Investment Trends and Productivity Growth: A Cross-Country Comparison of G-7 Countries

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Abstract

This article examines investment trends and their relationship to productivity growth in G-7 countries for 2000-2010 and 2011-2018. It finds that investment growth — particularly in non-residential capital — has been persistently weak in most G-7 countries since the Great Recession, and that this investment weakness is closely linked to the productivity growth slowdown. Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the U.S. all showed declining or stagnant investment rates in the latter period, though the severity and composition varied. The article discusses demand-side and supply-side explanations.

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