--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-19/aggregate-measures-of-income-and-output-in-canada-and-the-united-states-implications-for-productivity-and-living-standards/" title: "Aggregate Measures of Income and Output in Canada and the United States: Implications for Productivity and Living Standards" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T07:31:41+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T07:31:41+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Spring 2010" ipm_keyword: - "Canada" - "GDP" - "GNI" - "living standards" - "national income" - "NDP" - "NNI" - "output measures" - "productivity" - "terms of trade" - "United States" ipm_research_theme: - "Measurement and methodology" ipm_country_focus: - "Canada" - "United States" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Aggregate Measures of Income and Output in Canada and the United States: Implications for Productivity and Living Standards Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-19/aggregate-measures-of-income-and-output-in-canada-and-the-united-states-implications-for-productivity-and-living-standards/ # Aggregate Measures of Income and Output in Canada and the United States: Implications for Productivity and Living Standards [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-19-2-Ross-Murray.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Ross, Chris, and Alexander Murray. 2010. “Aggregate Measures of Income and Output in Canada and the United States: Implications for Productivity and Living Standards.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 19 (Spring 2010): 20–39. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-19/aggregate-measures-of-income-and-output-in-canada-and-the-united-states-implications-for-productivity-and-living-standards/ ## Authors: - Chris Ross University of Toronto - Alexander Murray Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## IPM Issue 19 Spring 2010 pp. 20–39 ## Related IPM articles [Is the SNA Still Useful? 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It argues that GDP and NDP are the most appropriate measures for productivity analysis, while net national income (NNI) is the best living standards measure as it captures terms of trade effects, net income from abroad, and capital stock sustainability. NNI per capita in Canada was 86 per cent of the U.S. level in 2008, considerably higher than the 80.3 per cent GDP per capita ratio. Cet article clarifie les définitions et produit des estimations des huit mesures agrégées du revenu et de la production (PIB, PNB, PIN, PNN, RIBR, RNBR, RINR, RNNR) pour le Canada et les États-Unis sur la période 1980-2008. Il soutient que le PIB et le PIN sont les mesures les plus appropriées pour l’analyse de la productivité, tandis que le revenu national net (RNN) est la meilleure mesure du niveau de vie car il capture les effets des termes de l’échange, le revenu net de l’étranger et la durabilité du stock de capital. Le RNN par habitant au Canada représentait 86 % du niveau américain en 2008, nettement plus élevé que le ratio PIB par habitant de 80,3 %. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-19-2-Ross-Murray.pdf)