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Productivity Measurement: Racing to Keep Up

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  • Daniel E. Sichel

Abstract

This paper provides a non-technical review of the literature and issues related to the measurement of aggregate productivity. I begin with a discussion of productivity measures, their performance in recent decades, and key measurement puzzles that emerge from the data. The remainder of the review focuses on two important questions. First, how do we make more accurate the measures of prices used to deflate nominal output so as to win (or at least not lose) the race for economic measurement to keep up with a changing economy? This section frames the issues and points to the most important and promising areas for further research. Second, what does or should GDP measure? I defend GDP as a valuable measure of production and offer suggestions for improving it. At the same time, I emphasize the importance of measuring economic welfare (well being) and highlight the value of supplementing GDP with a satellite account that measures economic welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel E. Sichel, 2019. "Productivity Measurement: Racing to Keep Up," NBER Working Papers 25558, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25558
    Note: DAE EFG PR
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    Cited by:

    1. Nicholas Crafts & Pieter Woltjer, 2021. "Growth Accounting In Economic History: Findings, Lessons And New Directions," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 670-696, July.
    2. Sensier, Marianne & Devine, Fiona, 2020. "Understanding Regional Economic Performance And Resilience In The Uk: Trends Since The Global Financial Crisis," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 253, pages 18-28, August.
    3. Carol Corrado & Jonathan Haskel & Javier Miranda & Daniel Sichel, 2020. "Introduction to "Measuring and Accounting for Innovation in the Twenty-First Century"," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring and Accounting for Innovation in the Twenty-First Century, pages 1-15, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Marianne Sensier & Fiona Devine, 2020. "Levelling up Regional Resilience Following the Coronavirus Pandemic," Economics Discussion Paper Series 2008, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    5. Xiaoyang Zhu, 2023. "Financial development and declining market dynamics: Another dark side of “too much finance”?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(1), pages 275-309, July.
    6. Diewert, Erwin & Fox, Kevin J., 2019. "Productivity Indexes and National Statistics: Theory, Methods and Challenges," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2019-8, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 25 Apr 2019.
    7. Ajayi, V. & Pollitt, M .G., 2022. "Green growth and net zero policy in the UK: some conceptual and measurement issues," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2255, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    8. Brad R. Humphreys & Scott Schuh & Corey J.M. Williams, "undated". "Learning by Doing, Productivity, and Growth: New Evidence on the Link between Micro and Macro Data," Working Papers 24-02, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation

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