http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/2003_archives/002151.html Morgan Stanley's Stephen Roach has two criticisms of the amazing productivity statistics, both of which are, I think, half right. The first criticism is that we are overestimating the growth in the value of the white-collar work done. The second criticism is that we are underestimating the number of hours that white-collar workers are putting in: Morgan Stanley: This is where the productivity miracle falls apart, in my view. I honestly don't think we have a clue as to how to measure productivity in the white-collar services sector. The problems lie both in the numerator (output) and the denominator (labor input) of the productivity equation. The production of the proverbial "widget" makes measurement of tangible output in the manufacturing sector relatively easy by comparison. The intangible output of services is a different matter altogether. Measuring quality-adjusted value-added in knowledge-based activities is tough in theory and virtually impossible in practice. Yet that's exactly what the productivity metric requires us to do. Is it correct to measure the output of a software programmer, for instance, by the lines of code that he or she writes? Or the number of words that an analyst produces? Or is less more? To me, the efficient en-us http://www.zackvision.com/weblog/archives/entry/000458.html While talking about the economic output per hour and hours worked in different countries, I had a question about estimating productivity in the IT industry: I also have a question for anyone who knows economics more than I do. Everyone... http://www.zackvision.com/weblog/archives/entry/000458.html While talking about the economic output per hour and hours worked in different countries, I had a question about estimating productivity in the IT industry: I also have a question for anyone who knows economics more than I do. Everyone... http://www.zackvision.com/weblog/archives/entry/000458.html While talking about the economic output per hour and hours worked in different countries, I had a question about estimating productivity in the IT industry: I also have a question for anyone who knows economics more than I do. Everyone...