Ten Productivity Puzzles Facing Researchers

Puzzles intrigue and motivate researchers and focus research effort, and the productivity area is fortunate in having many unresolved issues. In the second article, Andrew Sharpe of the Centre for the Study of Living Standards puts forward and briefly discusses what he sees as the ten most important productivity puzzles facing researchers in Canada and in other countries. In terms of the international puzzles, he considers the causes of the post-1973 productivity slowdown that affected virtually all industrial countries the grand daddy. He also identifies the post-2000 productivity growth acceleration in the United States, labour productivity levels in a number of European countries that exceed U.S. levels, and the absence of a post-1995 productivity growth acceleration in Europe as developments that are currently not well understood. In terms of productivity puzzles related to Canada, he identifies the considerable difference in labour productivity growth in the non-business sector between Canada and the United States as a topic meriting investigation. He also sees the Canada-U.S. productivity gap and Canada’s relatively low machinery and equipment capital intensity as puzzles meriting in-depth research.