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Curated

The 1990s Acceleration in Labor Productivity: Causes and Measurement (ICPSR 1335)

Released/updated on: 2006-11-29

Geographic coverage: United States

The acceleration of labor productivity growth that began during the mid-1990s is the defining economic event of the past decade. A consensus has arisen among economists that the acceleration was caused by technological innovations that decreased the quality-adjusted prices of semiconductors and related information and communications technology (ICT) products, including digital computers. In sharp contrast to the previous 20 years, services-producing sectors heavy users of ICT products-led the productivity increase, besting even a robust manufacturing sector. In this article, the authors survey the performance of the services-producing and goods-producing sectors and examine revisions to aggregate labor productivity data of the type commonly discussed by policymakers. The revisions, at times, were large enough to reverse preliminary conclusions regarding productivity growth slowdowns and accelerations. The anticipated acceleration in the services sector and the large size of revisions to aggregate data combine to shed light on why economists were slow to recognize the productivity acceleration.

Self-published

ECIN Replication Package for "The Age-Wage-Productivity Puzzle: Evidence from the Careers of Top Earners" (ICPSR 193381)

Released/updated on: 2023-10-02

This replication package contains all material necessary to recreate the tables and figures in "The Age-Wage-Productivity Puzzle: Evidence from the Careers of Top Earners" by Scarfe, Singleton, Sunmoni & Telemo (2023).

Abstract: There is an inverted u-shaped relationship between age and wages in most labour markets and occupations, but the effects of age on productivity are often unclear. We use panel data on productivity and salaries in a market of high earners, professional footballers (soccer players) in North America, to estimate age-productivity and age-wage profiles. We find stark differences between these profiles; wages continue to increase for several years after productivity has peaked, before dropping sharply at the end of a career. This discrepancy poses the question: why are middle-aged workers seemingly overpaid relative to their contemporaneous productivity? The richness of our dataset allows us to investigate a range of possible mechanisms that could be responsible, including institutional factors, unobserved elements of productivity, and a talent discovery theory, by which teams pay younger players less because their productivity is more uncertain. We find some evidence that tentatively supports this last mechanism.

Self-published

“Mechanization Takes Command?": Powered Machinery and Production Times in Late Nineteenth Century American Manufacturing (ICPSR 166741)

Released/updated on: 2022-04-04

Geographic coverage: United States

Time period: 1813-01-01--1896-01-01

During the nineteenth century, U.S. manufacturers shifted away from the “hand labor” mode of production, characteristic of artisan shops, to “machine labor,” which was increasingly concentrated in steam-powered factories. This transition fundamentally changed production tasks, jobs, and job requirements. This paper uses digitized data on these two production modes from an 1899 U.S. Commissioner of Labor report to estimate the frequency and impact of the use of inanimate power on production operation times. About half of production operations were mechanized; the use of inanimate power raised productivity, accounting for about one-quarter to one-third of the overall productivity advantage of machine labor. However, additional factors, such as the increased division of labor and adoption of high-volume production, also played quantitatively important roles in raising productivity in machine production versus by hand.

Curated

Weekly Production Scheduling at Assembly Plants in the United States Automobile Industry: 1972-1983 and 1990-2001 (ICPSR 23542)

Released/updated on: 2009-05-29

Geographic coverage: Canada, United States

Time period: 1972-01-01--1983-01-01, 1990-01-01--2001-01-01

This study analyzes weekly data at United States and Canadian automobile assembly plants in order to understand the short-run dynamics of manufacturing production, particularly with regard to business cycles. Although the automobile industry accounts for a small fraction of aggregate employment, it continues to account for a noticeable fraction of business cycle volatility. Hence, studies of this industry are very useful for understanding business cycles.

The data consist of information on weekly operations at United States and Canadian automobile assembly plants owned by the Detroit Three automakers (Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors). The dataset was constructed from industry trade publications that report production schedules at these assembly plants on a weekly basis over the two time periods: 1972-1983, and 1990-2001. The period 1984 to 1989 was excluded only because the authors did not have access to key publications at the time the data were collected. Certain heavy-truck and specialty vehicle facilities were excluded, such as the AMC General military vehicle plant, and GMAD Truck and Coach in Pontiac, MI, which primarily produces buses.

The dataset was collected mainly by reading the weekly production articles in Automotive News, which list the names of assembly plants that are closed each week because of union holidays, inventory adjustments, supply disruptions, and model changeovers. The articles also report which plants are working overtime hours each week. Observations on the line speed posted on each assembly line and the number of shifts working at each plant were collected from Wards Automotive Yearbook and Automotive News.

Unfortunately, the data do not include information on actual production and sales. Production and sales data are reported by model. It is very difficult to match up production and sales data to more than a few plants because most plants produce several models and most models are produced at several plants. Moreover, sales are not reported weekly.