Resource movements and labour productivity, an Australian illustration: 1994-95 to 1997-98

Staff research paper

This paper by Steven Bland and Lou Will was released on 4 April 2001.

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Resource Movements and Labour Productivity, an Australian Illustration: 1994-95 to 1997-98 (PDF 158.7 KB)

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Contents

A staff research paper by Steven Bland and Lou Will, Resource Movements and Labour Productivity, an Australian Illustration: 1994-95 to 1997-98, presents the results of an exploratory analysis of the adjustment processes of Australian firms, and the impact of those adjustments on firm and industry labour productivity.

The analysis shows, for the firms in the sample, that average labour productivity increased through a combination of productivity improvements by incumbent firms in operation for the duration of the study period and the exit of firms.

Firms that commenced operation during the survey period also had relatively low labour productivity, suggesting that new firms require time to become established and achieve productivity gains.

Background Information

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Preliminaries
Cover, Copyright, Contents, Acknowledgments, Key Points

1 Introduction
1.1 Background and objectives
1.2 Major findings from the literature
1.3 The Business Longitudinal Survey
1.4 Structure of the paper

2 A decomposition framework
2.1 Decomposition methodology
2.2 How is the contribution of resource movements to the change in average productivity measured?
2.3 A taxonomy of firms

3 The BLS and the RR sample
3.1 The Business Longitudinal Survey
3.2 The RR sample
3.3 Calculating labour productivity

4 Resource movements and productivity change in Australia
4.1 Labour productivity growth - the RR sample and the economy
4.2 Average labour productivity in the RR sample - levels and growth
4.3 Decomposing productivity change
4.4 A taxonomy of continuing firms

5 Conclusions
5.1 Summary
5.2 Directions for future research

A Decomposition

B Adjustments to the CURF

C Weighted results

D Transition matrix

References