Revisiting recent productivity developments across OECD countries
By: by Les Skoczylas and Bruno Tissot.
Contributors: Tissot, Bruno.; Bank for International Settlements. Monetary and Economic Dept.
Series: BIS working papers,; no. 182; BIS working papers (Online) ;; no. 182.
Publisher: Bank for International Settlements
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Basel, Switzerland
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Description: "This paper compares productivity developments across industrial countries based on official OECD data in the business sector. It discusses the uncertainties surrounding the measurement of both productivity levels and productivity growth, and then focuses on changes in productivity growth. The paper analyses labour productivity patterns and trends of total factor productivity (TFP) across countries. The recent performance of the United States clearly stands out. In particular, the level of US labour productivity appears to be the highest among the major industrial countries and has been rising the fastest in the recent past. Despite substantial uncertainties surrounding these international comparisons, there is little doubt that the US performance has improved sharply in relative terms. Productivity has accelerated in the United States but decelerated in most other industrial economies. Indeed, only a few countries have experienced a structural improvement in their productivity performance over recent years. Moreover, rather than just reflecting stronger capital accumulation, the US performance has been associated with a higher rate of technological progress that was maintained during the latest recession. In contrast, the accumulation of capital has been quite strong in most other major industrial economies. This might be a source of concern in some places, given the observed  trend decline in the rate of technical progress."
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Title from PDF file (viewed on Nov. 16, 2005).
"Monetary and Economic Department."
"October 2005."
Also available in print.
System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.