Malmquist productivity index of the manufacturing sector in Canada from 1994 to 2002, with a focus on the wood manufacturing sector.

摘要

In this study, the productivity changes of the manufacturing industries in Canada were evaluated using the Malmquist productivity index, then the productivity change was decomposed into the frontier shift (technical change) and efficiency change (catch-up effect). The frontier shift is the change in the best practice frontier over time, typically due to changes in technology, while the catch-up effect is the change over time in the efficiency of each unit individually. The results of the analysis showed that the productivity of the Canadian manufacturing sector (on average) improved in 2002 compared with that of 1994 and the main reason for this growth was the frontier shift. However, during the same period in Canada, a slight descent was observed in the productivity of the wood products manufacturing sector, mainly due to a decline in efficiency change. This decline could have been due to various factors such as the decline in capital expenditure and the low educational level of the workforce..