Productivity and economic growth in the European UnionNekrep, Andreja (Avtor) Strašek, Sebastjan (Avtor) Boršič, Darja (Avtor) investment in research and developmentproductivityeconomic growthcorrelationpanel analysisThis paper focuses on investment in research and development as a factor of labour productivity and economic growth. Our analysis confirms the link between expenditure for research and development (expressed in % of GDP) and labour productivity (expressed in the number of hours worked) based on selected data for EU Member States in the period 1995-2013. A causal link between variables of the concave parabola was confirmed, and the value of expenditure for research and development (2.85% of EU GDP) maximising productivity (per hour of work) was determined based on the examined data. In accordance with these findings, EU’s target of reaching 3% of GDP spent on research and development to be achieved by 2020 seems in support of reaching maximum productivity in the EU.20182018-05-03 14:01:39Znanstveno delo70329sl