Jean-Pierre Maynard

A Comparison of Canadian and U.S. Productivity Levels: An Exploration of Measurement Issues

This paper examines the level of labour productivity in Canada relative to that of the United States in 1999. In doing so, it addresses two main issues. The first is the comparability of the measures of GDP and labour inputs that the statistical agency in each country produces. Second, it investigates how a price index can be constructed to reconcile estimates of Canadian and U.S. GDP per hour worked that are calculated in Canadian and U.S. dollars respectively. After doing so, and taking into account alternative assumptions about Canada/U.S. prices, the paper provides point estimates of Canadas relative labour productivity of the total economy in 1999 of around 94% that of the United States. The paper points out that at least a 10 percentage point confidence interval should be applied to these estimates. The size of the range is particularly sensitive to assumptions that are made about import and export prices.

Catching Up and Falling Behind: The Performance of Provincial GDP Per Capita from 1990 to 2003

This paper compares gross domestic product (GDP) per capita across Canadian provinces for the period 1990 to 2003. It starts by examining relative GDP per capita measured in current dollars across provinces and over time. In the second section, growth in nominal dollar GDP is broken down into a price and a volume component to determine whether growth over the period came from a higher volume of real output or higher prices received for the products being produced. In the third section, the relationship between increases in the volume component (real GDP per capita) and changes in productivity or in labour market conditions (hours worked per employee and the proportion of the working age population employed) is explored.

The Output Gap between Canada and the United States: The Role of Productivity (1994-2002)

The difference in the output gap (GDP per capita) between Canada and the United States is broken down into two components - differences in productivity (GDP per hour worked) and differences in effort (hours worked per capita) for the period 1994 to 2002. The paper shows that, on average, the majority of the output gap is accounted for by differences in hours worked rather than differences in productivity. Since 1994, the output gap has narrowed slightly, primarily because of an increase in hours worked in Canada relative to the United States.

A Comparison of GDP Per Capita in Canada and the United States from 1994 to 2005

This study examines differences in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita between Canada and the United States from 1994 to 2005. The gap in GDP per capita between the two countries has narrowed slightly over this period. The study decomposed the gap into two components: one due to labour productivity and one due to labour market conditions, and shows that the relative importance of the two changed considerably after 2000. The output gap has narrowed slightly since 2000, primarily because Canadas labour market experienced a faster rate of job growth relative to its population than did the United States.