In this NERI Research InBrief No. 89, NERI Co-director, Paul Mac Flynn looks at how transitioning to high value sectors can contribute to building more productive economies on the island of Ireland.
One of the key policy considerations in building a more productive economy is how economic activity and employment are allocated to certain industries and sectors. This is because certain sectors produce less or more with the same inputs either by design or by choice. Economies that are overrepresented in certain low value sectors, will be less productive overall irrespective of the performance of individual firms. In many case jobs in these sectors can be low paid, insecure and with little or no career progression. In many cases the allocation of resources among sectors is not organic or random, but an outcome of policy decisions. We need to address these polices in the light of these outcomes and the trade-offs inherent within them.