Along with a more rapid economic growth tension can be observed in the Latvian labour market. Number of economically active population is decreasing because of negative natural increase of the population and emigration, while number of job vacancies is rising and labour shortages become more acute. As a result wages are rising rapidly, and it, in turn causes increase in production costs and negatively affects the competitiveness of domestic firms. Changes in productivity and labour costs from 2011 to 2016 show that the increase in labour costs exceeded productivity growth more than two times in the manufacturing as well in the total economy of Latvia. Convergence of labour costs is inevitable in the conditions of free labour movement (open labour market), thus further economic growth of Latvia will largely depend on its ability to reduce the productivity gap with the advanced economies. The purpose of the research is to evaluate the dynamics of labour productivity in Latvia and its level in comparison with the EU average, as well as to reveal the most important factors limiting productivity increase in Latvia. The tasks of the research is to determine the main factors that influence labour productivity in Latvia in last 10 years, to compare productivity levels in Latvia and other EU country and to evaluate the current policy measures to increase labour productivity in Latvia. Different quantitative and qualitative research methods are used in the analysis, for example analysis of scientific literature and economic policy planning documents, statistical data analysis methods, shift share analysis etc. The results of the research show that productivity growth rate in Latvia was one of the fastest in the EU during the last five years that enhanced productivity convergence with the advanced economies. Raise of the productivity level was mostly influenced by the improved business conjuncture and optimization of the number of employees at the sectoral/firms’ level. Nevertheless, the contribution of structural transformation was insignificant on productivity growth. The main conclusion of research shows, that two mutually interconnected processes determine increase of productivity level. First, they are the entrepreneurs’ choices about competitive advantages on which their business strategies are based, which define the business management and technological decisions (to modernize production or to move resources across sectors, to other region or even other country). Second, it is the ability of the country to ensure the reallocation of the its resources to the most productive firms and sectors, i.e. to promote structural reforms or “technological upgrading”. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.12.21871

中文翻译：

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拉脱维亚的生产力陷阱

在拉脱维亚劳动力市场上，随着经济增长的加快，人们可以看到紧张局势。由于人口和移民的自然消极增长，从事经济活动的人口数量正在减少，而职位空缺的数量却在增加，劳动力短缺更加严重。结果，工资迅速上涨，进而导致生产成本增加，并对国内企业的竞争力产生负面影响。从2011年到2016年，生产率和劳动力成本的变化表明，在拉脱维亚的制造业以及整个经济中，劳动力成本的增长超过生产率增长的两倍以上。在自由劳动力流动（开放劳动力市场）的情况下，劳动力成本的收敛是不可避免的，因此，拉脱维亚的进一步经济增长将在很大程度上取决于其拉低与发达经济体生产力差距的能力。该研究的目的是评估拉脱维亚的劳动生产率动态及其与欧盟平均水平相比的水平，并揭示限制拉脱维亚生产率增长的最重要因素。该研究的任务是确定影响拉脱维亚近十年来劳动生产率的主要因素，比较拉脱维亚和其他欧盟国家的生产率水平，并评估当前提高拉脱维亚劳动生产率的政策措施。分析中使用了不同的定量和定性研究方法，例如科学文献和经济政策计划文件的分析，统计数据分析方法，研究结果表明，拉脱维亚的生产率增长率是过去五年中欧盟中增长最快的国家之一，这促进了与发达经济体的生产率趋同。生产率水平的提高主要受到业务状况改善以及部门/公司级别员工人数优化的影响。然而，结构转型对生产率增长的贡献微不足道。研究的主要结论表明，两个相互联系的过程决定了生产率水平的提高。首先，他们是企业家关于竞争优势的选择，这是他们的业务策略所依据的，定义业务管理和技术决策（实现生产现代化或跨部门，向其他地区甚至其他国家转移资源）。第二，国家有能力确保将其资源重新分配给生产力最高的公司和部门，即促进结构改革或“技术升级”。DOI：http：//dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.12.21871