Productivity in services: analysing the crises of the 21st century in the EU

The aim of this paper is to analyse labour productivity in the servicessector in the two crises of the 21st century in EU countries. To do so, firstly, atypology of the branches that make up the tertiary sector is established, andsecondly, shift-share analysis is used to explain the factors that justifyproductivity growth. The periods analysed are 2007–2014, corresponding to theGreat Recession, and 2019–2021, for the crisis resulting from the COVID-19pandemic. The results obtained show a strong decline in the second crisis in theactivities most affected by the restrictive measures imposed in the pandemicand a confirmation of the traditional hypothesis of reallocation of employmentfrom the less productive sectors to the more productive ones, although thispattern is not unanimous in all activities or in all the countries studied.