysis and panel regression methods. The findings show that all three mechanisms are identifiable and largely operate in the predicted direction, but unevenly and at magnitudes insufficient to generate correspondingly strong aggregate productivity growth. The findings, therefore, refine rather than reject the knowledge-economy narrative, pointing toward a conditional reading in which structural depth supports productivity growth without being equivalent to it, and shifting emphasis from the presence of knowledge-economy assets toward their productivity consequences.}},
  author       = {{Simon, Daniel}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Intangibles, Knowledge-Intensive Services and Labour Productivity Growth}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}