Three policies to improve productivity growth in Canada

Promotion of the Geographical Migration of Workers In addition to the three fundamental drivers, the reallocation of factors of production from low productivity level uses to high productivity level uses contributes significantly to aggregate productivity growth. [...] This part of the paper provides context for the productivity policy debate by briefly discussing definitions of productivity measures and concepts; the relationship between productivity, material living standards, and well-being; productivity measurement problems; the main drivers of productivity growth, and Canada’s recent productivity performance. [...] The term productivity can refer to both the level of productivity and the productivity growth rate, that is the per cent change in levels. [...] Productivity growth rates, which are the focus of attention of economists, must be based in constant price measures of output and productivity that take account of price increases in the value of output in order to capture increases in the physical or real amount of output produced per hour worked. [...] Yet this is the industry with the fastest labour productivity growth over the last half century! What has happened is that through competition, the robust productivity gains in agriculture have been passed on to consumers in the form of lower food prices, not to the producers in the form of higher wages and returns to capital.