August 15, 2000 Restructuring in the Canadian Economy: A Survey of Firms Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2000 Carolyn Kwan Towards the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s, the Canadian economy experienced a number of structural changes. These included free trade agreements (both the FTA and NAFTA), significant technological advances, deregulation in many sectors of the economy, the arrival of large, U.S.-based retailers, and the introduction of the GST. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Labour markets, Productivity, Regional economic developments
Non-Linearities in the Output-Inflation Relationship: Some Empirical Results for Canada Staff Working Paper 1998-14 Chantal Dupasquier, Nicholas Ricketts This paper analyzes the short-run dynamic process of inflation in Canada and examines whether a systematic variation in the relationship between inflation and output can be detected over time. In the theoretical literature, different models of price-setting behaviour predict that the slope of the Phillips curve will be a function of macroeconomic conditions, implying a […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Inflation: costs and benefits, Productivity
Lagging Productivity Growth in the Service Sector: Mismeasurement, Mismanagement or Misinformation? Staff Working Paper 1997-6 Dinah Maclean While the service sector has been growing rapidly as a share of total output, aggregate productivity growth has generally lagged behind that of the goods sector. In this report, the author assesses a range of explanations for lagging service sector productivity growth. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Productivity, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): L, L8, L80, O, O4, O47
November 11, 1996 Productivity growth in the commercial service sector Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 1996 Dinah Maclean For over three decades, measured productivity growth in the commercial service sector has consistently lagged behind that of the goods-producing sector. At the same time, the service sector has greatly expanded its share of output and employment. Some commentators have suggested that this trend will reduce growth in total economy-wide productivity. In this article, the author reviews recent trends in productivity growth in services and the main factors affecting it. She concludes that services will likely contribute to increases in future productivity growth. There is a great diversity of experience within the service sector. While productivity is falling in some industries, factors such as technological change, deregulation, and increased competition have helped to increase it in others. Moreover, much of the growth in commercial service output is occurring in those industries with relatively high productivity growth. Difficulties in measuring output for some service activities may also be resulting in underestimation of output and productivity growth. To the extent that services are used as intermediate inputs in the production of goods, underestimating productivity growth in the service industry would cause an offsetting overestimation of productivity growth in goods-producing industries. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Productivity
August 10, 1995 Aspects of economic restructuring in Canada, 1989-1994 Bank of Canada Review - Summer 1995 Ron Parker The way in which Canadian firms produce goods and services has changed dramatically during the 1990s. A major feature of this restructuring has been a shift towards greater use of capital goods, particularly computer-based technology, relative to labour in production processes. The author examines this phenomenon from a macroeconomic perspective, identifying the principal factors behind the trends in investment and employment since the late 1980s. The analysis focusses on the relative costs of capital and labour over the period and on their implications for output and employment. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Productivity, Recent economic and financial developments
The Slowdown in Productivity Growth in the 1975-83 Period: A Survey of Possible Explanations Technical Report No. 43 Gerald Stuber The growth rates of both aggregate factor and labour productivity in Canada fell substantially during the period 1975-83. This paper examines this phenomenon and reviews a number of possible explanations for it. First, the productivity growth slowdown is examined at various levels of industry disaggregation. It is apparent from this analysis that the slowdown varied […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Technical reports Topic(s): Productivity JEL Code(s): D, D2, D24