Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/295628 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
CReAM Discussion Paper Series No. 19/20
Publisher: 
Centre for Research & Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London, London
Abstract: 
This paper leverages spatial and time-series variation in the population age structure of Italian regions to uncover the causal effect of demographic shifts on labour productivity. Such effect is analysed along a 'first-order' channel stemming from the direct relation between an individual's age and productivity, and a 'second-order' channel that captures the productivity implications of a more or less dispersed age distribution. We propose an estimation framework that relates labour productivity to the entire age distribution of the working-age population and employs instrumental variable techniques to address endogeneity issues. The estimates return a hump-shaped age-productivity profile, with a peak between 35 and 40 years, as well as a positive productivity effect associated with a more dispersed age distribution.
Subjects: 
productivity
demography
age distribution
working-age population
long-run
JEL: 
J11
J21
N30
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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