Productivity growth and price trends in the North American sawmilling industries: an inter-regional comparison

This paper applies nonparametric superlative index techniques to measure productivity growth in the sawmilling industries of the United States and Canada. Six geographic regions are examined: British Columbia (Coast and Interior), Ontario, Quebec, U.S. South, and U.S. West. The results indicate significant adjustment of resources both within and across regional industries over time. Over the long-term, labor has been the input that has experienced the highest growth in productivity: 3-4% per annum in the commodity-oriented regions. This result likely reflects the significant increases in capital stock throughout most of the North American industry. From 1980 to 1988 there have been significant differences in the annualized growth rates in total factor productivity across regions: U.S. West (3.3%), B.C. Interior (2.7%), Quebec (1.9%), U.S. South (1.4%), B.C. Coast (1.3%), and Ontario (1.1%). However, growth in total factor productivity over the 24-year period from 1965 to 1988 is relatively uniform across most regions (1.2% per annum)