## Chart of the Week: The Productivity Puzzle

_IMF Blog, March 13, 2017_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Chart of the Week: The Productivity Puzzle](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2017/03/13/chart-of-the-week-the-productivity-puzzle)

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- [Markdown version](/en/blogs/articles/2017/03/13/chart-of-the-week-the-productivity-puzzle/index.md)
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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: iMFdirect
- Published: March 13, 2017

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### Overview
- Technological change appears to be accelerating (examples cited: driverless cars, robot lawyers, 3D-printed human organs).
- Such advances should raise standards of living by producing more goods and services with less capital and fewer hours of work—that is, by being more productive.
- Paraphrasing Robert Solow: technological change is visible everywhere but not showing up in productivity statistics.

### Key findings and observations
- Output per worker has slowed sharply over the past decade.
- Total factor productivity—which measures the overall productivity of both labor and capital and reflects elements such as technology—has also slowed sharply over the past decade.
- Possible explanations discussed in the source:
  - Aging populations in advanced economies may have gradually become a drag on productivity.
  - A fading information and communications technology boom may be contributing to the slowdown.
  - The global financial crisis has played a decisive role, according to the authors of Gone with the Headwinds: Global Productivity (an IMF paper referenced for forthcoming release).

### Related analysis and forthcoming work
- The March issue of Finance and Development includes "Stuck in a Rut" by Gustavo Adler and Romain Duval, which examines why productivity is falling and what can be done about it.
- An IMF Staff Discussion Note by the authors (Gone with the Headwinds: Global Productivity) is referenced for release in April.

*Source: Chart of the Week: The Productivity Puzzle — iMFdirect, March 13, 2017.*

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## References

- [March issue](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2017/03/index.htm)
- [Stuck in a Rut](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2017/03/adler.htm)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2017/03/13/chart-of-the-week-the-productivity-puzzle_