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Working Paper
Labor productivity: structural change and cyclical dynamics
A longstanding puzzle of empirical economics is that average labor productivity declines during recessions and increases during booms. This paper provides a framework to assess the empirical importance of competing hypotheses for explaining the observed procyclicality. For each competing hypothesis we derive the implications for cyclical productivity conditional on expectations of future demand and supply conditions. The novelty of the paper is that we exploit the tremendous heterogeneity in long-run structural changes across individual plants to identify the short-run sources of procyclical ...
Conference Paper
Increasing global competition and labor productivity: lessons from the U.S. automotive industry
Increasing global competition is changing the environment facing most companies today. As trade barriers fall and transaction costs decline, new global competitors are entering previously more isolated domestic markets. In response to this intensified competitive pressure, local companies are pushed to enhance performance by innovating and adopting process and product improvements. This domestic sector dynamic leads to higher productivity, which, in turn, can create sustainable competitive advantages for companies, as well as being the most important driver of job creation and per-capita ...
Conference Paper
Macroeconomic implications of the new economy
Journal Article
Recent productivity growth: the role of information technology and other innovations
This article is based on the keynote address delivered in November 2003 at the conference organized by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Franciscos Center for the Study of Innovation and Productivity on Technology, Productivity, and Public Policy.
Working Paper
Downsizing and productivity growth: myth or reality?
Conference Paper
Panel Discussion: trends in productivity and growth