Authors
Joel Cook and Antony Ede
Abstract
Before the release of Statistics New Zealand’s official productivity measures, in March 2006, there was much debate about how productivity should be measured in New Zealand. With the availability of the official series the focus can now move to what the productivity estimates might mean about New Zealand's economic performance since 1988. While the official measures are mainly based on international best practise there is still need to clarify some key methodological issues.
Drawing on two previously published papers by Statistics New Zealand, this paper seeks to clarify key methodological issues in the productivity measure. These issues are explored firstly via a comparison of methodology with two other relevant series. Secondly some of the decisions made in the development of the series are explored in more detail.
Productivity (PDF, 216KB)