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A New Measure of Utilization-adjusted TFP Growth for Europe and the United States

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  • Diego A. Comin
  • Javier Quintana Gonzalez
  • Tom G. Schmitz
  • Antonella Trigari

Abstract

We compute new estimates for Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth in the United States and in five European countries. Departing from standard methods, we account for positive profits and use firm surveys to proxy for unobserved changes in factor utilization. These novelties have a major impact, especially in Europe, where our estimated TFP growth series are less volatile and less cyclical than the ones obtained with standard methods. Based on our approach, we provide annual industry-level and aggregate TFP series, as well as the first estimates of utilization-adjusted quarterly TFP growth in Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Diego A. Comin & Javier Quintana Gonzalez & Tom G. Schmitz & Antonella Trigari, 2020. "A New Measure of Utilization-adjusted TFP Growth for Europe and the United States," NBER Working Papers 28008, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28008
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    Cited by:

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    2. Dieppe, Alistair & Francis, Neville & Kindberg-Hanlon, Gene, 2021. "Technology and demand drivers of productivity dynamics in developed and emerging market economies," Working Paper Series 2533, European Central Bank.
    3. Henri Keränen & Sakari Lähdemäki, 2020. "Identification of fiscal SVARs in small open economies using trading partner forecast errors as instruments," Working Papers 330, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.
    4. Falck, Elisabeth & Röhe, Oke & Strobel, Johannes, 2024. "Digital transformation and its impact on labour productivity: A multi-sector perspective," Discussion Papers 28/2024, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    5. Hugues Kouassi Kouadio & Landry Lewis Gakpa, 2021. "Financial Openness and Economic Growth in C?te d¡¯Ivoire: The Total Factor Productivity Channel," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 12(2), pages 138-149, April.
    6. Piton, Sophie, 2021. "Economic integration and unit labour costs," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    7. Josh Martin & Kyle Jones, 2022. "An Occupation and Asset Driven Approach to Capital Utilisation Adjustment in Productivity Statistics," Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) Discussion Papers ESCoE DP-2022-11, Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE).

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    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
    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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