Influence of population ageing on macroeconomic productivity

Abstract

Labour force of all European countries is ageing and this natural demographic process has its own consequences on economic output and productivity. This issue has been widely discussed in Western countries for several years, but a deep economic and social discussion is still absent in the Czech Republic. The paper studies the impact of ageing on the level of income of workers stratified by age, level of education or industry. The most challenging issue is the decomposition of growth into a general increase in productivity, the effect specific to a particular industry, and the effect of demographic ageing. All these effects have affected the development of Czech labour force in the last decade. The data for the analysis are sourced from the Labour Force Survey and Average Earnings Information System maintained by the Czech Statistical Office and are combined with national accounts figures. Specifics of the Labour Force Survey are taken into account, and data are transformed to be consistent with the methodology of contemporary macroeconomic indicators.