--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-30/new-and-promising-ideas-in-the-productivity-field-review-article-on-think-like-an-enterprise-why-nations-need-comprehensive-productivity-strategies-by-robert-atkinson/" title: "New and Promising Ideas in the Productivity Field: Review Article on Think Like an Enterprise: Why Nations Need Comprehensive Productivity Strategies by Robert Atkinson" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T07:40:52+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T07:40:52+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Spring 2016" ipm_keyword: - "Atkinson" - "Canada" - "cost of capital" - "industrial strategy" - "innovation" - "ITIF" - "policy" - "productivity" - "review article" - "technology" ipm_research_theme: - "Policy and institutions" ipm_country_focus: - "Canada" - "OECD" - "United States" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # New and Promising Ideas in the Productivity Field: Review Article on Think Like an Enterprise: Why Nations Need Comprehensive Productivity Strategies by Robert Atkinson Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-30/new-and-promising-ideas-in-the-productivity-field-review-article-on-think-like-an-enterprise-why-nations-need-comprehensive-productivity-strategies-by-robert-atkinson/ # New and Promising Ideas in the Productivity Field: Review Article on Think Like an Enterprise: Why Nations Need Comprehensive Productivity Strategies by Robert Atkinson [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-30-8-Drummond.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Drummond, Don. 2016. “New and Promising Ideas in the Productivity Field: Review Article on Think Like an Enterprise: Why Nations Need Comprehensive Productivity Strategies by Robert Atkinson.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 30 (Spring 2016): 118–124. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-30/new-and-promising-ideas-in-the-productivity-field-review-article-on-think-like-an-enterprise-why-nations-need-comprehensive-productivity-strategies-by-robert-atkinson/ ## Author: - Don Drummond Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## IPM Issue 30 Spring 2016 pp. 118–124 ## Related IPM articles [Is the SNA Still Useful? 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Atkinson concludes that socalled framework policies are necessary but far from sufficient. The more active public policy role he calls for would include measures to lower the price of capital, moral suasion of firms to think more strategically, more direct government involvement in developing and disseminating new technologies and facilitating interactions across firms and sectors. Many will share Atkinson’s view that different approaches to enhancing productivity growth are in order given the modest productivity records of many countries of late. But it is troubling that Atkinson does not suggest more stringent tests for new policy interventions. They must be subject to benefit-cost analysis to determine whether there is a net social benefit. The experiences countries have had with elements of what Atkinson recommends must be studied to see if they have yielded productivity gains. IN MAY 2016, Robert D. Atkinson, President La partie la plus intéressante du manifeste de Robert Atkinson (président de l’Information Technology and Innovation Foundation) sur la productivité est sa stratégie de productivité recommandée pour renforcer la croissance de la productivité. Atkinson conclut que les politiques-cadres dites sont nécessaires mais loin d’être suffisantes. Le rôle politique public plus actif qu’il préconise comprendrait des mesures pour abaisser le prix du capital, des pressions morales sur les entreprises pour qu’elles pensent de manière plus stratégique, une implication gouvernementale plus directe dans le développement et la diffusion de nouvelles technologies et la facilitation des interactions entre les entreprises et les secteurs. Beaucoup partageront l’avis d’Atkinson selon lequel différentes approches pour améliorer la croissance de la productivité sont de mise compte tenu des modestes bilans de productivité de nombreux pays ces derniers temps. 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