Economics
Productivity
Productivity refers to the efficiency with which inputs, such as labor and capital, are used to produce goods and services. It is a key measure of economic performance and is often linked to technological advancements, innovation, and the organization of production processes. Higher productivity generally leads to increased output and economic growth.
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10 Key excerpts on "Productivity"
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Orange Apple(Publisher)
____________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ____________________ Chapter- 6 Productivity Productivity is a measure of output from a production process, per unit of input. For example, labor Productivity is typically measured as a ratio of output per labor-hour, an input. Productivity may be conceived of as a metric of the technical or engineering efficiency of production. As such, the emphasis is on quantitative metrics of input, and sometimes output. Productivity is distinct from metrics of allocative efficiency, which take into account both the monetary value (price) of what is produced and the cost of inputs used, and also distinct from metrics of profitability, which address the difference between the revenues obtained from output and the expense associated with consumption of inputs. Comparison of average total Productivity levels between the OECD member states. Productivity is measured as GDP per hour worked. Blue bars = higher than OECD-average Productivity. Yellow bars = lower than average. ____________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ____________________ Economic growth and Productivity Components of economic growth (Saari 2006) Production is a process of combining various material inputs (stuff) and immaterial inputs (plans, know-how) in order to make something for consumption (the output). The methods of combining the inputs of production in the process of making output are called technology. Technology can be depicted mathematically by the production function which describes the relation between input and output. The production function can be used as a measure of relative performance when comparing technologies. The production function is a simple description of the mechanism of economic growth. Economic growth is defined as any production increase of a business or nation (whatever you are measuring). It is usually expressed as an annual growth percentage depicting growth of the company output (per entity) or the national product (per nation).
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- College Publishing House(Publisher)
____________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ____________________ Chapter- 15 Productivity Productivity is a measure of output from a production process, per unit of input. For example, labor Productivity is typically measured as a ratio of output per labor-hour, an input. Productivity may be conceived of as a metric of the technical or engineering efficiency of production. As such, the emphasis is on quantitative metrics of input, and sometimes output. Productivity is distinct from metrics of allocative efficiency, which take into account both the monetary value (price) of what is produced and the cost of inputs used, and also distinct from metrics of profitability, which address the difference between the revenues obtained from output and the expense associated with consumption of inputs. Comparison of average total Productivity levels between the OECD member states. Productivity is measured as GDP per hour worked. Blue bars = higher than OECD-average Productivity. Yellow bars = lower than average. ____________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ____________________ Economic growth and Productivity Components of economic growth (Saari 2006) Production is a process of combining various material inputs (stuff) and immaterial inputs (plans, know-how) in order to make something for consumption (the output). The methods of combining the inputs of production in the process of making output are called technology. Technology can be depicted mathematically by the production function which describes the relation between input and output. The production function can be used as a measure of relative performance when comparing technologies. The production function is a simple description of the mechanism of economic growth. Economic growth is defined as any production increase of a business or nation (whatever you are measuring). It is usually expressed as an annual growth percentage depicting growth of the company output (per entity) or the national product (per nation).
eBook - PDFSucceed with Productivity and Quality
How to Do Better with Less
- Imre Bernolak(Author)
- 2009(Publication Date)
- ASQ Quality Press(Publisher)
We work in order to produce the goods and services that we want. Productivity is the relationship between what is produced and the resources used in its production. Productivity is output per input, such as x number of chairs pro- duced per y number of labor hours. Productivity = Output Input There are, however, many ways of looking at Productivity. The produc- tivity of a worker may differ due to many factors such as his or her abil- ity and effort, the tools available, the organization of the work, and so on. Productivity is like health. It has many determinants and must be viewed from many angles to understand it and be able to improve it. When we do not feel well, the doctor will look at the symptoms, take our temperature, order tests and X-rays, ultrasounds, or MRIs, and so on, and from all these findings he or she can choose the medication needed to make us better. It is the same with Productivity, our economic health. It is necessary to look at what resources are used and how they are combined to produce the results we want. Productivity, therefore, consists of a family of concepts and measures. One measure of Productivity shows how much a person can produce in a certain time period with the available machines and tools. For instance, Chapter 1: What Is Productivity? 5 a worker can produce a certain number of chairs per day. Another produc- tivity measure shows how much can be produced from the materials used, for example, how many chairs can be made from a certain amount of wood. A third Productivity measure shows how many products can be manufac- tured with a kilowatt-hour of energy. The better we combine and use the resources, the higher our Productivity will be and the better off we will be. The result of Productivity is the “pie.” The only way we are going to get a bigger “pie” for the work we do for ourselves, our families, or the organ- izations that provide our jobs is by increasing the pie.
eBook - PDF- Kanta Marwah(Author)
- 1997(Publication Date)
- World Scientific(Publisher)
27 INTERNATIONAL Productivity COMPARISONS (A REVIEW) t Meaning of Productivity According to the Oxford English Dictionary (1971), Productivity is equated to productiveness, 1 which, in turn, is defined as ... fruitfulness; abundance or rich-ness in output. Solomon Fabricant, writing in the Encyclopedia of the Social Sci-ences (Fabricant, 1968), states, ... Productivity measures the fruitfulness of human labor . . . . In another sense, Productivity measures the efficiency with which re-sources as a whole including capital as well as manpower are employed in produc-tion. In these general terms, Productivity carries a meaning that is fairly well known, in an intuitive sense, to most people and is, by and large, a good thing, something to be encouraged and desired. There are those, however, who fear Productivity to the extent that it might lead to displacement from work. This is the case in which Productivity enhancement comes about through technological progress. Nonparametric measurement. Productivity, as I shall use the term in this essay, has a technical meaning that is obviously tied to the dictionary meaning. I shall look at Productivity in two ways, nonparametrically and parametrically. In a nonparametric sense, I shall define Productivity as some simple ratio, but with common-sense meaning: X/L = labor Productivity, where X = output and L = labor input, and X/TF = total factor Productivity, where TF = L + (r/w)K, r = capital rental, w = wage rate, and K = capital stock. These two key ratios for labor and for total factor Productivity seem to be simple enough, but in careful measurement for quantitative economics each numerator and denominator requires precise specification. If an economic establishment — firm, plant, enterprise — produces a single output, X is best measured as the physical number of units produced in a given + From Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol.
eBook - PDF- Hiram Simmons Davis(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
Under these conditions, output, in expanding from zero, would first rise at an increasing rate and thereafter at a continually diminishing rate as more and more of the given inputs were added. But the term Productivity is no longer limited to these idealized circumstances. It is now widely used especially in 167 168 Productivity ACCOUNTING gauging the economic performance of a nation to mean the actual output obtained for the actual resources expended. 1 In computing this ratio, it has been customary (as observed in Chapter I) to relate output only to the labor input involved whether the computation be for a nation, industry, or other economic unit. In part this practice has been followed for convenience because data on labor input in man-hours have usually been far less difficult to assemble than those on other inputs. Nevertheless this practice may lead some persons to identify Productivity measurement exclusively with the ratio of output to man-hours expended. Perhaps a case can be made for the use of only labor input in the denominator of the Productivity ratio at the national level. It is comprehensive enough at this level to include the manpower used in the production of the materials, energy, and services that a single firm or industry would procure from others and of such capital equipment as was made during the period under study (or to the extent imported, the manpower used in the commodities and services offered in exchange). But though production could not take place without manpower, it could also not take place in the abundance known in the United States without the accumulation of capital in the form of plant, equipment, and other facilities, and the use of many scarce natural resources. It is possible at the national level to regard the process of accumulating capital goods (saving-investment process) and a proven stock of natural resources as necessary conditions for industrialized production rather than as inputs.
eBook - ePub- Michael Haynes(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Agenda Publishing(Publisher)
Productivity for this second effect. Productivity here is efficiency, it is a ratio of inputs to outputs and it is the driving force of intensive growth.Output = Productivity level Changes in outputs = Productivity growth Input Changes in inputs We can get more out separately from each of the factors of production. There is the land input, and this might lead us to think of land Productivity . There is labour: the physical and nervous energy we expend. This would lead us to think about labour Productivity . And there is capital: the buildings, roads, machinery and computers that make our lives easier. This leads to the idea capital Productivity . Productivity can also refer to getting more out from these factors of production when we combine them: this is what economists mean when they talk of total factor Productivity .After 1945 a focus on Productivity became central to much of the debate about economic policy and economics. The Cold War seemed to involve a competition of two systems in which victory would go to the one with the superior Productivity growth. “History is on our side. We will bury you”, said Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the USSR, in 1956. He was wrong. Just over three and a half decades later the USSR collapsed. But geopolitical tensions have not gone away. China, with its own story of surging Productivity growth, has emerged as a new challenger. In the poorer parts of the world, after decolonization, the hope too was to break free of the low-Productivity–low-income traps that seemed to characterize the lives of the larger part of the world’s population. And in the most advanced regions, governments focused on Productivity as one of the most important tests of longer-term economic success as well as one of the keys to shorter-run economic stability. Productivity came to be seen as important to political and social development and cohesion. If Productivity growth could increase the size of the cake, there would be more for everyone. The edge would be taken off distributional conflicts.
eBook - ePub- Kurt Heinze(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
CHAPTER 6 Productivity The objectives of this chapter are: to define the terms “Productivity” and “production”. to describe performance standards and adjustments to a uniform base. to identify factors that affect Productivity. to describe a system to measure and improve performance. The term Productivity has different meanings for different individuals. Most people associate Productivity with hard work. An economist measures Productivity as a percentage yield on capital investment. The Department of Commerce measures dollars of output over workhours of input. Dollars per kilowatt is another measure used by industry. Whatever definitions we use, it is the objective to improve total performance and to become more effective within the competitive world economy. Introduction The harder I work, the behinder I get. Unknown Productivity is directly related to competition and living standards. This chapter deals with the identification and measurement of factors that affect Productivity, the optimization of human resources and the outline of a system that measures performance against Productivity standards and the resulting reports. 6.1 Defining Productivity and Production Many of us who have walked a construction site felt an active air of efficiency. The trades looked busy and everything seemed to harmonize. On another site, we may have encountered the opposite. Groups of workers stood around or were in each other’s way. Tools and materials were scattered all over the place. We have no doubt in our mind, which site is more productive. It is a subjective observation, however, the apparent efficiency was not defined or measured. We assumed, for example, that all direct work done was necessary. An example of a very efficient and highly productive operation was the construction of the Manufacturer’s Life Building in downtown Toronto several years ago. The deep excavation took in a whole city block bordered on two sides by the busiest streets in Toronto
eBook - ePubProductivity Analysis
An Empirical Investigation
- Doris Yi-Hsin Wang(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Taylor & Francis(Publisher)
IIProductivity Measurement ConsiderationsIn the economics and management accounting literature Productivity measurement is applied at national, industry, and company levels. This chapter reviews the relevant literature on Productivity research at each of these three levels; ultimately, Productivity measurements at industry and company levels are emphasized. Most studies in the economics literature have been focused on Productivity measurement at the national level and/or industry level. Some studies in the management accounting literature discuss the application of Productivity measurement at the company level.Productivity, for macroeconomics purposes, is viewed generally as a measure of efficiency, the relationship between outputs and inputs for a total national economy (Mclnnes, 1984). Kendrick [1984] defines Productivity at the micro level by using sales revenues as outputs and all production costs as inputs. Both definitions serve in this study as a general frame of reference for reviewing the relevant Productivity literature.THE U.S. FOCUS ON ECONOMIC GROWTH
Research on Productivity at the national level is directly connected with an increased public interest in economic growth. One useful definition of economic growth is the steady process of increasing the productive capacity of the economy and, hence, of increasing national income (The American Dictionary of Economics, 1983). After the energy crisis of the 1970s, Productivity research became even more important because of our need to achieve increased economic growth in the U.S. economy (Kendrick, 1984).In the 1970s, the Committee on Changing International Realities of the National Planning Association appointed Dunn and Neftci as researchers to review recent American economic growth; they were to compare U.S. growth with the growth of six other major industrial countries, including Japan, the USSR, Canada, and three European countries (i.e., the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany). There were two major purposes for their study: (1) to evaluate the performance of the U.S. economy, and (2) to analyze the factors that could improve economic growth.
eBook - ePub- Conrad Blyth(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Taylor & Francis(Publisher)
CHAPTER TENThe Productivity of British Industries1. Efficiency and Productivity
An important idea in economic discussion is the efficiency with which a certain expenditure of effort produces a result. Efficiency is not a simple idea: it has several possible meanings. For example, the efficiency of a certain type of petrol in a certain type of motor car could be defined as the number of miles travelled for each gallon of petrol consumed. To measure this, we would run the car for a month, and divide the miles travelled by the gallons of petrol consumed to obtain the measure of efficiency as ‘so many miles per gallon’. But we know that the efficient use of petrol by the car’s engine depends upon the skill of the driver, the topography of the roads, the state of the tyres, the average speed of travel, etc. Furthermore, we would know that petrol consumption can be reduced—within limits—if we are prepared to use more oil. Thus if we were comparing the efficiencies of petrol in two cars we would attempt to run the cars in identical conditions—on the same roads, using the same amount of oil, etc.—a state of affairs which can not always be completely achieved.This everyday example draws attention to two important features of the idea of efficiency. First, we usually define it as the ratio of an output (miles travelled) to an input (gallons of petrol consumed) i.e. so many units of output per unit of input. Second, there are usually several inputs used in producing the output, and the efficiency of one of the inputs depends upon the quantity of the other inputs used.The efficiency of the working population of a country, or of the labour force of a firm or industry, can be discussed in these terms. We commonly measure the efficiency of the labour force of an industry as the average annual output per person employed, i.e. we take the ratio of total annual output to number of people employed. This measure is called labour Productivity;
eBook - ePub- Enrico Colombatto(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Taylor & Francis(Publisher)
3 The economics of production and growthDOI: 10.4324/9781315658988-43.1 What can the economics of production tell us?
The relationship between the economics profession and the analysis of production is mixed. On the one hand, economists are attracted by production because it is conceptually simple, does not involve subjective judgements, and provides plenty of opportunities to engage in measurement. In particular, the economist of production observes prices of inputs and outputs, and selects the appropriate techniques to minimise costs and meet consumers’ preferences. Yet, he feels ill at ease when he tries to model how production develops, better technologies come to the surface and progress, new products are conceived, know-how is acquired, people interact and organisations evolve. Ideally, the economist would like to deal with a ‘typical’ firm, and then refer to real firms as specific examples of the typical firms. Yet, the typical firm exists even less than the typical consumer, and theorising becomes a daunting exercise.Not surprisingly, the economics profession has in fact restrained its ambitions, and inclined to engage in attempts to enhance our understanding of the production process by categorising the various phenomena involved. In this chapter, therefore, we shall clarify the main concepts that have become familiar in everyday economic parlance (sections 3.2–3.4), delve into the relationship between the economics of production and the life of firms (sections 3.5–3.7) and conclude by commenting on the consequences for growth (section 3.8).3.2 Production functions, technologies and Productivity
The basic working tool of production economics is the so-called ‘production function’, which shows how inputs are employed and generate output, subject to an efficiency constraint. Efficiency means that the agent succeeds in producing the maximum possible amount of output, given a set of inputs; or in using the minimum amount of inputs, given an output target. In other words, efficient production means no wastages. Economists describe all this in terms of ‘techniques’ and ‘technologies’. The term ‘technique’ illustrates how inputs can be mixed and transformed into output. For example, a producer can use technique T1 and produce one unit of output with three units of labour and two units of capital; or technique T2 and produce one unit of output with seven units of labour and one unit of capital, or technique T3 and produce one unit of output with nine units of labour and two units of capital (note that T3 is inefficient, since T1 and T2
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