Changes in the productivity of labour and vertically integrated sectors — an empirical study for Italy

Garbellini, Nadia and Wirkierman, Ariel (2010): Changes in the productivity of labour and vertically integrated sectors — an empirical study for Italy. Unpublished.

Abstract

There exists a vast literature on the measurement of productivity changes, reflecting a wide range of theoretical approaches to economic theory. Following the Classical viewpoint as exposed by Pasinetti (1981), the present paper considers changes in productivity as changes in the physical productivity of labour, not involving distributive variables. In order to empirically quantify this phenomenon, we have derived measures based on the reclassification of relevant magnitudes in terms of vertically integrated sectors. This allowed us to consider not only direct labour, but also indirect labour, accounting for the reproducible character of intermediate commodities and for the general interdependence of the system. The measures derived have been applied for the case of Italy in the period 1995-2000.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Labour productivity measurement, Vertically integrated sectors, Input-Output analysis.
• Subjects: B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches > B51 - Socialist; Marxian; Sraffian; O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O4 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity > O41 - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C6 - Mathematical Methods and Programming > C67 - Input-Output Models

References

De Juan, O. & Febrero, E. (2000). Measuring Productivity from Vertically Integrated Sectors. Economic Systems Research, 12(1):65–82.

Gossling, W. (1972). Productivity Trends in a Sectoral Macro-Economic Model. Input-Output Publishing, London.

Gossling, W. & Dovring, F. (1966). Labor Productivity Measurement: The Use of Subsystems in the Interindustry Approach and Some Approximating Alternatives. Journal of Farm Economics, 48(2):369–377.

Gupta, S. & Steedman, I. (1971). An Input-Output Study of Labour Productivity in the British Economy. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 33:21–34.

Pasinetti, L.L. (1973). The Notion of Vertical Integration in Economic Analysis. Metroeconomica, 25:1–29.

Pasinetti, L.L. (1977). Lectures on the Theory of production. Columbia University Press, New York.

Pasinetti, L.L. (1981). Structural Change and Economic Growth. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Pasinetti, L.L. (1959). On Concepts and Measures of Changes in Productivity. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 41(3):270–286.

Rampa, G. (1981). The Concept and Measurement of Productivity in an Input-Output Framework. University of Cambridge, Working Papers.

Rampa, G. & Rampa, L. (1982). Sul mutamento tecnologico nell’economia Italiana, 1959-1975: un’analisi input-utput. Ricerche Economiche, XXXVI(4):303–341.

Siniscalco, D. (1982). Il sistema produttivo: analisi per industrie e subsistemi. Ricerche Economiche, XXXVI(4):475–488.

Sraffa, P. (1960). Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.