No. 2

Jalava, Jukka , Growth and Productivity in the Finnish Trade Industry, 1975-2003: A National Comparative Perspective (January 2005)

We analyse the growth and productivity in trade in comparison with the rest of the Finnish economy. Economic growth shifted into a faster gear in the post-1995 era compared to earlier periods. Aggregate labour productivity change slowed down due to lacking contributions from capital deepening but aggregate multi-factor productivity growth stayed level. For the trade industries the post-recession period looked good. Trade joined the growth clubs in value added, labour productivity and multi-factor productivity. Unit labour cost growth was moderate and profits were high. However, vis-à-vis the level of labour productivity only wholesale trade was above the national average. Overall, the post-1995 productivity change was more concentrated than before as fewer industries than previously contributed to aggregate productivity growth.