Productivity: a history of its measurement

Journal title HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY
Author/s Malcolm Abbott
Publishing Year 2018 Issue 2018/1
Language English Pages 24 P. 57-80 File size 318 KB
DOI 10.3280/SPE2018-001003
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Productivity has long been an important concept in economics. Despite this long history, the full quantification of productivity dates back largely to work undertaken by economists in the middle part of the twentieth century. The purpose of the paper, therefore, is to describe the origins of the concept in general and in particular the efforts to develop the means to quantify it. To a significant degree, the economic issues that have arisen, as well as general developments in economic theory have influenced the development of productivity quantification efforts.

Keywords: Productivity, productivity measurement, technology, growth.

Jel codes: B10, B20, D24

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Malcolm Abbott, Productivity: a history of its measurement in "HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY" 1/2018, pp 57-80, DOI: 10.3280/SPE2018-001003