The productivity slowdown of the 1970s and 1980s and the resumption of productivity growth in the 1990s have provoked controversy among policymakers and researchers. Economists have been forced to reexamine fundamental questions of measurement technique. Some researchers argue that econometric approaches to productivity measurement usefully address shortcomings of the dominant index number techniques while others maintain that current productivity statistics underreport damage to the environment. In this book, the contributors propose innovative approaches to these issues. The result is a state-of-the-art exposition of contemporary productivity analysis. Charles R. Hulten is professor of economics at the University of Maryland. He has been a senior research associate at the Urban Institute and is chair of the Conference on Research in Income and Wealth of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Michael Harper is chief of the Division of Productivity Research at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Edwin R. Dean, formerly associate commissioner for Productivity and Technology at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is adjunct professor of economics at The George Washington University.

International Applications of Productivity and Efficiency Analysis features a complete range of techniques utilized in frontier analysis, including extensions of existing techniques and the development of new techniques. Another feature is that most of the contributions use panel data in a variety of approaches. Finally, the range of empirical applications is at least as great as the range of techniques, and many of the applications are of considerable policy relevance.

"The international fragmentation of current production processes has led to an explosion of trade in intermediate products, indirectly impacting jobs, income, resources, energy, and emissions. Much of what is consumed is produced via global value chains contributing to climate change via carbon dioxide emissions. The editors analyse the complex interdependent international production structures and their links to social inequality and the environment, which has led to a demand for international input-output tables. Including an original introduction the new volumes comprehensively present research that has advanced the state of the art in input-output analysis over the past two decades"--

OECD's journal on science, technology and industry issues. This issue includes articles on science and technology indicators.