Measuring Productivity
Dates and duration
June 2 - 13, 2008 (2 weeks)
Tuition
$3,180
Participants
This seminar is designed primarily for economists, statisticians,
researchers, analysts, and managers engaged in productivity measurement.
Participants should have an elementary knowledge of statistics and some
experience in analyzing labor or social data.
Objectives
To strengthen capabilities for the development and analysis of
statistics on productivity by:
- Presenting techniques for the compilation and application of
productivity measurements for the total economy, major sectors,
industries, and individual production units or firms
- Demonstrating the value of output per hour measurements in deriving
unit labor cost data for the analysis of the wage-price relationship by
industry and for the total economy; in economic growth projections; in
labor mobility trends; and in workforce training
- Demonstrating the value of multifactor productivity as an indicator
of progress; an explanation of the growth of output per hour; and a way
to relate and analyze the movements of the price of output and the
prices of labor as well as other inputs
- Presenting techniques for making international productivity
comparisons
- Discussing concerns of government, business, and labor organizations
regarding productivity
Program content
Productivity is one of the major determinants of the standard of
living, since increases in productivity may result in higher real income
and promote price stability. The measurement of productivity is an
important element in the evaluation of the relative efficiency of factor
utilization domestically and internationally. The analysis of trends in
productivity, especially labor productivity, is a factor in the successful
examination of occupational mobility, the projection of future employment
opportunities, and the determination of future workforce and training
policies.
A summary of the program follows:
Definitions and concepts
- Output, inputs, prices and costs, index theory, and aggregation
methods
Methodology for calculating output per hour and multifactor
productivity measures
- Output measurement including deflated value and physical quantity
measures, input measurement, aggregation of heterogeneous outputs and
inputs, index construction, and index linking
Sources of data
- Various government and private sources (including discussion of poor
or fragmentary data) for derivation of: output measures, input measures
(including labor, capital, and intermediate purchases) and
weights
Trend analysis
- Changes in productivity, factor input shifts, and historical
analysis
Application of trend measurements
- Industry, major sector (including agriculture and government), and
total economy
Use of output per hour measurement
- Analysis of the wage-price relationship by industry and for the
total economy; economic growth projections, and workforce
training
Use of multifactor productivity measurement
- Analysis of the input cost-price relationship, the output per hour
and multifactor productivity relationship, and the multifactor
productivity and economic progress relationship
International productivity comparisons
- Output per employee hour, unit labor costs, and multifactor
productivity
As a supplementary course, Training of Trainers is open
to all participants of this seminar.
Last modified: November 20, 2007