--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-37/consistency-of-quarterly-and-annual-productivity-indices/" title: "Consistency of Quarterly and Annual Productivity Indices" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T07:53:09+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T07:53:09+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Fall 2019" ipm_keyword: - "annual" - "Balk" - "chaining" - "consistency" - "Erasmus" - "index number theory" - "productivity indices" - "quarterly" - "statistical offices" ipm_research_theme: - "Measurement and methodology" ipm_country_focus: - "International" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Consistency of Quarterly and Annual Productivity Indices Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-37/consistency-of-quarterly-and-annual-productivity-indices/ # Consistency of Quarterly and Annual Productivity Indices [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-37-6-Balk.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Balk, Bert. 2019. “Consistency of Quarterly and Annual Productivity Indices.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 37 (Fall 2019): 144–155. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-37/consistency-of-quarterly-and-annual-productivity-indices/ ## Author: - Bert Balk Erasmus University Rotterdam ## IPM Issue 37 Fall 2019 pp. 144–155 ## Related IPM articles [Response to Review Article by Bert Balk on Measurement of Productivity and Efficiency: Theory and Practice Robin Sickles, Valentin Zelenyuk Fall 2021 | IPM Issue 41 | pp. 153–156](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-41/response-to-review-article-by-bert-balk-on-measurement-of-productivity-and-efficiency-theory-and-practice/) [Productivity Measurement with Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Frontier Analysis: A Review Article on Measurement of Productivity and Efficiency: Theory and Practice Bert Balk Spring 2021 | IPM Issue 40 | pp. 134–139](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-40/productivity-measurement-with-data-envelopment-analysis-and-stochastic-frontier-analysis-a-review-article-on-measurement-of-productivity-and-efficiency-theory-and-practice/) [IPM Issue 37 Editor’s Overview Andrew Sharpe Fall 2019 | IPM Issue 37 | pp. 1–2](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-37/) [Efficiency Adjustment of Hours Worked: Two Possible Modifications of a Jorgensen Production Model Barbara Fraumeni Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 103–115](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/efficiency-adjustment-of-hours-worked-two-possible-modifications-of-a-jorgensen-production-model/) [Labour Productivity as a Measure of Technological Change Ulrich Kohli Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 64–81](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/labour-productivity-as-a-measure-of-technological-change/) [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/) [Measuring Productivity: The Response of National Statistical Institutes to the OECD’s Productivity and Capital Manuals Nicholas Oulton Fall 2023 | IPM Issue 45 | pp. 200–225](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-45/measuring-productivity-the-response-of-national-statistical-institutes-to-the-oecds-productivity-and-capital-manuals/) [Measuring Capital and Multifactor Productivity: The Role of Asset Depreciation and Initial Capital Stock Estimates Pierre-Alain Pionnier, Belén Zinni, Kéa Baret Fall 2023 | IPM Issue 45 | pp. 155–199](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-45/measuring-capital-and-multifactor-productivity-the-role-of-asset-depreciation-and-initial-capital-stock-estimates/) [Lessons from a Career in Productivity Research: Some Answers, A Glimpse of the Future, and Much Left to Learn Martin Baily Spring 2023 | IPM Issue 44 | pp. 120–149](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-44/lessons-from-a-career-in-productivity-research-some-answers-a-glimpse-of-the-future-and-much-left-to-learn/) [Capital Measurement and Productivity Growth Across International Databases Reitze Gouma, Robert Inklaar Spring 2023 | IPM Issue 44 | pp. 67–88](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-44/capital-measurement-and-productivity-growth-across-international-databases/) ## Abstract ## Résumé EN FR Copy link Email LinkedIn This article examines from a theoretical perspective whether quarterly and annual productivity index series constructed from the same underlying data can be expected to be consistent with each other — that is, whether the annual change implied by chaining quarterly indices equals the directly computed annual index. It demonstrates that consistency is in fact unattainable in general, and lays out the choices available to statistical offices to deal with this fundamental inconsistency, stressing the tradeoffs involved in each approach. Cet article examine d’un point de vue théorique si l’on peut s’attendre à ce que les séries d’indices de productivité trimestriels et annuels construites à partir des mêmes données sous-jacentes soient cohérentes entre elles — c’est-à-dire si la variation annuelle impliquée par le chaînage des indices trimestriels est égale à l’indice annuel calculé directement. Il démontre que la cohérence est en fait inaccessible en général, et présente les choix disponibles pour les offices statistiques afin de faire face à cette incohérence fondamentale, en soulignant les compromis inhérents à chaque approche. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-37-6-Balk.pdf)