Who's producing now? (analysis of productivity in different countries)(Brief Article)

Economist (US), The, February, 1997

SUPPOSE that you could pick only one indicator to judge the health of an economy. Then it might well be labour productivity, the key to a nation's standard of living. International comparisons of rates of productivity growth are two a penny. Less easy to come by, however, are international comparisons of productivity levels.

A recent study* by the OECD tries to plug this gap with estimates of productivity levels in various manufacturing and service sectors. America is the undisputed leader among the big economies. In 1995, productivity in manufacturing (as measured by value added per hour worked) was 20-30% lower in most other rich industrial economies. Bottom of the league, according to the OECD, was Australia, where manufacturing workers produced barely half as...