Estimating Productivity of Software Development Using the Total Factor Productivity Approach

The design, control and optimization of software engineering processes generally require the determination of performance measures such as efficiency or productivity. However, the definition and measurement of productivity is often inaccurate and differs from one method to another. On the other hand, economic theory offers a well-grounded tool of productivity measurement. In this article, we propose a model of process productivity measurement based on the total factor productivity (TFP) approach commonly used in economics. In the first part of the article, we define productivity and its measurement. We also discuss the major data issues which have to be taken into consideration. Consequently, we apply the TFP approach in the domain of software engineering and we propose a TFP model of productivity assessment.