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Productivity growth below average
in the internal combustion engine industry
Productivity, as measured by output per employee hour,1 grew at an annual rate of 2.1 percent in the internal combustion engine industry firm 1967 to 1982. The corresponding rate of increase was 2.4 percent for the average of all manufacturing industries.
The productivity gain in this industry resulted from a rate of growth in output of 4.2 percent, compared with the all-manufacturing average of 2.4 percent, and a 2.1-percent rate of increase in employee hours, compared with the all-manufacturing average of 2.4 percent, and a 2.1-percent rate of increase in employee hours, compared with no growth in manufacturing sector hours. Productivity growth was aided by the introduction of new, more automatic equipment for machining engine components. However, this growth was modified by the impact of cyclical downturns in the economy on demand, resulting in sharp drops in industry production in several years and corresponding declines in productivity.
This excerpt is from an article published in the May 1985 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. The full text of the article is available in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF). See How to view a PDF file for more information.
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1 Our theoretical framework emphasizes that industrial relations outcomes are not predetermined by environmental forces, but are the product of interactions among the environment and the strategic choices of the parties. It should be kept in mind, however, that these "choice" are not made by single monolithic representatives, are not always consciously thought out or planned decisions, and are constrained by various environmental conditions. Consequently, the U.S. industrial relations system will continue to display considerable diversity in the future as it has in the past.
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