TFP in the Manufacturing Sector : Insights from a New Dataset Based on Macro-Panel Estimations

We employ a recently developed empirical strategy to estimate country-specific and time-varying manufacturing total factor productivity (TFP) levels in 63 countries over nearly 40 years. The methodology is based on estimated country-specific production functions while accounting for cross-section dependence and nonstationary series. Our key findings show that: i) the TFP that is common across countries has known an upward trend despite a number of slumps, notably during the 2007-2009 great recession; ii) the leading positions in terms of productivity in the manufacturing sector have remained the prerogative of major developed countries; iii) some countries have succeeded in climbing the ladder through outstanding productivity growth; and iv) regional blocs have had different experiences in terms of the dispersion dynamics of TFP levels