Improving Understanding and Measurement of Productivity
October 2020
Authors: Dr Fengjie Pan, Professor Simon Collinson, Professor Anne Green, Dr Magda Cepeda Zorrilla
Productivity is considered to have a direct impact on individual business success and therefore is a critical determinant of economic growth. However, understanding what productivity means varies across economic sectors and these sectoral differences in understanding productivity are also linked to differences in prioritising what is measured, and in turn, differences in actions taken to improve the firm performance. In order to improve productivity levels, it is essential to have a clear understanding of what productivity means and how can we measure it. We are seeking to address this is the gap in knowledge in our study by exploring the measurement of productivity from the managers’ perspective and also the measures used and the actions taken to improve it.
In this policy brief, we are reporting the findings of our study which collected data from 300 managers’ firms in the West Midlands region, across the Business Professional and Financial Services (BPFS); Advanced Manufacturing (AM); Retail (R); and Hospitality (H) sectors. This brief provides a list of policy implications of the variation in understanding productivity and concludes with a series of recommendations for policymakers.
Find out more about our work on Productivity - Productivity and Prosperity: Inclusive Growth for the West Midlands.