Tales From Two Neighbors: Productivity Growth in Canada and the United States

Author/Editor:

Martin D. Cerisola ; Jorge A Chan-Lau

Publication Date:

October 1, 2000

Electronic Access:

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Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary:

This paper assesses productivity trends in Canada vis-a-vis the United States from two perspectives. The first one is based on estimates of total factor productivity. The second one decomposes productivity growth into two sources: investment-specific technical change, associated with improvements in the quality of the capital stock, and neutral technical change, associated with the organization of productive activities. The results indicate that investment-specific technical change is the major underlying cause of the pickup in productivity in Canada and the narrowing of the productivity gap with the United States.

Series:

Working Paper No. 2000/169

Subject:

Consumption Emerging technologies Financial institutions Labor Production Productivity Stocks Technology Total factor productivity

English

Publication Date:

October 1, 2000

ISBN/ISSN:

9781451858334/1018-5941

Stock No:

WPIEA1692000

Pages:

23

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