Productivity in Education: The Quintessential Upstream Industry

Using consistent test score data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress and data on per-pupil spending, I show that the productivity of American public schools fell by approximately half from 1970 to 2000. The most reliable international data also suggest that productivity in American public schools is lower than that of numerous other industrialized countries, including the remaining English-speaking ones, I explore explanations for the decline in productivity, including changing sociodemographics, Baumol's “cost disease,” rising wages of female college graduates, the increasing emphasis on educating disadvantaged children, rising market power, and the education sector's relative decrease in pay for performance. I review evidence that suggests that schools raise their productivity and use of pay for performance when they face competition. I also describe results that indicate that individual teachers have important, distinctive effects on achievement.     

Labour relations and industrial productivity

Abstract

Britain and Sweden have often been cited to illustrate the contrasting fortunes of post-War European economies. Britain seemed destined to struggle with bad labour relations and comparatively poor levels of output, whilst Sweden established a reputation as a model of corporatist management and high productivity.¹ The industrial turmoil of the 1970s swept Scandinavia as well as the U.K. and blurred this convenient contrast, but it was the dramatic improvement in the performance of British manufacturing in the 1980s which has forced us to reappraise the nature of ‘the British disease’. This improvement has been attributed by a number of writers to the changed climate of industrial relations, as many employers broke with the bad bargaining practices of earlier decades.² The power of the unions has been curtailed if not completely extinguished and resistance to new technologies has been overcome in many of the traditional strongholds of craft production. It seems logical to conclude that the defeat of the unions and the reform of industrial relations have been essential prerequisites of improved output.³ Yet the evidence is, at best, ambiguous. Current debates on productivity in Britain during the 1980s indicate the difficulty of measuring changes in contemporary output and the limits of the data available for such an exercise.⁴ The Swedish economy, and Scandinavia more generally, were historically successfully in combining a steady improvement in output with very high levels of trade unionism.⁵ It was able to sustain this progress during the 1970s and 1980s in the face of mounting pressures on the Swedish model. Established agreements were called into question by the outbreak of large scale strikes whilst dissatisfaction with central negotiations became apparent on the shop floor and in the board rooms of Swedish industry. Wage differentials increased whilst productivity improvements declined during the 1980s, particularly in the export industries. The trade unions were less attractive to manual workers in Sweden as well as Britain and in the opening months of the 1990 the Social Democrats were thrown into crisis by the resistance to their efforts to introduce austerity controls on labour. Sweden seemed to have belatedly arrived at the same impasse which British labour faced a decade earlier.     

The British ‘failure’ that never was? The Anglo‐American ‘productivity gap’ in large‐scale interwar retailing—evidence from the department store sector1

Interwar British retailing has been characterized as having lower productivity, less developed managerial hierarchies and methods, and weaker scale economies than its US counterpart. This article examines comparative productivity for one major segment of large‐scale retailing in both countries—the department store sector. Drawing on exceptionally detailed contemporary survey data, we show that British department stores in fact achieved superior performance in terms of operating costs, margins, profits, and stock‐turn. While smaller British stores had lower labour productivity than US stores of equivalent size, TFP was generally higher for British stores, which also enjoyed stronger scale economies. We also examine the reasons behind Britain's surprisingly strong relative performance, using surviving original returns from the British surveys. Contrary to arguments that British retailers faced major barriers to the development of large‐scale enterprises, that could reap economies of scale and scope and invest in machinery and marketing to support the growth of their primary sales functions, we find that British department stores enthusiastically embraced the retail ‘managerial revolution’—and reaped substantial benefits from this investment.     

Towards a new Bradshaw? Economic statistics and the British state in the 1950s and 1960s

This article outlines the attempts of British central government to react to the perceived inadequacy of official economic statistics. A huge amount of work went into this project, the main aim of which was to speed up the production of statistics so that the economy could be analysed in more detail, and thus better managed. If this was to work, more data was required on the labour market, on productivity, on production, and on the interlinkages between those indicators. British official statistics clearly were more comprehensive and more detailed at the end of this period than they had been at the start. Even so, the effort was usually thought to have been a failure by the early 1970s. More detail took time to produce; it was difficult to recruit the necessary staff; successive administrative reorganizations also absorbed energies. The devolved informality of British government hampered the emergence of an overall picture. Businesses and trade unions resisted attempts to collect more data, especially when it showed them in an unflattering light. Above all, the elite, specialist, and technical nature of the reform process meant that very little political and popular pressure built up to force through further changes.     

Productivity growth in Indonesian agriculture, 1961–2000

This paper uses an index number approach to measure total factor productivity (TFP) growth in Indonesian crop and livestock agriculture from 1961 to 2000. Tornqvist-Theil chain-weighted indices of output, input and TFP are developed to minimise biases that may result from relative changes in input and output price aggregation weights. The results indicate that agricultural TFP growth accelerated in the 1970s and 1980s but stagnated in the 1990s. Without new efforts to increase productivity in agriculture, Indonesia's goal of using agricultural growth to generate broad-based rural development and further reduce poverty may be undermined.     

From boom to gloom: Brazilian labour productivity in manufacturing relative to the United States, 1912–2019

Whereas manufacturing seems to hold the key to modern economic growth, the role of manufacturing in economy-wide convergence across countries is debatable. One strand of scholarship argues that productivity levels in manufacturing tend to remain stable across countries, and that economy-wide convergence takes place through structural transformations. Another strand maintains that productivity levels of less-developed countries tend to approach those of developed countries unconditionally, and that deindustrialization thwarts economy-wide convergence. We examine productivity in Brazilian manufacturing relative to the United States, 1912–2019. The result shows dramatic swings in the Brazilian/US productivity ratio, increasing in the decades following the Second World War, peaking in the late 1970s at impressively high levels, and declining precipitously thereafter. This sluggish performance of Brazilian manufacturing since the peak in the late 1970s has probably hindered income convergence with richer countries.     

Did the 48‐hour week damage Britain's industrial competitiveness?1

Britain's 1919 introduction of a 48‐hour week for industrial workers has been highlighted as a key factor depressing its relative labour productivity. This largely ignores both any potential offset to lower hours from higher hourly productivity and the fact that the 48‐hour week was also introduced in almost all other industrialized nations (generally involving substantially greater reductions in hours). We examine the international context and the short‐term impact on British productivity, focusing on three major export industries—coal, cotton, and iron and steel. Britain did not suffer any significant relative productivity loss in these industries, while reduced working hours are shown to have been partially compensated for by higher hourly productivity.     

Vampires to Skyhawks: Military Aircraft and Frigate Purchases by New Zealand, 1950–70

New Zealand’s relations with its main weapons suppliers, Britain and the United States of America, are analysed in this article. Until the 1960s, New Zealand’s armed services relied almost exclusively on British hardware. The Royal New Zealand Air Force and the army were converted to American equipment in the 1960s and early 1970s, but the Royal New Zealand Navy continued to purchase frigates from British yards. This article examines the interplay of financial, political, and operational considerations affecting major procurement decisions, like the acquisition of Skyhawk aircraft in the 1960s. Although the focus is policy, consideration is also given to relations between the New Zealand government and private defence contractors. New Zealand’s revealed objective was to maintain, at minimum possible cost, a force capable of taking part in joint operations with its principal allies.     

Productivity Growth,Technical Progress and Efficiency Change in African Agriculture

Abstract: The paper examines the economic performance of a large number of African countries using an international comparable data set and the latest technique for analysis. The paper focuses on growth in total factor productivity and its decomposition into technical change and efficiency change components. The analysis is undertaken using the data envelopment analysis (DEA). The present study uses data of 16 countries over the period 1970–2001. It was found that, globally, during that period, total factor productivity has experienced a positive evolution in sampled countries. This good performance of the agricultural sector was due to good progress in technical efficiency rather than technical progress. The region suffered a regression in productivity in the 1970s, and made some progress during the 1980s and 1990s. The study also highlights the fact that technical change has been the main constraint of achievement of high levels of total factor productivity during the reference period in sub‐Saharan Africa. Contrariwise, in Maghreb countries, technological change has been the main driving force of productivity growth. Finally, the results indicate that institutional factors as well as agro‐ecological factors are important determinants of agricultural productivity growth.     

ANOTHER SPINNING INNOVATION: THE CASE OF THE RATTLING SPINDLE,GARABŌ, IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE JAPANESE SPINNING INDUSTRY

Through the importation of the state‐of‐the‐art British spinning technology of the late nineteenth century, a new cotton spinning sector began to emerge in Meiji Japan during the 1870s and 1880s. This hectic technology transfer was accompanied by a remarkable domestic technological breakthrough that enabled the local spinners to significantly increase productivity to meet the unprecedented pace of the soaring market demand. This paper examines a relatively neglected case of the rattling spindle, Garabō, which was a product of Japanese native industrial endowments in parallel with the development of the British‐style mills.     

Is Structural Change Speeding Up? The Case of Sweden, 1850–2000

Abstract

This article focuses on the importance of structural change on productivity growth and conditions in the labour market. From a productivity perspective, a positive relation is found between structural change and productivity growth from the industrial breakthrough until the first oil crisis. From the early 1970s, this positive relation weakened and eventually became negative as labour moved from high to low productive industries. From a labour market perspective, it is found that extent of sectoral reallocation of labour has become more intense over the twentieth century. The extent of job gains and losses seems to have been more intense during the postwar period than during the industrialization phase.     

Catching up with the Technology Frontier: Finnish Manufacturing Productivity, 1975–2003

Abstract

Labour productivity in Finnish manufacturing industry grew at the rapid average annual rate of 5 per cent from 1975 to 2003. The labour productivity growth was broad-based, or yeast-like, in the 1970s and 1980s, with contributions from multi-factor productivity gains in the paper and metal industries dominating. In the 1990s productivity growth was much more mushroom-like, that is, concentrated in the electronics industry. The level of labour productivity in Finnish manufacturing matched that of the USA by the end of the second millennium. Labour costs and unit labour costs remained at only three-quarters of the US level, although real hourly compensation increased steadily. After 1995 manufacturing industry constituted a quarter of the Finnish economy but contributed a third of overall economic growth.     

竞争、生产率外溢与东道国的产业发展

跨国公司是如何影响东道国的产业发展的？产品市场和要素市场的竞争会挤出内资企业，然而对内资企业正的生产率外溢将提高生产率、降低生产成本，从而提高利润。本文构建了一个简单的理论模型考察跨国公司的竞争效应和生产率外溢对东道国产业发展的影响。模型推导及数值模拟的结果表明，跨国公司对内资企业正的生产率外溢使竞争效应减弱，负的生产率外溢则使竞争效应增强；跨国公司出口销售更加有利于东道国的产业发展。     

国际政治经济学中的跨大西洋分歧

自20世纪70年代国际政治经济学产生以来,呈现出不同国家和地区的研究特点与学术传统。如同国际关系学科一样,美国学派在国际政治经济学研究中占据着主导地位,英国学派则处于半边缘状态。笔者首先分别界定英国学派与美国学派,然后从知识传统、方法论、议题设置等维度诠释二者间存在的差异,进而从历史背景、学术传统以及学术训练等方面解释英美学派间的差异,并且考察英美学派间目前的交流状态及其对话的必要。由于国际政治经济学并不是由方法论所确定的,而是由共同的研究主题以及核心概念所界定,因而英美学派有必要进行切实的对话以构建一个真正的全球性国际政治经济学科。     

The First Great Whale Extinction: The End of the Bowhead Whale in the Eastern Arctic

In this paper we argue that the bowhead whale stock resident off the east coast of Greenland was hunted to the brink of extinction by 1828 due to the rapid increase in British productivity levels after 1750. A delay-difference recruitment model is used to reconstruct the size of the whale population and establish the chronology of its demise. A simulation model is used to determine the role played by subsidy policies, climate change, and international competition in the extinction.     

Standards,learning, and growth in Britain, 1901–2009

This article considers the model of voluntary, consensus based standardization as developed through the British Standards Institution (BSI) and its contribution to learning and productivity growth. It discusses the significant role played by professional engineers in the model's introduction, its extension at home, and its imitation overseas. It is argued that by 1931 the BSI catalogue of standards represented a considerable stock of codified knowledge whose growth reflected underlying aggregate technological opportunities, assisting in their transformation into technological advance. To help validate this claim, a measure of the size of the BSI catalogue of standards is incorporated into an econometric model of aggregate productivity growth in Britain. Findings show that the growth of the standards catalogue is associated with a substantial proportion of labour productivity growth over the period 1931–2009. Estimates relating to the short‐run dynamics involved are consistent with the idea that there are causal linkages running from standards to growth. When interpreting these findings, it is argued that the overall weight of historical evidence points to standardization—coordinated through the BSI—as providing an important path of learning for the British economy over the period considered.     

价格贸易条件变动、进口关税削减与中国加入WTO的生产率效应

本文使用中国加入WTO之后的2002～2009年数据,构建面板数据模型来检验了价格贸易条件变动动和进口关税削减对产出和全员劳动生产率的影响。我们的检验结果表明,价格贸易条件的改善显著地促进了我国生产率的增长,价格贸易条件对生产率的影响体现为一种结构效应和资源配置效应的综合。在结构效应和资源配置效应总体为正的情形下,价格贸易条件的波动才能体现出正的生产率效应。进口关税水平的削减对我国生产率的影响为负,因为削减进口关税税率所推动的进口贸易的增长,在很大程度上带来的负的竞争效应要大于其所带来的技术溢出效应。本文的研究对于我国进一步改革开放战略,尤其是对我国进行区域间的经贸合作或者建立自由贸易区都有着一定的启示。     

The historical roots of India’s service-led development: A sectoral analysis of Anglo-Indian productivity differences, 1870-2000

India fell further behind the UK in terms of GDP per capita and overall labour productivity between the 1870s and the 1970s, but has been catching-up since. This paper offers a sectoral analysis of these trends. Comparative India/UK labour productivity in agriculture has declined continuously, and agriculture still accounts for around two-thirds of employment in India. Agriculture thus played a key role in India’s falling behind and has subsequently slowed down the process of catching up. Although there have been substantial fluctuations in comparative India/UK labour productivity in industry, this sector has exhibited no long run trend. The only sector to exhibit an upward trend in comparative India/UK labour productivity is services. India’s recent emergence as a dynamic service-led economy thus appears to have long historical roots. Although India has been characterised by relatively low levels of physical and human capital formation overall, its education provision has historically been unusually skewed towards secondary and tertiary levels. This has provided a limited supply of high productivity workers who have been employed predominantly in services.     

Rating the UK: the British government's sovereign credit ratings, 1976–8

The UK received its first sovereign credit ratings in 1978. Despite having required financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund only 18 months earlier, the British government managed to secure ‘triple‐A’ ratings from both Standard and Poor's and Moody's. Both assessments of creditworthiness reflected improving economic conditions but also British efforts to influence the sovereign ratings process. The Bank of England and the Treasury sought guidance from American investment banks to prepare for the ratings process and then controlled the flow of information available to the rating agencies accordingly, stressing the strengths of the national economy and downplaying the weaknesses. The British government subsequently launched its first bond issue in the New York market to high levels of investor demand. Consideration of these achievements complements the historiography concerning Britain's economic fortunes in the late 1970s. Scrutiny of events also offers a rare glimpse into the confidential sovereign ratings process. Both agencies relied on a combination of quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the UK. In addition, this article highlights the existence of a unique period in the history of sovereign credit ratings. From 1974 to 1985, the ratings industry enjoyed a cautious revival focused principally on ‘triple‐A’ borrowers.     

Total factor productivity growth on Britain’s railways, 1852–1912: A reappraisal of the evidence

This paper revisits the issue of the productivity performance of Britain’s railways with an improved dataset and modern cliometrics. We find a slowdown in TFP growth between 1850 and 1870, after which it stabilized at about 1.1%. An analysis of company-level productivity performance reveals large discrepancies in TFP growth and substantial cost inefficiency. The evidence suggests that there was managerial failure in companies with agency problems in a context of collusion and high entry barriers. A wider implication is that the neoclassical exoneration of late-Victorian British management may be less convincing for the services sector than for manufacturing.