Productivity in Manufacturing

choi

本文通过一路BBS站telnet客户端发布

In terms of productivity US is head and shoulders above the rest, and advaces at faster pace than before. Europe is falling behind. Taiwan and S Korea is catching up in relative but not absolute term. China is not included in the survey, which is conducted by US Department of Labor.

(1) Historical data:

Table 2. Output per employed person in manufacturing, 19 countries or areas, 1950-2009
ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/prod4.prodsuppt02.txt

(a) The upper panel is titled "(Indexes: 2002 = 100)" and the lower panel, "(Annual rates of change)."

Both lists change WITHIN each country or area; no comparison ACROSS countries--called level comparison by Department of Labor, see (2)(a)--is possible in this table.
(b) This table is in International Labor Comparisons (ILC) program.*
http://www.bls.gov/fls/

In the home page of the program. Go to the heading "Productivity and Unit Labor Costs in Manufacturing" and select "Data tables, 1950-2009."

* "In 2009, the name of the program was changed from the Division of Foreign Labor Statistics [FLS] to the International Labor Comparisons Program."  Wiki

(2) Also in home page of ILC program
http://www.bls.gov/fls/
, the lines after "Data tables, 1950-2009" are

"Supporting files:
Methodology (PDF)
Underlying data tables, 1950-2009 (XLS)"

(a) In Methodology, it is explained:

"Level Comparisons. The BLS measures are limited to trend comparisons. BLS does not prepare level comparisons of manufacturing productivity because of technical problems related to the valuation of manufacturing output in different economies. Each economy measures manufacturing output in its own currency units. To compare outputs among economies, a common unit of measure is needed. Market exchange rates are not appropriate as a basis for converting output into a common currency, and purchasing power parities (PPPs)3, which are only available at the total economy level, are not suitable for converting output in the manufacturing sector. In addition, there are differences in survey methodology, coverage, and indicators used in each economy that can have a significant impact on the levels of the data used in this report.

(b) For the absolute value of output per employee or per hour worked in each country or area (in local currency), click "Underlying data tables, 1950-2009 (XLS)." For US or Taiwan, for example.

(3) In the home page of International Labor Comparisons (ILC) program, further down is "ILS Chart."  Select "Charting International Labor Comparisons, 2010 Edition"  dated Jan 1, 2011.
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1724&context=key_workplace&sei-redir=1#search=%22department%20labor%20united%20states%20taiwan%20productivity%20hour%20dollars%22

"Contents
* * *
SECTION 3 Competitiveness in manufacturing................................. 23
3.1 Hourly compensation costs, 2007..............................................24
3.2 Average annual growth rates for hourly compensation costs, 1997-2007.........25
3.3 Employer social insurance expenditures and other labor taxes as a percent of hourly
compensation costs, 2007.................................... 26
3.4 Average annual growth rates for manufacturing productivity, output, and hours worked,
1998-2008................................... 27
3.5 Average annual growth rates for manufacturing unit labor costs in U.S. dollars, 1998-2008.... 28
3.6 Manufacturing output as a percent of world manufacturing output, 2008................. 29"

Conclusion of section 3.4: "The Republic of Korea had the largest increase in manufacturing labor productivity, followed by Sweden, Taiwan, and the United States; growth was lowest in Italy." (Greece, Ireland, and Portugal is not in the survey. Spain is--in the penultimate place just a tad above Italy.)


(4) Next in the home page of ILC program is "ILC Special Studies": "Manufacturing in China" and "Manufacturing in India."

(5) All above are for manufacturing only. Service, agriculture and other sectors of industry (such as mining) are excluded.

--