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Michael C. Burda

Humboldt University Berlin, and IZA, Germany

The World of Labor is an important bridge between those pursuing new and exciting open research questions and those who need insights on these issues for economic policy

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Professor of Economics, School of Business and Economics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany

Research interest

Labor economics, Macroeconomics, economics of European integration

Website

https://www.wiwi.hu-berlin.de/de/professuren/vwl/wtm2/mitarbeiter/burda

Positions/functions as a policy advisor

Informal consultant to Danish, Finnish, Swedish, and US embassies

Past positions

Visiting Professor of Economics, European School of Management and Technology (ESMT), Berlin, Germany; Associate Professor of Economics, INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France

Qualifications

PhD Economics, Harvard University, 1987

Selected publications

  • “Total factor productivity convergence in German states since reunification: Evidence and explanations.” Journal of Comparative Economics 46:1 (2018): 192–211 (with B. Severgnini)

  • "Solow residuals without capital stocks." Journal of Development Economics 109 (2014): 154–171 (with B. Severgnini).

  • “Payroll taxes, social insurance and business cycles.” Journal of the European Economic Association 14:2 (2016): 438–467 (with M. Weder).

  • "Total work and gender: Facts and possible explanations." Journal of Population Economics 26:1 (2013): 239–261 (with D. Hamermesh and P. Weil).

  • Macroeconomics: A European Text (Seventh Edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017 (with C. Wyplosz).

article(s)

  • Aggregate labor productivity

    Labor productivity is generally seen as bringing wealth and prosperity; but how does it vary over the business cycle?

    Michael C. Burda, April 2018
    Aggregate labor productivity is a central indicator of an economy’s economic development and a wellspring of living standards. Somewhat controversially, many macroeconomists see productivity as a primary driver of fluctuations in economic activity along the business cycle. In some countries, the cyclical behavior of labor productivity seems to have changed. In the past 20–30 years, the US has become markedly less procyclical, while the rest of the OECD has not changed or productivity has become even more procyclical. Finding a cogent and coherent explanation of these developments is challenging.
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