Productivity Issues in Canada: A Review Article

This article, by Ian A. Stewart, is a review of the recently released Industry Canada research volume Productivity Issues in Canada, edited by Someshwar Rao and Andrew Sharpe. Stewart begins by noting that at over 900 pages and 25 papers the volume represents an important contribution to the productivity literature in Canada. He points out that data and measurement issues represent a central theme in the volume. Stewart also comments on what he sees as the diminishing importance of the macroeconomic perspective in the analysis of productivity growth. He believes that the golden age of productivity growth during the 1945-73 period was in large part due to the solid macroeconomic performance of the period, a theme not addressed by any of the papers in the volume.