Falling productivity gains in the euro zone: Confusion between real and nominal corporate growth?
There are several possible explanations for the fall in productivity in the euro zone: the rise in the unskilled employment rate, recruitment difficulties that are forcing companies to forego redundancies, labour force ageing, and insufficient new technology investment and R&D spending. There may be yet another reason for the decline in productivity: the effect of inflation on corporate targets. If, since inflation has been high, companies have kept their nominal revenue or profitability targets unchanged, these targets are easier to achieve thanks to inflation, which reduces work effort and productivity.