In this article we explore the factors contributing to reduce the distance of laggard firms to the European frontier, focusing on institutional factors. To characterize Total Factor Productivity frontier firms within industries for the European Union we use firm level data from AMADEUS for the period 2003–2014. Our findings provide evidence on the importance of governance quality and easiness in getting credit in explaining the distance of laggard firms to the European productivity frontier. We also find that other factors at the country level -tertiary education, R&D stock, and trade openness- and at the firm level -size, age, and capital-intensity- influence the distance of laggards to the frontier. In addition, we examine the role of the Great Recession in moderating the contribution of all these factors to reduce firms’ distance to the European productivity frontier.

在本文中，我们探讨了有助于缩小落后企业与欧洲前沿的距离的因素，重点关注制度因素。为了描述欧盟行业内全要素生产率前沿公司的特征，我们使用了来自 AMADEUS 的 2003-2014 年期间的公司级别数据。我们的研究结果证明了治理质量和容易获得信用在解释落后企业与欧洲生产力前沿的距离方面的重要性。我们还发现，国家层面的其他因素——高等教育、研发存量和贸易开放——以及企业层面的——规模、年龄和资本密集度——影响落后者与前沿的距离。此外，