--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-34/accounting-for-slower-productivity-growth-in-the-canadian-business-sector-after-2000-the-role-of-capital-measurement-issues/" title: "Accounting for Slower Productivity Growth in the Canadian Business Sector after 2000: The Role of Capital Measurement Issues" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T07:42:41+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T07:42:41+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Spring 2018" ipm_keyword: - "2000-2015" - "Canada" - "capacity utilization" - "capital measurement" - "intangibles" - "MFP" - "natural capital" - "productivity slowdown" - "public infrastructure" - "Statistics Canada" ipm_research_theme: - "Measurement and methodology" ipm_country_focus: - "Canada" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Accounting for Slower Productivity Growth in the Canadian Business Sector after 2000: The Role of Capital Measurement Issues Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-34/accounting-for-slower-productivity-growth-in-the-canadian-business-sector-after-2000-the-role-of-capital-measurement-issues/ # Accounting for Slower Productivity Growth in the Canadian Business Sector after 2000: The Role of Capital Measurement Issues [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-34-2-Gu.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Gu, Wulong. 2018. “Accounting for Slower Productivity Growth in the Canadian Business Sector after 2000: The Role of Capital Measurement Issues.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 34 (Spring 2018): 21–39. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-34/accounting-for-slower-productivity-growth-in-the-canadian-business-sector-after-2000-the-role-of-capital-measurement-issues/ ## Author: - Wulong Gu Micro-Economic Analysis Division, Statistics Canada ## IPM Issue 34 Spring 2018 pp. 21–39 ## Related IPM articles [The Relationship between Efficiencies Defenses for Mergers and TFP Growth Robin Shaban Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 82–102](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/the-relationship-between-efficiencies-defenses-for-mergers-and-tfp-growth/) [Appendix: Variable Definitions and Country/Sector Coverage for Regulatory Reform Analysis Gilbert Cette, Jimmy Lopez, Giuseppe Nicoletti, Océane Vernerey Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 1–18](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/appendix-variable-definitions-and-country-sector-coverage-for-regulatory-reform-analysis/) [The Potential Impact of Pro-competitive Regulatory Reforms on Productivity and Growth in Canada Gilbert Cette, Jimmy Lopez, Giuseppe Nicoletti, Océane Vernerey Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 3–40](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/the-potential-impact-of-pro-competitive-regulatory-reforms-on-productivity-and-growth-in-canada/) [The Challenges of Productivity Measurement — Review Article on The Measure of Economies: Measuring Productivity in an Age of Technological Change Chad Syverson Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 139–143](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/the-challenges-of-productivity-measurement-review-article-on-the-measure-of-economies-measuring-productivity-in-an-age-of-technological-change/) [IPM Issue 49 Editors’ Overview Andrew Sharpe, Bart van Ark, Paul Schreyer Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 1–2](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/) [De-industrialization and the Great Productivity Slowdown: What Comes Next? Paul Fisher Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 115–138](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/de-industrialization-and-the-great-productivity-slowdown-what-comes-next/) [The UK Productivity Slowdown: A Review of Timing, Magnitude, and Drivers Josh Martin Spring 2025 | IPM Issue 48 | pp. 1–34](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-48/the-uk-productivity-slowdown-a-review-of-timing-magnitude-and-drivers/) [Using Ecosystem Accounting to Integrate the Environment in Measures of Multifactor Productivity Carl Obst Fall 2024 | IPM Issue 47 | pp. 87–108](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-47/using-ecosystem-accounting-to-integrate-the-environment-in-measures-of-multifactor-productivity/) [Eroding Natural Capital: An Alternative Explanation for the Secular Decline in Productivity Growth Christina Caron Fall 2024 | IPM Issue 47 | pp. 109–147](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-47/eroding-natural-capital-an-alternative-explanation-for-the-secular-decline-in-productivity-growth/) [Climate Change and Productivity — An Exploration Dirk Pilat Fall 2024 | IPM Issue 47 | pp. 54–86](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-47/climate-change-and-productivity-an-exploration/) ## Abstract ## Résumé EN FR Copy link Email LinkedIn Labour productivity growth and multifactor productivity (MFP) growth slowed in Canada and other advanced economies after 2000. This article focuses on the issues that are associated with measurement of capital and examines the roles of intangible capital, natural capital, public infrastructure capital and capacity utilization in explaining slower productivity growth. To do that, the article presents an extended growth accounting framework that is used to examine the role of the different types of capital in labour and multifactor productivity growth. It finds that about one quarter of the decline in multifactor productivity growth in the Canadian business sector between 1980-2000 and 2000-2015 was due to an increase in the use of produced capital required to extract natural resources in the oil and gas and mining sector and a decline in the utilization of capital in the manufacturing sector. The decline in labour and multifactor productivity growth after 2000 is not related to intangible capital and public infrastructure capital. Labour productivity growth and multi- La croissance de la productivité du travail et la croissance de la productivité multifactorielle (PMF) ont ralenti au Canada et dans d’autres économies avancées après 2000. Cet article se concentre sur les enjeux associés à la mesure du capital et examine le rôle du capital immatériel, du capital naturel, du capital d’infrastructure public et du taux d’utilisation des capacités pour expliquer le ralentissement de la productivité. Pour ce faire, l’article présente un cadre étendu de comptabilité de la croissance utilisé pour examiner le rôle des différents types de capital dans la croissance de la productivité du travail et multifactorielle. Il constate qu’environ un quart du recul de la croissance de la PMF dans le secteur des entreprises canadien entre 1980-2000 et 2000-2015 était dû à une augmentation du capital produit nécessaire à l’extraction des ressources naturelles dans les secteurs pétrolier et gazier et minier, et à un recul de l’utilisation du capital dans le secteur manufacturier. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-34-2-Gu.pdf)