EMPLOYMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY IN INDUSTRIALIZED ECONOMIES

The authors analyse the disappearance of the positive relationship bet ween productivity and employment growth rates in industrialized econom ies since the 1970s and argue that it was caused not by exogenous shoc ks but by factors endogenous to the development process. They then go on to consider the conditions necessary for restoring a high rate of g rowth of productive employment in place of the current dependence on l ow productivity sectors for employment creation. They highlight the im portant role of product innovation and the application of ICT and new work systems in this connection.