We construct labour productivity estimates for 184 industries spanning the entire UK economy – more than double the granularity available from official datasets. To do so, we use only publicly available data sources and transparent and reproducible methods in order to enable our estimates to be used, adapted and updated by other researchers.
Our methods ensure a high degree of consistency with official productivity statistics and conformity with National Accounts concepts. While this level of granularity presents potential data quality concerns, the trade-off between granularity and quality in our estimates is more favourable than that inherent in official productivity statistics. We also include detailed discussion of measurement issues pertinent to UK productivity statistics. Two applications of our estimates are included: one providing new insights on the distribution of productivity across the UK economy, and one demonstrating the use for policy analysis.
Authors Josh Martin, Cliodhna Taylor