This paper focuses on the relation between the diffusion of technological and managerial innovations and productivity growth, by means of a literature review on this debate in the recent years. First, the figures that show a vigorous productivity growth in the nineties are presented and compared to those of the seventies and eighties. After that, the arguments of the debate about the consistency of these figures and the methodology used for their calculation are presented. In the following section, the relation between productivity growth and productivity restructuring is discussed, based on the studies which try to assess the extension of the structural changes in the industrial sector and thei-r relation with productivity and unemployment growth. In the conclusions, the main points of the debat e are summed up, emphasizing the need of more consistent research on this subject.