Many historical comparisons of international productivity use measures of labour productivity (output per worker). Differences in labour productivity can be caused by differences in technical efficiency or differences in capital intensity. Moving to measures of total factor productivity allows...

This paper has three main objectives. First, it examines the level of multifactor productivity (MFP) in Canada relative to that of the United States for the 1994-to-2003 period. Second, it examines the relative importance of differences in capital intensity and MFP in accounting for the labour...

This paper examines the challenges that the manufacturing sector has faced over the last half century - focusing on both long- and short-term performance. It first examines whether there is evidence that this sector is in long-term decline. The paper also investigates how the industry has...

Labour productivity growth in the Canadian business sector slowed substantially after 2000. Most of the slowdown occurred in the manufacturing sector. This paper examines how this slowdown was associated with the restructuring that occurred in manufacturing as a result of the increase in excess...

In this paper, we present measures of the extent of renewal in Canada’s manufacturing sector over a four decade period (1961-1999); a period that roughly represents the productive lifetime of a worker. We measure turnover over periods of one, two, three and four decades. For each timeframe, we...

This paper investigates how changes in technology use of individual plants in the Canadian manufacturing sector are related to two measures of performance - productivity growth and market-share growth. The paper describes whether plants are adopting new advanced technologies and if they do so,...

This paper investigates the extent to which productivity growth is the result of turnover - the process that shifts output from one firm to another as a result of the competitive process. Turnover occurs because some firms gain market share and others lose it. Some turnover is due to entry and...

This paper investigates the extent to which productivity growth is the result of firm turnover as output is shifted from one firm to another, driven by the competitive process. Turnover occurs as some firms gain market share and others lose it. Some of the resulting turnover is due to entry and...

During the post-1970 period, Canadian manufacturing prices have alternately increased and fallen relative to U.S. prices - just the reverse of the cycle in the Canada - U.S. exchange rate. But not all manufacturing industries have experienced the same amplitude of relative price changes. This...

The paper investigates how Canadian manufacturing plants adjust to an increase in low-wage import competition by changing their commodity portfolios. At the commodity level, we distinguish between 'core' versus 'peripheral' and differentiated versus homogeneous commodities. We also account for...