This pathbreaking volume conveys the "state of the art" of contemporary research on productivity growth and international competitiveness--arguably the most important problems facing contemporary economics. Adopting a worldwide perspective that features comparative analyses of both industrialized and developing countries, the book assembles papers from an international roster of leading scholars who cover a wide range of complementary topics and approaches. A number of the papers attempt to increase the clarity of thinking about "competitiveness" by developing formal definitions of the concept and relating it to more conventional economics concepts such as productivity. Some provide a macroeconomic perspective whereas others compare cross-sections of individual industries across countries or analyze the efficacy of industrial policies to promote competitiveness. Among the common themes, which are highlighted in the editor's overview chapter, are the measurement of labor and total factor productivity, accounting for the sources of productivity growth, the use of purchasing power parity indexes in international comparisons of productivity levels, the worldwide productivity slowdown, the extent of productivity convergence among developed economies, the primacy of exchange rate fluctuations in short-term movements of competitiveness since the early 1970's, and the causes of the apparent loss of U.S. competitiveness during the 1980's.
Author(s): Bert G. Hickman
Year: 1992
Language: English
Pages: 416
Contents......Page 8
1. International Productivity and Competitiveness: An Overview......Page 12
I: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES......Page 40
2. Restructuring of the World Economy......Page 42
3. Aggregate Productivity and Growth in an International Comparative Setting......Page 58
4. Productivity, Competitiveness, and Export Growth in Developing Countries......Page 89
5. Productivity, Competitiveness, and the Socialist System......Page 106
II: COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF MARKET ECONOMIES......Page 144
6. An International Comparison of Manufacturing Productivity and Unit Labor Cost Trends......Page 146
7. Intercountry Changes in Productivity in the Manufacturing Sector of Five OECD Countries, 1963–86......Page 167
8. An International Comparison of the Multisectoral Production Structure of the United States, West Germany, and Japan......Page 186
9. Productivity and International Competitiveness in Japan and the United States, 1960–85......Page 212
10. International Competitiveness of U.S. and Japanese Manufacturing Industries......Page 239
III: U.S. INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS......Page 262
11. Macroeconomic Policies, Competitiveness, and U.S. External Adjustment......Page 264
12. U.S. Competitiveness and the Exchange Rate: A General Equilibrium Analysis of the U.S. Economy, 1982–86......Page 285
13. Technology, Capital Formation, and U.S. Competitiveness......Page 308
IV: COUNTRY STUDIES......Page 336
14. Price and Output Adjustment in Japanese Manufacturing......Page 338
15. The Trade and Industrial Policies of Postwar Japan: A Theoretical Perspective......Page 354
16. Protection and International Competitiveness: A View from West Germany......Page 373
B......Page 402
C......Page 403
E......Page 404
G......Page 406
I......Page 407
L......Page 408
M......Page 409
P......Page 410
S......Page 412
T......Page 413
U......Page 414
Z......Page 416
