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Productivity Trends: A Canada-U.S. Comparison

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  • Centre for the Study of Living Standards

Abstract

This article examines Canada's productivity performance relative to the United States in the 1990s. In 1997, GDP per person employed in Canada was 80.3 per cent of the U.S. level, and growth in output per worker over the 1990s (0.8 per cent per year) lagged behind the United States (1.0 per cent per year). Canada's relative productivity performance in manufacturing was even worse, with output per hour falling from 78.3 per cent of the U.S. level in 1989 to 71.7 per cent in 1997. The article considers two hypotheses to explain this deterioration: structural factors (low R&D, poor literacy, high taxes) and weak macroeconomic performance. It concludes that a pro-growth approach that is pro-technology, pro-investment, and pro-education is the best avenue to productivity improvement.

Suggested Citation

  • Centre for the Study of Living Standards, 1999. "Productivity Trends: A Canada-U.S. Comparison," CSLS Research Reports 1999-01, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    • Handle: RePEc:sls:resrep:9901
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