--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-29/progress-on-the-mystery-of-productivity-a-review-article-on-the-oecd-report-the-future-of-productivity/" title: "Progress on the Mystery of Productivity: A Review Article on the OECD Report The Future of Productivity" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T07:40:48+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T07:40:48+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Fall 2015" ipm_keyword: - "Canada" - "firm-level" - "frontier firms" - "labour market" - "laggard firms" - "OECD" - "productivity" - "review article" - "technology diffusion" - "The Future of Productivity" ipm_research_theme: - "Policy and institutions" ipm_country_focus: - "Canada" - "International" - "OECD" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Progress on the Mystery of Productivity: A Review Article on the OECD Report The Future of Productivity Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-29/progress-on-the-mystery-of-productivity-a-review-article-on-the-oecd-report-the-future-of-productivity/ # Progress on the Mystery of Productivity: A Review Article on the OECD Report The Future of Productivity [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-29-6-Drummond.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Drummond, Don. 2015. “Progress on the Mystery of Productivity: A Review Article on the OECD Report The Future of Productivity.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 29 (Fall 2015): 83–88. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-29/progress-on-the-mystery-of-productivity-a-review-article-on-the-oecd-report-the-future-of-productivity/ ## Author: - Don Drummond Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## IPM Issue 29 Fall 2015 pp. 83–88 ## Related IPM articles [Is the SNA Still Useful? 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Yet many countries, including Canada, that have implemented the OECD paradigm reasonably faithfully have not experienced strong productivity. Indeed, many OECD members, again including Canada, have experienced a decline in multi-factor productivity over the past 15 years. The record makes it fair to conclude that the OECD has not cracked the mysteries of productivity. So when the organization releases a new study under the bold title of The Future of Productivity certain questions are natural. Does the OECD have new and different perspectives to add? Will these perspectives lead to policy ideas that will succeed in raising productivity growth among member countries? The answer to the first question is a resounding yes. The OECD flags, quite appropriately, that the research needs to go beyond the so-called policy fundamentals and examine the behavior or firms, particularly why some firms so badly lag others in productivity. The OECD also now places much more emphasis on how human talent is allocated to jobs. This also seems promising. Whether such new directions of research will finally crack the mystery of productivity remains to be seen. But the OECD research program is heading in the right direction and warrants close attention. THE OECD HAS RECENTLY PUBLISHED a new Pendant des décennies, l’OCDE a été un chef de file dans la recherche sur la productivité et le développement d’idées politiques pour la renforcer. Pourtant, de nombreux pays, dont le Canada, qui ont mis en œuvre le paradigme de l’OCDE de manière raisonnablement fidèle n’ont pas connu une forte productivité. En fait, de nombreux membres de l’OCDE, dont le Canada, ont connu un déclin de la productivité multifactorielle au cours des 15 dernières années. Ce bilan permet de conclure que l’OCDE n’a pas résolu les mystères de la productivité. Aussi, lorsque l’organisation publie une nouvelle étude sous le titre audacieux L’avenir de la productivité, certaines questions se posent naturellement. L’OCDE a-t-elle de nouvelles perspectives à ajouter? Ces perspectives mèneront-elles à des idées politiques qui réussiront à stimuler la croissance de la productivité parmi les pays membres? La réponse à la première question est un oui retentissant. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-29-6-Drummond.pdf)