GDP Growth Accounting: A National Income Function Approach

In this paper, we provide a decomposition of GDP growth that is complete and exact for the translog national income function and for the Törnqvist index of real GDP. The contributions of changes in output quantities, factor prices and total factor productivity are identified. Special consideration is given to foreign trade, with imports treated as a negative output. Annual estimates for the United States are reported for the period 1948–98.