Understanding Productivity: A Review of Recent Technical Research Staff Discussion Paper 2008-3 Richard Dion, Robert Fay The authors provide an extensive review of the rapidly expanding research on productivity, both at the macro and micro levels. They focus primarily on papers written about Canada, but also draw on selected studies from other countries, especially the United States, where such work sheds important light on particular aspects of productivity growth. The authors […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Productivity JEL Code(s): D, D2, D24, O, O3, O31, O4, O40, O47
What Affects MFP in the Long-Run? Evidence from Canadian Industries Staff Working Paper 2008-4 Danny Leung, Yi Zheng In this paper we explore variables that may have an impact on multifactor productivity (MFP) in the long-run using the KLEMS database for Canada. We estimate a dynamic heterogeneous panel error-correction model of twelve 2-digit level industries. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Productivity JEL Code(s): C, C2, C23, D, D2, D24, O, O3, O30
Tracking Canadian Trend Productivity: A Dynamic Factor Model with Markov Switching Staff Discussion Paper 2007-12 Michael Dolega The author attempts to track Canadian labour productivity over the past four decades using a multivariate dynamic factor model that, in addition to the labour productivity series, includes aggregate compensation and consumption information. Productivity is assumed to switch between two regimes (the high-growth state and the low-growth state) with different trend growth rates according to […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Productivity JEL Code(s): C, C3, C32, O, O4, O5, O51
June 15, 2007 Interpreting Canada's Productivity Performance in the Past Decade: Lessons from Recent Research Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2007 Richard Dion Dion examines the evolution of Canadian productivity since the mid-1990s, using the United States as a benchmark. During this period, trend productivity growth in Canada remained modest, whereas the U.S. witnessed a strong resurgence. Among the factors identified as potential root causes of Canada's lower productivity performance are a lower investment in information and communications technology, reallocation and adjustment costs associated with large relative price movements, and a weak demand for innovation. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Productivity, Recent economic and financial developments
Firms Dynamics, Bankruptcy Laws and Total Factor Productivity Staff Working Paper 2007-17 Hajime Tomura This paper analyzes endogenous fluctuations in total factor productivity (TFP) in a dynamic general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents, and illustrates the interaction of credit market frictions, asset prices, the entry and exit of firms, and fluctuations in TFP in response to firm-level productivity and aggregate credit-market shocks. I also analyze the effect of bankruptcy and foreclosure laws on fluctuations in TFP through their effect on credit market frictions. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial stability, Productivity JEL Code(s): D, D2, D24, E, E4, E44, G, G3, G33
Exporting and FDI with Endogenous Productivity Staff Working Paper 2007-14 Oana Secrieru, Marianne Vigneault This paper provides an analysis of how a firm’s decision to serve a foreign market by exporting or by engaging in foreign direct investment (FDI) affects firm productivity, when productivity is endogeneous as a function of training. The main result of our paper is that, with endogeneous productivity, exporting results in lower productivity than does FDI, but exporting may result in higher or lower employment and output than does FDI. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): International topics, Labour markets, Productivity JEL Code(s): F, F2, F22, F23
Schooling, Inequality and Government Policy Staff Working Paper 2007-12 Oleksiy Kryvtsov, Alexander Ueberfeldt This paper asks: What is the effect of government policy on output and inequality in an environment with education and labor-supply decisions? The answer is given in a general equilibrium model, consistent with the post 1960s facts on male wage inequality and labor supply in the U.S. In the model, education and labor-supply decisions depend on progressive income taxation, the education system, the social security system, and technology-driven wage differentials. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Labour markets, Potential output, Productivity JEL Code(s): H, H5, H52, J, J3, J31, J38
December 8, 2006 Perspectives on Productivity and Potential Output Growth: A Summary of the Joint Banque de France/Bank of Canada Workshop, 24–25 April 2006 Bank of Canada Review - Winter 2006-2007 Gilbert Cette, Donald Coletti A nation's productivity is the prime determinant of its real incomes and standard of living, as well as being a major determinant of its potential output. In the short run, deviations of actual output from potential output are a useful indicator of inflationary pressures. This article is a short summary of the proceedings of the workshop, which focus on productivity and potential output growth among industrialized countries. The research is organized under three main themes: estimating potential growth; productivity and growth; and institutions, policies, and growth. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): International topics, Potential output, Productivity
Working Time over the 20th Century Staff Working Paper 2006-18 Alexander Ueberfeldt From 1870 to 2000, the workweek length of employed persons decreased by 41 per cent in industrialized countries. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Labour markets, Productivity JEL Code(s): E, E1, E13, E2, E24, O, O1, O11
Do Exchange Rates Affect the Capital-Labour Ratio? Panel Evidence from Canadian Manufacturing Industries Staff Working Paper 2005-12 Danny Leung, Terence Yuen Using industry-level data for Canadian manufacturing industries from 1981 to 1997, the authors find empirical evidence of a negative relationship between the capital-labour ratio and the user cost of capital relative to the price of labour. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rates, Productivity JEL Code(s): F, F4