--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-4/what-have-we-learned-about-productivity-in-the-last-two-decades-a-review-article-on-new-developments-in-productivity-analysis/" title: "What Have We Learned About Productivity in the Last Two Decades? A Review Article on New Developments in Productivity Analysis" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T05:42:45+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T06:38:15+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Spring 2002" ipm_keyword: - "business cycle" - "CRIW" - "data" - "international comparisons" - "natural resources" - "productivity measurement" - "review article" - "TFP" - "vintage capital" ipm_research_theme: - "Measurement and methodology" ipm_country_focus: - "International" - "United States" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # What Have We Learned About Productivity in the Last Two Decades? A Review Article on New Developments in Productivity Analysis Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-4/what-have-we-learned-about-productivity-in-the-last-two-decades-a-review-article-on-new-developments-in-productivity-analysis/ # What Have We Learned About Productivity in the Last Two Decades? A Review Article on New Developments in Productivity Analysis [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-4-5-Sharpe.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Sharpe, Andrew. 2002. “What Have We Learned About Productivity in the Last Two Decades? A Review Article on New Developments in Productivity Analysis.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 4 (Spring 2002): 53–63. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/issue-4/what-have-we-learned-about-productivity-in-the-last-two-decades-a-review-article-on-new-developments-in-productivity-analysis/ ## Author: - Andrew Sharpe Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## IPM Issue 4 Spring 2002 pp. 53–63 ## Related IPM articles [Is the SNA Still Useful? 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Topics covered include the history of the TFP residual concept, advances in productivity data and micro-databases, the vintage capital/embodiment approach, the relationship between productivity and the business cycle, international productivity comparisons and convergence, McKinsey service sector productivity studies, the integration of natural resources and the environment into TFP frameworks, and remaining gaps in productivity knowledge. Cet article de recension examine le volume du CRIW de 2001 New Developments in Productivity Analysis (Hulten, Dean et Harper, dir.), évaluant les progrès majeurs de la recherche sur la productivité au cours des deux décennies précédentes. Les thèmes abordés comprennent l’histoire du concept de résidu de PMF, les avancées dans les données de productivité et les microbases de données, l’approche du capital vintage et de l’incorporation du progrès technique, la relation entre productivité et cycle économique, les comparaisons internationales de productivité et la convergence, les études de productivité sectorielle du McKinsey Global Institute, l’intégration des ressources naturelles et de l’environnement dans les cadres de PMF, et les lacunes persistantes dans les connaissances sur la productivité. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-4-5-Sharpe.pdf)