Accounting for Slower Productivity Growth in the Canadian Business Sector After 2000: Do Measurement Issues Matter?

Labour productivity growth and multifactor productivity (MFP) growth slowed in Canada and other advanced economies after 2000. Several measurement challenges have been suggested as potential explanations for this trend. These include the measurement of intangible capital in a digital economy, the measurement of natural resource capital in the resource extraction sectors, the effect of infrastructure capital and the effect of cyclical fluctuations in the utilization of capital in industries adversely affected by world demand. This paper focuses on the role of these measurement issues in the slower productivity growth observed in Canada.