"Economic and Social Aspects of Productivity"

Preliminary draft: comments appreciated. Since this paper is certain to be revised substantially please check with author before citation or quotation. 2 Economic and Social Aspects of Productivity There is a very large literature on productivity, most of which is entirely economic in nature. Hence, the novelty of this paper is the joint consideration of social and economic aspects in productivity. The question, then, is twofold: (1) what is missing from standard analyses of productivity and (2) how should one incorporate social concerns in an analysis of productivity To address these issues, the paper begins by asking how to define productivity, before proceeding to a consideration of the bidirectional influences of social factors on productivity, and the social impact of changing productivity levels. Reference is made to the paper The Relationship Between Productivity and Economic Well-Being, by Andrew Sharpe, and some other relevant literature. The paper concludes with suggestions for a future research agenda. 1. What is Productivity? Careful thinking about productivity is useful, because the idea is sometimes defined i