IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/swe/wpaper/2017-02.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Decomposing Value Added Growth into Explanatory Factors

Author

Listed:
  • W. Erwin Diewert

    (Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia, and School of Economics, UNSW)

  • Kevin J. Fox

    (School of Economics and CAER, UNSW Business School, UNSW)

Abstract

A method for decomposing nominal value added growth is presented, which identifies the contributions from efficiency change, growth of primary inputs, changes in output and input prices, technical progress and returns to scale. In order to implement the decomposition, an estimate of the relevant cost constrained value added function for the two periods under consideration is required. This is taken to be the free disposal hull of past observations. Aggregation over sectors is also considered. The methodology is illustrated using U.S. data for two sectors over the years 1960-2014.

Suggested Citation

  • W. Erwin Diewert & Kevin J. Fox, 2017. "Decomposing Value Added Growth into Explanatory Factors," Discussion Papers 2017-02, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
  • Handle: RePEc:swe:wpaper:2017-02
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://research.economics.unsw.edu.au/RePEc/papers/2017-02.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert J. Gordon, 2016. "The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10544.
    2. Diewert, W. Erwin & Fox, Kevin J., 2014. "Reference technology sets, Free Disposal Hulls and productivity decompositions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 238-242.
    3. Jianmin Tang & Weimin Wang, 2004. "Sources of aggregate labour productivity growth in Canada and the United States," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(2), pages 421-444, May.
    4. Diewert, W. Erwin & Fox, Kevin J., 2008. "On the estimation of returns to scale, technical progress and monopolistic markups," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 145(1-2), pages 174-193, July.
    5. W. Diewert, 2015. "Decompositions of productivity growth into sectoral effects," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 367-387, June.
    6. Afriat, Sidney N, 1972. "Efficiency Estimation of Production Function," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 13(3), pages 568-598, October.
    7. Robert B. Archibald, 1977. "On the Theory of Industrial Price Measurement Output Price Indexes," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 6, number 1, pages 57-72, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Shekhar Aiyar & Carl-Johan Dalgaard & Omer Moav, 2008. "Technological progress and regress in pre-industrial times," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 125-144, June.
    9. Paul A. Samuelson, 1953. "Prices of Factors and Goods in General Equilibrium," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 21(1), pages 1-20.
    10. Henry Tulkens, 2006. "On FDH Efficiency Analysis: Some Methodological Issues and Applications to Retail Banking, Courts and Urban Transit," Springer Books, in: Parkash Chander & Jacques Drèze & C. Knox Lovell & Jack Mintz (ed.), Public goods, environmental externalities and fiscal competition, chapter 0, pages 311-342, Springer.
    11. Sato, Kazuo, 1976. "The Meaning and Measurement of the Real Value Added Index," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 58(4), pages 434-442, November.
    12. David M. Byrne & John G. Fernald & Marshall B. Reinsdorf, 2016. "Does the United States Have a Productivity Slowdown or a Measurement Problem?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 47(1 (Spring), pages 109-182.
    13. Fisher,Franklin M. & Shell,Karl, 1998. "Economic Analysis of Production Price Indexes," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521556231, October.
    14. Ulrich R. Kohli, 1978. "A Gross National Product Function and the Derived Demand for Imports and Supply of Exports," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 11(2), pages 167-182, May.
    15. Fare, Rolf & Knox Lovell, C. A., 1978. "Measuring the technical efficiency of production," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 150-162, October.
    16. Diewert, W. Erwin, 2014. "Decompositions of profitability change using cost functions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 183(1), pages 58-66.
    17. Diewert, W. E., 1973. "Functional forms for profit and transformation functions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 284-316, June.
    18. W. Diewert & Alice Nakamura, 2003. "Index Number Concepts, Measures and Decompositions of Productivity Growth," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 127-159, April.
    19. Bert Balk, 2003. "The Residual: On Monitoring and Benchmarking Firms, Industries, and Economies with Respect to Productivity," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 5-47, July.
    20. Bert M. Balk, 2015. "Measuring and relating aggregate and subaggregate total factor productivity change without neoclassical assumptions," Statistica Neerlandica, Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research, vol. 69(1), pages 21-48, February.
    21. W. Erwin Diewert, 1997. "Alternative strategies for aggregating prices in the CPI - commentary," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue May, pages 127-138.
    22. Samuelson, Paul A & Swamy, S, 1974. "Invariant Economic Index Numbers and Canonical Duality: Survey and Synthesis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(4), pages 566-593, September.
    23. W. Erwin Diewert, 2016. "Decompositions of Productivity Growth into Sectoral Effects: Some Puzzles Explained," Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, in: William H. Greene & Lynda Khalaf & Robin Sickles & Michael Veall & Marcel-Cristian Voia (ed.), Productivity and Efficiency Analysis, edition 1, chapter 0, pages 1-13, Springer.
    24. Chad Syverson, 2017. "Challenges to Mismeasurement Explanations for the US Productivity Slowdown," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 165-186, Spring.
    25. Diewart, W Erwin & Morrison, Catherine J, 1986. "Adjusting Output and Productivity Indexes for Changes in the Terms of Trade," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 96(383), pages 659-679, September.
    26. Bert Balk, 2001. "Scale Efficiency and Productivity Change," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 159-183, May.
    27. Hanoch, Giora & Rothschild, Michael, 1972. "Testing the Assumptions of Production Theory: A Nonparametric Approach," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 256-275, March-Apr.
    28. Jesus C. Dumagan, 2013. "A Generalized Exactly Additive Decomposition of Aggregate Labor Productivity Growth," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 59(1), pages 157-168, March.
    29. Diewert, W. Erwin & Fox, Kevin J., 2017. "Decomposing productivity indexes into explanatory factors," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 256(1), pages 275-291.
    30. W. Diewert, 2011. "Measuring productivity in the public sector: some conceptual problems," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 177-191, October.
    31. W. Diewert & Kevin Fox, 2010. "Malmquist and Törnqvist productivity indexes: returns to scale and technical progress with imperfect competition," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 73-95, September.
    32. Caves, Douglas W & Christensen, Laurits R & Diewert, W Erwin, 1982. "The Economic Theory of Index Numbers and the Measurement of Input, Output, and Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(6), pages 1393-1414, November.
    33. Fuss, Melvyn & McFadden, Daniel (ed.), 1978. "Production Economics: A Dual Approach to Theory and Applications," Elsevier Monographs, Elsevier, edition 1, number 9780444850133.
    34. Diewert, W. E., 1976. "Exact and superlative index numbers," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 115-145, May.
    35. W. Erwin Diewert, 1980. "Aggregation Problems in the Measurement of Capital," NBER Chapters, in: The Measurement of Capital, pages 433-538, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    36. Kevin Fox & Ulrich Kohli, 1998. "GDP growth, terms-of-trade effects, and total factor productivity," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 87-110.
    37. W. Erwin Diewert, 2012. "Rejoinder to Gu on "Estimating Capital Input for Measuring Business Sector Multifactor Productivity Growth in Canada"," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 24, pages 63-72, Fall.
    38. Varian, Hal R, 1984. "The Nonparametric Approach to Production Analysis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 579-597, May.
    39. William H. Greene & Lynda Khalaf & Robin Sickles & Michael Veall & Marcel-Cristian Voia (ed.), 2016. "Productivity and Efficiency Analysis," Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, Springer, edition 1, number 978-3-319-23228-7, December.
    40. Fuss, Melvyn & McFadden, Daniel, 1978. "Production Economics: A Dual Approach to Theory and Applications (I): The Theory of Production," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, volume 1, number fuss1978.
    41. Rolf Färe & Daniel Primont, 1994. "The unification of Ronald W. Shephard's duality theory," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 199-207, June.
    42. Joel Mokyr & Chris Vickers & Nicolas L. Ziebarth, 2015. "The History of Technological Anxiety and the Future of Economic Growth: Is This Time Different?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(3), pages 31-50, Summer.
    43. Wulong Gu, 2012. "Estimating Capital Input for Measuring Business Sector Multifactor Productivity Growth in Canada: Response to Diewert and Yu," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 24, pages 49-62, Fall.
    44. Diewert, W E, 1980. "Capital and the Theory of Productivity Measurement," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(2), pages 260-267, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. W. Erwin Diewert & Kevin J. Fox, 2018. "Alternative User Costs, Productivity and Inequality in US Business Sectors," Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, in: William H. Greene & Lynda Khalaf & Paul Makdissi & Robin C. Sickles & Michael Veall & Marcel-Cristia (ed.), Productivity and Inequality, pages 21-69, Springer.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Diewert, Erwin & Fox, Kevin J., 2019. "Productivity Indexes and National Statistics: Theory, Methods and Challenges," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2019-8, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 25 Apr 2019.
    2. W. Erwin Diewert & Kevin J. Fox, 2021. "The Difference Approach to Productivity Measurement and Exact Indicators," Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, in: Christopher F. Parmeter & Robin C. Sickles (ed.), Advances in Efficiency and Productivity Analysis, pages 9-40, Springer.
    3. Diewert, W. Erwin, 2014. "Decompositions of profitability change using cost functions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 183(1), pages 58-66.
    4. W. Erwin Diewert & Kevin J. Fox, 2018. "A decomposition of US business sector TFP growth into technical progress and cost efficiency components," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 71-84, October.
    5. Diewert, W. Erwin & Fox, Kevin J., 2016. "Kevin J. Fox Interview of W. Erwin Diewert," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2016-6, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 02 Jun 2016.
    6. Diewert, W. Erwin & Fox, Kevin J., 2017. "Decomposing productivity indexes into explanatory factors," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 256(1), pages 275-291.
    7. W. Erwin Diewert & Kevin J. Fox, 2014. "Decomposing Bjurek Productivity Indexes into Explanatory Factors," Discussion Papers 2014-33, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    8. W. Diewert, 2014. "US TFP growth and the contribution of changes in export and import prices to real income growth," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 19-39, February.
    9. W. Diewert, 2011. "Measuring productivity in the public sector: some conceptual problems," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 177-191, October.
    10. W. Erwin Diewert, 2022. "Duality in Production," Springer Books, in: Subhash C. Ray & Robert G. Chambers & Subal C. Kumbhakar (ed.), Handbook of Production Economics, chapter 3, pages 57-168, Springer.
    11. Diewert, W. Erwin, 2017. "Productivity Measurement in the Public Sector: Theory and Practice," Microeconomics.ca working papers erwin_diewert-2017-1, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 02 Feb 2017.
    12. Chihiro Shimizu & Erwin Diewert & Koji Nomura, 2024. "Estimating Flexible Functional Forms using Macroeconomic Data," Working Papers e206, Tokyo Center for Economic Research.
    13. Diewert, Erwin & Mizobuchi, Hideyuki, 2009. "An Economic Approach to the Measurement of Productivity Growth Using Differences Instead of Ratios," Economics working papers erwin_diewert-2009-2, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 09 Jan 2009.
    14. Alexander Murray, 2017. "What Explains the Post-2004 U.S.Productivity Slowdown?," CSLS Research Reports 2017-05, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    15. Matthew Calver and Alexander Murray, 2016. "Decomposing Multifactor Productivity Growth in Canada by Industry and Province, 1997-2014," CSLS Research Reports 2016-19, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    16. Kuosmanen, Timo, 2001. "DEA with efficiency classification preserving conditional convexity," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(2), pages 326-342, July.
    17. Diewert, Erwin, 2008. "Changes in the Terms of Trade and Canada's Productivity Performance," Economics working papers diewert-08-03-11-11-03-49, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 18 Jul 2008.
    18. Hideyuki Mizobuchi & Valentin Zelenyuk, 2021. "Quadratic-mean-of-order-r indexes of output, input and productivity," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 133-138, December.
    19. Diewert, Erwin, 2007. "Index Numbers," Economics working papers diewert-07-01-03-08-17-23, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 31 Jan 2007.
    20. Aguiar, Victor H. & Kashaev, Nail & Allen, Roy, 2023. "Prices, profits, proxies, and production," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 666-693.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Symmetry; Measurement of output; input and productivity; value added functions; revenue functions; variable profit functions; duality theory; economic price and quantity indexes; technical progress; total factor productivity; revenue efficiency; aggregation over sectors.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C43 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Index Numbers and Aggregation
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • H44 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Goods: Mixed Markets
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:swe:wpaper:2017-02. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Hongyi Li (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/senswau.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.