No. 49, Fall 2025
The International Productivity Monitor (IPM) is the joint flagship publication of the Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) in Canada and The Productivity Institute.
Articles from the current edition of the IPM can be accessed below. Access to back issues from before 2021 as well as information on submission of papers for publication in the IPM can be obtained from the CSLS website. To receive publication information and updates from the International Productivity Monitor, please subscribe to our mailing list.
Number 49, Fall 2025
Editors’ Overview Andrew Sharpe (Centre for the Study of Living Standards), Bart van Ark (The Productivity Institute, The University of Manchester) and Paul Schreyer (Economics Statistics Centre of Excellence, King’s College London)
- The 49th issue of the International Productivity Monitor features six articles on a range of productivity-related topics: the potential impact of pro-competitive regulatory reforms on productivity; adult skills and productivity; labour productivity as a measure of technological change; efficiencies defences and productivity growth; efficiency adjustments of hours worked; and the usefulness of the System of National Accounts (SNA) as a measure of progress.
The Potential Impact of Pro-competitive Regulatory Reforms on Productivity and Growth in Canada Gilbert Cette (NEOMA Business School) Jimmy Lopez (Université de Bourgogne) Giuseppe Nicoletti (LUISS University) and Océane Vernerey (Université de Bourgogne)
- This article examines the potential impact pro-competitive regulatory reforms on productivity and growth in Canada. It finds that regulation in upstream sectors, which supply inputs to the rest of the economy has a negative impact of productivity. If Canada were to adopt best international regulatory practice in these sectors, especially retail and wholesale trade and professional services, GDP per capita could rise in the long run between 6.5 and 10 per cent, depending on the reforms implemented.
Adult Skills and Productivity: New Evidence from PIAAC 2023 Dan Andrews, Balázs Égert and Christine de La Maisonneuve (OECD)
- This article uses the results of the 2023 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to show that there is a positive relationship across countries between labour productivity and the average level of adult skills at the industry level, reflecting in part the link between adult skills and R&D intensity.
Labour Productivity as a Measure of Technological Change Ulrich Kohli (University of Geneva)
- This research argues that the reason labour productivity is not a suitable measure of technological change is that it ignores the role of capital in the production process. Ulrich Kohli proposes a new productivity measure called Total Labour Productivity that takes the usage of capital into account, finding that the growth rate of this measure is between traditional labour productivity and total factor productivity.
The Relationship between Efficiencies Defenses for Mergers and TFP Growth Robin Shaban (2R Strategy)
- Robin Shaban from 2R Strategy examines the productivity impact of the adoption of efficiencies defence for mergers in competition law. She finds evidence that introducing efficiencies defence is associated with higher total factor productivity growth, due to greater economies of scale and scope.
Efficiency Adjustment of Hours Worked: Two Possible Modifications of a Jorgensen Production Model Barbara M. Fraumeni (University of Southern Maine)
- Using the PIAAC results on skills, this research finds that the efficiency of workers varies by age, with workers above 35 less efficient than those in the 25-34 age group. Barbara Fraumeni applied these age-group efficiency adjustments to total hours worked in the United States from 1976 to 2013 and finds that the difference between age efficiency adjusted and non-adjusted hours worked is only 0.01 percentage point, with minimal effects on total factor productivity growth.
Is the SNA Still Useful? A Review Article on The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters Paul Schreyer (Economics Statistics Centre of Excellence)
- An important contribution to the Beyond GDP debate in 2025 is the book The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters by Diane Coyle. Paul Schreyer from ESCoE, and former OECD Chief Statistician, reviews what he calls her thought-provoking critique of the System of National Accounts, but argues that GDP remains a good tool for gauging economic developments.
