
Felix RothHamburg University | UHH · Department of Economics
Felix Roth
PhD
Felix Roth is a Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Economics at the University of Hamburg.
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100
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Introduction
Since 2023, Felix Roth is a Senior Lecturer & Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Economics at the University of Hamburg (UHH). There he successfully completed his habilitation in economics on the topic of “Intangible Capital and Labour Productivity Growth and Determinants of Public Support for the Euro“ in June 2020.
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Publications
Publications (100)
The European Union (EU) faces challenges such as an ageing population, migratory pressures, geopolitical vulnerabilities, and climate change, highlighting the need to enhance its ability to do more with less. This paper examines the drivers of EU labour productivity before and after the 2007 financial crisis, across goods and services sectors, tang...
The European Union (EU) faces challenges such as an ageing population, migratory pressures, geopolitical vulnerabilities, and climate change, highlighting the need to enhance its ability to do more with less. This paper examines the drivers of EU labour productivity before and after the 2007 financial crisis, across goods and services sectors, tang...
In this article, we highlight important differences in capital investment and capital stock in intangible assets between France and Germany, which we attribute to potential measurement issues between the two countries. Using data from the latest EUKLEMS/INTANProd release for the period between 1995 and 2020, we identify investment in software and d...
This paper analyzes the intertemporal variation of trust on economic growth. Constructing a unique global country panel dataset and applying a system-generalized method of moments (SYSGMM) estimation approach to a sample of 75 global economies over a 40-year time span (1980-2019), this paper finds evidence of a curvilinear (inverted U-shape) relati...
This paper starts with brief introductory remarks, providing the underpinning of the academic argument and a summary statement of its main findings. It then elaborates on the evolution of existing cryptocurrencies' market capitalization from 2009 until 2022. Third, the paper investigates the economic nature of cryptocurrencies and discusses whether...
Using a unique international database on generalized trust covering 142 countries across the world for the 41-year time period from 1980 to 2020, this paper finds strong evidence that generalized trust at the country level is not stable over time.
In fact, the paper finds a pronounced intertemporal variation of generalized trust over time in many c...
The COVID-19 pandemic had disastrous effects on health and economic activity worldwide, including in the Euro Area. The application of mandatory lockdowns contributed to a sharp fall in production and a rise in unemployment, inducing an expansionary fiscal and monetary response. Using a uniquely large macro database, this paper examines the effects...
Using an econometric cross-country sectoral growth accounting approach, this chapter evaluates the effect of intangible capital on labor productivity growth. The results show that intangible capital deepening accounts for around 40 percent of labor productivity growth at both the aggregate and sectoral levels. The chapter also discovers that this p...
This paper analyses the impact of intangibles on firm-level productivity. Unlike previous studies we capture all dimensions of intangibles for both goods-producing and service industries. Based on data from the German part of the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) for the period 2006 to 2018, our results show that intangible capital investment is eq...
The COVID-19 pandemic had disastrous effects on health and economic activity worldwide, including in the Euro Area. The application of mandatory lockdowns contributed to a sharp fall
in production and a rise in unemployment, inducing an expansionary fiscal and monetary response. Using a uniquely large macro database, this paper examines the effect...
This contribution analyzes the impact of intangible capital on labor productivity growth across countries at the aggregate and sectoral levels by employing an econometric growth-accounting approach. First, our results show that intangible capital deepening accounts for around 50 percent of labor productivity growth at both the aggregate and sectora...
This paper analyses the relationship between the rule of law (RoL) and intangible capital
investment by businesses within a sample of 16 European countries, over the period from 1996 to 2017. Studies on the effects of RoL on intangible capital investment are scarce, hence, the relevance of empirical research in this area. When controlling for endo...
The Eurozone crisis has meant slow growth, rising unemployment and social unrest. This contribution gauges the impact of these negative developments on European citizens’ opinion about the euro and the EU institutions. Using Eurobarometer surveys, the authors find that, within the Eurozone, the crisis has only marginally lowered support for the eur...
This contribution revisits the empirical evidence of a decline in citizens’ systemic trust in times of crisis for a 12-country sample of the euro area (EA12) from 1999 to 2014. The findings affirm a pronounced decline in trust in the periphery countries of the EA12, leading to particularly low levels in the national government and parliament in Spa...
This contribution examines the impact of the first four years, 2008–2012, of the financial and economic crisis on trust in national and European institutions in the EU15 and EU27. It documents a pronounced decline in trust on the part of the public in the periphery countries of the eurozone, namely Spain, Ireland, Portugal, and Greece, and identifi...
The financial crisis has affected trust in national and European governmental institutions in different ways. This contribution analyses the determinants of trust in the national and European institutions over the last decade and comes to the conclusion that inflation reduces citizens’ trust only when the economy runs smoothly. In times of crisis,...
This contribution examines the evolution of public support for the euro since its introduction as a virtual currency in 1999, using a unique set of data not available for any other currency. We focus on the role of economic factors in determining the popularity of the euro. We find that a majority of citizens support the euro in each individual mem...
This contribution explores the evolution and determinants of public support for the euro since its creation in 1999 until the end of 2017, thereby covering the pre-crisis experience of the euro, the crisis years and the recent recovery. Using uniquely large macro and micro databases and applying up-to-date econometric techniques, the authors revisi...
This contribution analyses the evolution of public support for the single European currency, the euro, from 1990 to 2014 for a 12-country sample of the euro area (EA-12), focusing on the most recent period of the financial and sovereign debt crisis, starting in 2008. We find that citizens’ support for the euro on average was marginally reduced duri...
Throughout the crisis, citizens’ trust in the European Central Bank has significantly declined throughout the Euro Area (EA-12). Although a decline in the core countries of the EA-12 has been distinct, a more pronounced decline has been taking place in the peripheral countries of the EA-12. Taking panel data and using a fixed effects DFGLS estimati...
The euro as a common currency has recently been the subject of harsh criticism by economists from both sides of the Atlantic, including claims that citizens in some Eurozone countries are turning against it. This contribution argues that, in fact, the euro currently enjoys comfortable popular support in each of the 12 original member states of the...
Policymakers throughout Europe were faced with the challenge of re-establishing trust, and especially systemic or institutional trust that has been lost in the wake of the 2008/2009 financial crisis. This contribution looks at empirical evidence concerning the reaction to the financial crisis in terms of citizens’ diminished levels of systemic trus...
This paper analyses the evolution of public support for the euro from 1990 to 2011, using a popularity function approach, focusing on the most recent period of the financial and sovereign debt crisis. Exploring a huge database of close to half a million observations, covering the 12 original euro area member countries, we find that the ongoing cris...
Purpose—This contribution aims to revisit the relationship between intangible capital and labor productivity growth using the largest, up-to-date macro database (2000–2015) available to corroborate the econometric findings of earlier work and to generate novel econometric evidence by accounting for times of crisis (2008–2013) and economic recovery...
This contribution analyses the relationship between the rule of law and labor productivity growth by businesses within an EU country sample over the period 1998–2005. It finds that the rule of law affects labor productivity growth (LPG) by businesses within the EU via two distinct channels. First, the rule of law positively affects labor productivi...
Analyzing the sectoral variance in growth rates of total factor productivity in a European country sample from 1996 to 2006, this contribution detects no significant relationship between organizational trust and TFP growth. Yet, the relationship between fear of job loss and TFP growth seems to be significantly associated, in an inverted U-shaped re...
This contribution critically assesses the productivity puzzle and gives an outlook on the COVID-19 crisis. It offers two main conclusions. First, it posits that a large fraction of the productivity puzzle can be solved by incorporating intangible capital into the asset boundary of the national accounts. Thus, the productivity puzzle is largely expl...
This contribution revisits the existing research in the field of social capital, trust, and economic growth, with the aim of elaborating a possible extension of the neo-classical model by incorporating social capital into its assumptions. It describes the state of the art and definition of social capital and interpersonal trust and discusses the po...
This contribution examines the relationship between trust and economic growth. Taking panel data and using a fixed-effects estimation for a 41-country sample over the time period from1980 to 2004 and with a total of 129 observations, tis points out that economic growth is negatively related to an increase in trust. This negative finding is in contr...
This contribution is drawn from the discussions of a forum that examined the strategies adopted by the European Commission and the member states for the intensification of innovative activities. It analyses business investment in intangible capital using a new internationally comparable dataset in the EU27 created within the FP7 project INNODRIVE....
Using new international comparable data on intangible capital investment by business within a panel analysis between 1998–2005 in an EU country sample, a positive and significant relationship between intangible capital investment and labor productivity growth is detected. This relationship proves to be robust to a range of alterations. The empirica...
The GLOBALINTO project takes its inspiration from the Finnish word for enthusiasm, namely "into". The project aims to develop and refine measures of intangibles at the micro (firm), meso (sectoral) and macro (economy) levels and to use these measures to analyze the causes of the productivity slowdown in Europe and how its productivity growth can be...
This contribution analyzes the impact of intangible capital on labor productivity growth across countries at the aggregate and sectoral levels by employing an econometric growth-accounting approach. First, our results show that intangible capital deepening accounts for around 40 percent of labor productivity growth at both the aggregate and sectora...
Der folgende Beitrag beginnt mit einem Überblick über ein von Roth und Thum im Jahr 2013 entwickeltes Modell für das Wachstum der Arbeitsproduktivität, welches um immaterielles Kapital erweitert worden ist. Im Anschluss daran werden die Trends beim Wachstum der Arbeitsproduktivität von 1950 bis 2006 untersucht. Im dritten Teil wird auf den ausgeprä...
This paper analyses the impact of intangible capital on firm-level productivity for Germany using panel data from the Community Innovation Survey for the time period 2006 to 2018. Our paper presents three novel results. First, we find a highly significant positive relationship between intangible capital and firm-level productivity with elasticities...
This paper assesses the productivity puzzle critically and gives an outlook on the COVID-19 crisis. It offers two main conclusions. First, it posits that a large fraction of the productivity puzzle can be solved by incorporating intangible capital into the asset boundary of the national accounts. Thus, the productivity puzzle is largely explained a...
Austria, Finland and Sweden became members of the EU in 1995. This paper examines how support for the euro and trust in the European Central Bank (ECB) have evolved in these three countries since their introduction at the turn of the century. Support for the euro in the two euroarea members Austria and Finland has remained high and relatively stabl...
This article analyses the evolution of public support for the single European currency, the euro, from 1990 to 2014 for a 12-country sample of the euro area (EA-12), focusing on the most recent period of the financial and sovereign debt crisis, starting in 2008. We find that citizens’ support for the euro on average was marginally reduced during th...
Organisation capital is one of the key intangible assets of firms, driving innovation and firm performance. Measuring this asset has been notoriously difficult, however. Differently to other intangible assets, firms do not build up organisation capital primarily by monetary investment but rather through establishing new organisational routines and...
Purpose: This paper aims to revisit the relationship between intangible capital and labour productivity growth using the largest, up-to-date macro database (2000–2015) available to corroborate the econometric findings of earlier work and to generate novel econometric evidence by accounting for times of crisis (2008–2013) and economic recovery (2014...
The purpose of this chapter is to examine how the European public has viewed the euro throughout its first two decades. We also examine how trust in the ECB and in national governments has evolved among the EU member states within the euro area (EA) and those outside. We stress that we are looking at support for the euro and its governance from the...
This paper analyzes the contribution of intangible inputs and participation in global value chains (GVCs) to the productivity performance of an EU-28 country sample over the time frame 20002014. Utilizing new data from the GLOBALINTO Input-Output Intangibles database, this paper finds a positive relationship between a country’s intangible inputs an...
The long-term sustainability of the euro depends heavily on its ability to attract widespread public support. This is one of the main conclusions I and my co-authors reach in our most recent academic work "Revisiting Public Support for the Euro, 1999–2017: Accounting for the Crisis and the Recovery", which draws its evidence from a uniquely large E...
This paper surveys a wide range of studies on the impact of capital investment in intangible assets on labour productivity growth and highlights their main findings on. Surveying the literature at the country, industry and firm level, this paper finds evidence of the increasing importance of business investment in intangible assets in explaining th...
This article explores the evolution and determinants of public support for the euro since its creation in 1999 until the end of 2017, thereby covering the pre‐crisis experience of the euro, the crisis years and the recent recovery. Using uniquely large macro and micro databases and applying up‐to‐date econometric techniques, the authors revisit the...
This paper examines the evolution of public support for the euro since its introduction as a virtual currency in 1999, using a unique set of data not available for any other currency. We focus on the role of economic factors in determining the popularity of the euro. We find that a majority of citizens support the euro in each individual member cou...
This paper explores the evolution and determinants of public support for the euro since its creation in 1999 until the end of 2017, thereby covering the pre-crisis experience of the euro, the crisis years and the recent recovery. Using uniquely large macro and micro databases and applying up-to-date econometric techniques, this paper revisits the g...
The euro as a common currency has recently been the subject of harsh criticism by economists from both sides of the Atlantic, including claims that citizens in some Eurozone countries are turning against it. This column argues that, in fact, the euro currently enjoys comfortable popular support in each of the 12 original member states of the Eurozo...
These lecture notes revisit the existent empirical evidence of a decline in citizens’ systemic trust in times of crisis for a 12-country sample of the euro area (EA12) from 1999 to 2014. They affirm a pronounced
decline in trust in the periphery countries of the EA12, leading to particular low levels in the national
government and parliament in S...
This article analyses the evolution of public support for the single European currency, the euro, from 1990 to 2014 for a 12-country sample of the euro area (EA-12), focusing on the most recent period of the financial and sovereign debt crisis, starting in 2008. We find that citizens' support for the euro on average was marginally reduced during th...
Throughout the crisis, citizens' trust in the European Central Bank has significantly declined throughout the Euro area (EA-12). Although a decline in the core countries of the EA-12 has been distinct, a more pronounced decline has been taking place in the peripheral countries of the EA-12. Taking panel data and using a fixed effects DFGLS estimati...
Throughout the crisis, citizens’ trust in the European Central Bank has significantly declined throughout the Euro area (EA-12). Although a decline in the core countries of the EA-12 has been distinct, a more pronounced decline has been taking place in the peripheral countries of the EA-12. Taking panel data and using a fixed effects DFGLS estimati...
Using new international comparable data on intangible capital investment by business within a panel analysis between 1998 and 2005 in an EU country sample, a positive and significant relationship between intangible capital investment and labor productivity growth is detected. This relationship proves to be robust to a range of alterations. The empi...
This paper analyses the effects of the crisis on trust in national and European Union institutions within an EU27 country sample from 1999 to 2012. The paper finds that the overall negative trends in trust throughout the crisis are driven by countries from the eurozone (EA12). However, whereas the crisis triggered only moderate declines of trust wi...
Unsere Analyse auf Grundlage von Eurobarometerdaten (mit über 500,000 Befragten) ergibt, dass die Unterstützung des Euro in der Bevölkerung der Eurozone in Zeiten der Krise nicht nennenswert gesunken ist. So befürwortet unter anderem die deutsche Bevölkerung den Euro mit einer großen Mehrheit.
In the aftermath of the financial crisis trust, in the European Central Bank (ECB) has reached an historical low. Taking panel data and using a fixed effects DFGLS estimation for a 12–country sample over the time period 1999 to 2011 with a total of 312 observations, this paper detects a structural break in citizens’ trust in the ECB. The paper conf...
This paper analyses the evolution of public support for the single European currency, the euro, from 1990 to 2011, focusing on the most recent period of financial and sovereign debt crisis. Exploring a huge database of more than half a million observations covering the 12 original euro area member countries, we find that the ongoing crisis has only...
Launched in March 2010 by the European Commission, the Europe 2020 strategy aims at achieving “smart, sustainable and inclusive” growth. This growth is intended to be driven by three sets of engines: knowledge and innovation, a greener and more efficient use of resources and higher employment combined with social and territorial cohesion. This CEPS...
This paper analyses the evolution of public support for the euro from 1990 to 2011, using a popularity function approach, focusing on the most recent period of the financial and sovereign debt crisis. Exploring a huge database of close to half a million observations covering the 12 original euro area member countries, we find that the ongoing crisi...
The financial crisis has affected trust in national and European governmental institutions in different ways. This paper analyses the determinants of trust in the national and European institutions over the last decade and comes to the conclusion that inflation reduces citizens' trust only when the economy runs smoothly. In times of crisis, citizen...
This paper analyses public support for the euro in Germany. Drawing from the results of regular Eurobarometer surveys, it finds that the ongoing financial and sovereign debt crisis has reduced support for the euro among German citizens, but not dramatically so – at least not yet. In the 1990s, the German public was sceptical towards the euro. But s...
The EU 2020 Agenda has taken an important step forward by setting the target for tertiary graduation rates at an ambitious 40%. This paper finds that many European countries, however, including the largest economy – Germany – will not be able to meet this target. Moreover, the crucial topic of educational quality is not even touched upon. Comparing...
This paper analyses whether the financial crisis has affected citizens’ confidence in the free market economy and whether it has triggered citizens’ demand for a free market economy with stronger state regulations. Using panel data, the paper confirms that citizens’ confidence levels in the free market economy have decreased in most of the largest...
Using new international comparable data on intangible capital investment by business within a panel analysis from 1995-2005 in an EU-15 country sample, this paper finds a positive and significant relationship between intangible capital investment by business and labour productivity growth. This relationship is cross-sectional in nature and proves t...
Trust in the European Central Bank, as measured by the standard Eurobarometer (and other) surveys has fallen to an unprecedented low – especially in the larger euro area countries. The authors find that up to the start of the financial crisis in 2008, trust in the ECB was little affected by business cycle variables such as growth and inflation. Thi...
The European Commission’s 2020 strategy has put forward five EU targets for the year 2020 focusing on i) employment, ii) research and innovation, iii) climate change and energy, iv) education and v) poverty reduction. The following contribution focuses on the target of research and innovation and will be structured as follows. First, the EU-2020 tar...
Citing evidence that the levels of net trust in the national parliaments have dropped to -50% in three of the four troubled periphery eurozone countries (Ireland, Spain and Greece), this Commentary warns that the European and national policy-makers’ strategy of the three no’s – no bail-out, no default and no exit –appears to threaten political stab...
This study attempts to assess the extent to which the financial crisis has damaged citizens’ trust in public institutions, especially the confidence that European citizens invest in the European institutions. The results of major public opinion surveys show a severe decrease in citizens’ trust in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis with...
Policymakers throughout Europe are faced with the challenge of re-establishing trust, and especially systemic or institutional
trust, that has been lost in the wake of the financial crisis. This paper looks at recent empirical evidence concerning the
reaction to the crisis in terms of citizens’ diminished levels of systemic trust. Special attention...
This paper examines the relationship between trust and economic growth. Taking panel data and using a fixed-effects estimation for a 41-country sample over the time period from 1980 to 2004 and with a total of 129 observations, the paper points out that economic growth is negatively related to an increase in trust. This negative finding is in contr...
The financial crisis had a significant impact on the levels of trust that citizens place in the system and its institutions. Recent data from Eurobarometer show a significant fall in confidence on the part of European citizens in the EU’s institutions. For the first time since its creation, a majority of European citizens no longer trust the Europe...
This paper points out that education should be the central objective of the post-2010 Lisbon Process. Compared to other OECD countries, the member states of the European Union perform poorly when it comes to key indicators of innovative potential, such as the percentage of students enrolled in tertiary education and the educational quality of Europ...
This paper examines the relationship between trust and economic growth. With the help of panel data I conclude that economic growth is negatively related to an increase in trust. My result is contrary to works taking a cross section design in which trust is positively related to growth. The relationship is tested in the context of EU countries, OEC...
The following paper analyses whether the financial crisis has affected citizens' confidence in the free market economy and whether it has triggered citizens' demand for a free market economy with stronger state regulations. Using panel data, the paper confirms that citizens' confidence levels in the free market economy have decreased in most of the...
The financial crisis had a significant impact on the levels of trust that citizens place in the system and its institutions. Recent data from Eurobarometer show a significant fall in confidence on the part of European citizens in the EU’s institutions. For the first time since its creation, a majority of European citizens no longer trust the Europe...
Despite the constructive role played by central banks in stabilising financial systems throughout the crisis, trust in central banks has declined and the reaction of central banks to the crisis is generally judged as unsatisfactory. In a new Commentary, Daniel Gros and Felix Roth warn that central bankers all over the world must redouble their effo...
This paper points out that education should be the central objective of the post-2010 Lisbon Process. Compared to other OECD countries, the member states of the European Union perform poorly when it comes to key indicators of innovative potential, such as the percentage of students enrolled in tertiary education and the educational quality of Europ...
The EU 2020 Agenda has taken an important step forward by setting the target for tertiary graduation rates at an ambitious 40%. This paper finds that many European countries, however, including the largest economy – Germany – will not be able to meet this target. Moreover, the crucial topic of educational quality is not even touched upon. Comparing...
The financial crisis has differently affected trust in national and European governmental institutions. Our paper analyses the determinants of trust in national and European institutions over the last decade – with particular focus on the 2007-09 period – and comes to the conclusion that citizens’ declining trust in national governments is related...