Accounting for Productivity Growth in Norwegian Manufacturing Industries 1927-1959.

This paper presents estimates of total factor productivity growth for 55 manufacturing industries over the period 1927 to 1959. The long-run rate of growth in TFB is about 1 per cent per year for total manufacturing, but there are considerable variations in TFP growth rates acros industries and over time. For total manufacturing the TFP growth rate was higher in the 1930s than in the 1950s. The first half of the 1950s are characterized by a high rate of output expansion but a marked slowdown in TFP growth, particularly in the export-oriented industries. Is is conjectured that TFP growth in the early 1950s was negatively affected by government regulations and overinvestment in real capital.