Innovation & Productivity Publications

2010

1. 2010 Productivity Brief: Productivity, Employment, and Growth in the World's Economies

   January 2010 | Executive Action Report

   The recession left its mark on global productivity, which fell in 2009. With recovery expected in 2010, advanced economies will see renewed productivity gains but continue to shed workers.

A

1. Accounting for the Knowledge Economy

   December 2008 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Charles Hulten, December 2008. - EPWP #08 - 13

2. Appendices to "Internationally Comparable Science, Technology and Competitiveness Indicators"

   June 2006 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Robert H. McGuckin, Bart van Ark, Sean M. Dougherty and Robert Inklaar, May 2006. - EPWP #06 – 01

3. Asia After the Crisis—Challenges for a Return to Rapid Growth: Perspectives on a Global Economy

   July 1998 | Research Report

   What will happen when the current crisis in Asia abates? Is the long-term outlook favorable? Find out in this report.

B

1. Board Asia Newsletter

   September 2012 | Periodical

   Quarter Three 2012

2. Board Asia Newsletter

   July 2012 | Periodical

   Quarter Two 2012

3. Business Cycles in the Euro Area Defined with Coincident Economic Indicators and Predicted with Leading Economic Indicators

   November 2008 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Ataman Ozyildirim, Brian Schaitkin, Victor Zarnowitz, November 2008. - EPWP #08 – 04

C

1. 'Changing Gear' - Productivity, ICT and Services Industries: Europe and the United States

   December 2002 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Bart van Ark, Robert Inklaar, and Robert H. McGuckin, December 2002. Click here to obtain the basic data: http://www.ggdc.net/ - EPWP #02 - 02

2. Can Manufacturing Survive in Advanced Countries?

   March 2004 | Executive Action Report

   Job losses remain high in the manufacturing industry in the U.S. and in other developed nations, and are not being made up by greater job creation in expansions. What is the long-term impact of such job losses on a country’s ability to compete globally?

3. China Center Chart of the Week: China’s falling returns on capital will cause slower growth or higher leverage (or both)

   December 2012 | China Center Publications

   The chart shows The Conference Board’s estimation of the Marginal Product of Capital (MPK) for various countries, broken into two groups: lower income and higher income.

4. China Center Chart of the Week: China’s intangible investment – high in absolute amount, small relative to conventional capex

   September 2012 | China Center Publications

   China has spent a much larger amount on intangible investment, as a percentage of GDP, than other countries at similar, or higher, levels of development.

5. China Center Chart of the Week: Increasing intangible investment not yielding commensurate increases in output

   September 2012 | China Center Publications

   The US and Germany have generated increasing output per capita from their intangible investment, whereas China has not. R&D spending is part of the problem.

6. China Center Chart of the Week: Intangible investment in China has grown rapidly – but is it efficient?

   August 2012 | China Center Publications

   Despite the substantial top-line growth, it appears that overall spending on intangibles in China has largely been policy driven, rather than deriving from firm-level innovation.

7. China Center Chart of the Week: Not so fast! Why China’s economy will continue to slow

   November 2012 | China Center Publications

   The chart shows The Conference Board’s most recent medium- and long-term projections for trend growth in real GDP for China, broken down by contributions from labor, capital and productivity.

8. China Center Quick Note: Barring the unexpected, China’s economy to downshift considerably, as a natural consequence of both size and maturation

   February 2013 | China Center Publications

   In the latest update of The Conference Board’s Global Economic Outlook, we project that China’s trend growth rate will slow to 5.8 percent over the 2013-2018 period and fall further to 3.7 percent from 2019-2025.

9. China Productivity: Labor Productivity by Ownership Type

   March 2012 | China Center Publications

   This report measures China’s industry productivity by ownership type, comparing state-owned enterprises, privately owned domestic firms, foreign-invested firms, and smaller firms for the period of 1995-2009.

10. China’s Experience with Productivity and Jobs

    June 2004 | Research Report

    China has undergone extensive industrial restructuring. While these changes have led to enormous productivity gains, they are also closely linked to the rapid loss of manufacturing jobs.

11. China’s Productivity Boom: The Contribution of Restructuring to Growth and Competitiveness

    December 2007 | Research Report

    While Chinese firms still operate at productivity levels well below their foreign counterparts, this report shows that they are making startling progress.

12. Communication Capital, Metcalfe’s Law, and U.S. Productivity Growth

    March 2011 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Carol Corrado, March 2011. - EPWP #11 – 01

13. Competitive Advantage of “Low-Wage” Countries Often Exaggerated

    October 2006 | Executive Action Report

    When adjusting wages for productivity, the cost advantage to companies of "low-wage" countries and regions such as China, India, Mexico, or Central and Eastern Europe over North America and Western Europe is smaller than you think.

14. Computers and Productivity: Are Aggregation Effects Important?

    August 2000 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Robert H. McGuckin and Kevin Stiroh, August 2000. - EPWP #00 - 04

15. Computers, Productivity, and Growth: Explaining the Computer Productivity Paradox

    April 1998 | Research Report

    Studies say that computers don't add to productivity, but that's not what our researchers found. Read their findings in this report.

16. Constructing a Data Set on Labour Composition Change

    December 2011 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Boele Bonthuis
    December 2011 - EPWP #11 – 04

17. Creating the Bullet-Proof Business Model

    April 2011 | Executive Action Report

    Four recent high-profile strategic battles provide lessons for small and midsize companies in how to assess the strengths and weaknesses of their own business model and defend it against challengers.

18. Conference Board CEO Challenge^® 2012: Risky Business—Focusing on Innovation and Talent in a Volatile World

    March 2012 | CEO Challenge®

    This year’s top challenges show a balance between concerns related to the macro business environment and company-specific challenges that are driven by management action and require a well-executed business strategy.

19. Conference Board CEO Challenge® 2013 Summary Report: Countering the Global Slowdown

    January 2013 | CEO Challenge®

    Respondents to the latest edition of the annual survey of business leaders by The Conference Board indicate a focus on internal challenges.

20. Contribution of Restructuring and Reallocation to China's Productivity and Growth

    December 2007 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Haiyan Deng, John Haltiwanger, Robert McGuckin, Jianyi Xu, Yaodong Liu, and Yuqi Liu, December 2007. - EPWP #07 – 04

21. Cost Competitiveness of the Manufacturing Sector in China and India: An Industry and Regional Perspective

    January 2009 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Bart van Ark, Abdul Azeez Erumban, Vivian Chen, Utsav Kumar, January 2009. – EPWP #09 – 02

D

1. Design-Centered Innovation: Observe, Learn, Innovate

   January 2013 | Council Perspectives

   Customers value the experience of using a product or service, not just the product or service itself. Companies can use a design-centered approach to innovation to facilitate the process of selling the total “experience” to their customers.

2. Do Computers Make Output Harder to Measure?

   April 2000 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Robert H. McGuckin and Kevin Stiroh, April 2000. - EPWP #00 - 03

3. Don't Underestimate China: Why Chinese Businesses Can Grow Into Serious International Competitors

   May 2002 | Executive Action Report

   Businesses that follow conventional wisdom and assume that Chinese-owned enterprises will be weak competitors on the international business stage may be unpleasantly surprised.

E

1. EU Labor Productivity and Employment Improve in 2004—but U.S. Still Leads

   January 2005 | Executive Action Report

   Productivity and employment growth accelerated in the European Union, but the United States improved at about double the EU-25 growth rates. Will Europe be able to maintain and improve upon these results to reach global prosperity?

2. Entrepreneurs, Inventors and the Growth of the Economy

   December 2008 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by William J. Baumol, December 2008. - EPWP #08 - 12

3. Europe Vs. The United States: Which Industries are Leading the Productivity Race?

   June 2002 | Executive Action Report

   Good and bad news for Europe, technology as a growth factor, ICT vs. non-ICT sectors, and industry leaders and laggards.

4. Europe's Productivity Gap: Catching Up or Getting Stuck?

   June 2006 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Bart Van Ark, June 2006. - EPWP #06 - 02

5. Exploring Innovation with Firm Level Data

   December 2008 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Samuel Kortum, December 2008. - EPWP #08 - 11

6. Effects of Federalism and Privatization on Productivity in Chinese Firms

   January 2002 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Sean M. Dougherty and Robert H. McGuckin, January 2002. - EPWP #02 - 01

G

1. Getting Past Stupid: Stephen Shapiro explains why efforts to stay ahead will often leave you behind.

   October 2011 | The Conference Board Review

   Crowdsourcing consultant Stephen Shapiro argues that most of the things that companies do in the name of innovation actually destroy it.

2. Getting to New and Improved

   October 2011 | The Conference Board Review

   The science—yes, science—of innovation.

3. Growing Beyond Oil: Productivity, Performance, and Progress in the Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council

   June 2008 | Research Report

   This report is part of a major research program on productivity, performance and progress in the Gulf Cooperation Council region which The Conference Board is running in conjunction with Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC).

4. Growth in the Middle East Depends on Productivity

   February 2007 | Executive Action Report

   Can the Middle East and North African region overcome stagnant productivity levels and the lack of a large middle class with spending power?

H

1. Historical Foundations of American Technology

   December 2008 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Gavin Wright, December 2008. - EPWP #08 - 10

2. How to Compete and Win In a Broken Economy

   March 2009 | Executive Action Report

   While many small and midsize firms are struggling to survive, stronger companies will find opportunities to improve their competitive position.

I

1. ICT and Productivity in Europe and the United States: Where Do the Differences Come From?

   October 2003 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Bart van Ark, Robert Inklaar, and Robert H. McGuckin, October 2003. - EPWP #03 – 05

2. Impact of ICT on Production of Goods and Services: The Long Tail of Digital Exclusion — A Comparison Between the UK and Chile

   July 2011 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Ellen J. Helsper and Sergio Godoy-Etcheverry, July 2011. - ICTLinkedWorld #7

3. Impact of ICT on Production of Goods and Services: Measuring the Impact of ICT on Education

   July 2011 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Cor-Jan Jager, Jesse Bos, and Robbin te Velde, July 2011. - ICTLinkedWorld #9

4. Impact of ICT on Production of Goods and Services: Measuring the Impact of ICT on Public Sector Performance

   July 2011 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Robbin te Velde, July 2011. - ICTLinkedWorld #8

5. Impact of ICT on Production of Goods and Services: Mobile Communication and Social Capital in Korea and the U.S.— How Usage Patterns Predict Social, C

   July 2011 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Scott W. Campbell, Nojin Kwak and Richard Ling, July 2011. - ICTLinkedWorld #2

6. Impact of ICT on Production of Goods and Services: Policy and Development of ICT—The Impact of Public and Regulatory Policy on ICT Sector Performance

   July 2011 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Raul L. Katz, July 2011. - ICTLinkedWorld #1

7. Impact of ICT on Production of Goods and Services: The Global Broadband Bonus: Broadband Internet’s Impact on Seven Countries

   July 2011 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Shane Greenstein and Ryan McDevitt, July 2011. - ICTLinkedWorld #6

8. Impact of ICT on Production of Goods and Services: The Impact of ICT on the Geographic Distribution of Employment

   July 2011 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Vlad Manole and Randall Weiss, July 2011. - ICTLinkedWorld #5

9. Impact of ICT on Production of Goods and Services: Towards Comprehensive Measurement of ICT’s Impact: Paying Attention to Society and Culture

   July 2011 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Katherine Schinasi and Ivy Schultz, July 2011. - ICTLinkedWorld #10

10. Impact of ICT on Production of Goods and Services: Who Captures the Benefits of ICT? The Case of Digital Books

    July 2011 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Janet Hao and Randall Weiss, July 2011. - ICTLinkedWorld #3

11. Innovate Today, Grow Tomorrow

    October 2008 | Executive Action Report

    In a down economy, companies can't afford to mark time. Three midsize firms are seizing the moment to explore ideas for new products and invent new business models.

12. Innovation Accounting

    December 2012 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Carol Corrado and Charles Hulten
    December 2012 - EPWP #12 – 04

13. Innovation and US Competitiveness: Reevaluating the Contributors to Growth

    May 2009 | Research Report

    This report takes stock of the innovation capabilities of the U.S. economy, including hurdles to maintaining the nation's leadership position, and recommends some means and methods of overcoming those obstacles.

14. Innovation as Viewed from Within the Corporation

    December 2008 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Jim Lichtenberg and Christopher Woock, December 2008. - EPWP #08 - 08

15. Innovation, Intangibles and Economic Growth: Towards A Comprehensive Accounting of the Knowledge Economy

    December 2007 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Bart van Ark and Charles R. Hulten, December 2007. - EPWP #07 – 02

16. Intangible Capital and Growth in Advanced Economies: Measurement Methods and Comparative Results

    December 2012 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Carol Corrado, Jonathan Haskel, Cecilia Jona-Lasinio and Massimiliano Iommi
    December 2012 - EPWP #12 – 03

17. Intangible Capital and the Market to Book Value Puzzle

    June 2008 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Charles Hulten and Janet Hao, June 2008. - EPWP #08 – 02

18. International Comparisons of R&D Expenditure: Does an R&D PPP make a difference?

    June 2003 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Sean M. Dougherty, Robert Inklaar, Robert H. McGuckin, and Bart Van Ark, July 2003. - EPWP #03 - 03

19. International Comparisons of R&D Expenditure: Does an R&D PPP make a difference?

    November 2004 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Sean M. Dougherty, Robert Inklaar, Robert H. McGuckin, and Bart Van Ark, October 2004. - EPWP #04 - 03

20. Is ICT's Contribution to Productivity Growth Peaking?

    January 2007 | Executive Action Report

    This analysis examines whether information technology can continue to boost productivity growth, among other issues based on this study of productivity and income trends in 40 countries.

21. Issues in Intangibles, Vol. 1, No. 1

    February 2012 | Periodical

    This first release in a new series from The Conference Board focuses on intangible assets—why they matter, how they are measured, and their importance to both national economies and individual firms.

22. Issues in Intangibles, Vol.1 No. 2, Spring 2012

    May 2012 | Periodical

    Intangible assets are key to competitiveness in the knowledge economy. In this edition of Intangibles Quarterly, Professor Baruch Lev discusses how a firm can keep effective records of intangible assets and how they may affect decision making.

23. Impact of Vintage and Survival on Productivity: Evidence from Cohorts of U.S. Manufacturing Plants

    February 2000 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by J. Bradford Jensen, Robert H. McGuckin and Kevin Stiroh, February 2000. - EPWP #00 - 02

L

1. Link Not Found: Why CEOs still see technology as separate from “the business.”

   October 2012 | The Conference Board Review

   The paradox for chief information officers: You are intimately involved in every fact of the business, yet you are often considered separate and removed from it. An excerpt from Martha Heller's book "The CIO Paradox."

2. Linked World: How ICT Is Transforming Societies, Cultures, and Economies

   October 2011 | Research Report

   This report is based on a two-year global research project with the Telefónica Foundation. It aggregates several studies on how information and communication technology has affected societies, economies, cultural relationships, and human interaction.

M

1. Making the Most of the Information Age: Productivity and Structural Reform in the New Economy

   October 2001 | Research Report

   Using new, internationally comparative evidence, this study examines the patterns of information and communication technology diffusion across advanced industrial economies.

2. Measuring Changes in Competitiveness in Chinese Manufacturing Industries Across Regions in 1995 – 2004: An Unit Labor Cost Approach

   July 2008 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Vivian W. Chen, Harry X. Wu, Bart van Ark, June 2008. - EPWP #08 – 03

3. Measuring Prices in a Dynamic Economy: Re-Examining the CPI

   October 1999 | Research Report

   Nine recommendations from a blue-ribbon panel of economists on how to improve the way that the Consumer Price Index tracks prices in our ever-evolving economy.

N

1. New Member States Will Raise Productivity Growth of Enlarged European Union—but U.S. Lead Still Strong

   February 2004 | Executive Action Report

   Structural reforms in Central and Eastern Europe will significantly boost productivity growth in the European Union. Despite this growth, the United States is significantly ahead of the newly enlarged European Union.

2. New Normal: Acceptable Loss

   October 2011 | The Conference Board Review

   Columnist Paul B. Brown argues that, when launching new ventures, companies need to rethink risk to account for expected gains and losses.

O

1. On the Record with Dr. Loren Skeist

   April 2013 | Executive Action Report

   The Conference Board interviews the president of Spellman High Voltage Electronics Corp., a mid-market industry leader in high-voltage design and manufacturing, about the 2013 results of The Conference Board CEO Challenge®.

2. Opening up to Open Innovation

   August 2010 | Executive Action Report

   This new Conversation Starter by Howard Muson continues a series of discussions that we have commissioned about the nature of innovation in small- and mid-market firms

3. Out of the West

   April 2012 | The Conference Board Review

   Most future growth and innovation will be in developing countries—and according to Vijay Govindarajan, companies should waste no time setting up shop over there.

P

1. Performance 2000: Productivity, Employment, and Income in the World's Economies

   March 2001 | Research Report

   Examines accelerating U.S. productivity and the new challenges it provides to advanced economies.

2. Performance 2002: Productivity, Employment, and Income in the World’s Economies

   March 2003 | Research Report

   This report compares productivity levels and growth rates of national economies and explains why Europe continues to lag behind the U.S. in per capita income, despite very comparable levels of productivity.

3. Performance 2004

   May 2004 | Research Report

   This year’s report - the fourth annual in the series - covers economic performance through the end of 2003 by comparing productivity levels and growth rates of national economies.

4. Performance 2005: Productivity, Employment and Income in the World’s Economies

   May 2005 | Research Report

   This is the fifth year The Conference Board has reported estimates of productivity per hour worked for major industrial economies and productivity per employee for a large set of countries.

5. Performance 2008: Productivity, Employment, and Growth in the World's Economies

   March 2008 | Research Report

   This report is the first comprehensive overview of new data on productivity, growth, and employment trends through 2007 based on The Conference Board's and the Groningen Growth and Development Centre's Total Economy Database.

6. Performance 2011: Productivity, Employment, and Growth in the World's Economies

   June 2011 | Research Report

   This report takes a detailed look at the drivers of output growth, comparing the contributions of labor productivity and employment across years and across more than 100 countries.

7. Productivity and Global Competitiveness... Despite Cyclical Downturn, Structural Trends in Productivity Remain in Place Into 2003

   January 2003 | Executive Action Report

   As the United States began to emerge from recession, labor productivity growth rebounded sharply in 2002. In Europe, however, it was another story—productivity growth slowed substantially.

8. Productivity, Performance, and Progress: Germany in International Comparative Perspective

   August 2009 | Research Report

   This study argues that the key to a successful and sustainable growth strategy for any time and place is to find the optimal balance between labour productivity growth and labour input growth.

9. Productivity, Performance, and Progress: Germany in International Comparative Perspective

   August 2009 | Key Findings

   This study argues that the key to a successful and sustainable growth strategy for any time and place is to find the optimal balance between labour productivity growth and labour input growth.

10. Projecting Economic Growth with Growth Accounting Techniques: The Conference Board Global Economic Outlook 2012 Sources and Methods

    November 2011 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Vivian Chen, Ben Cheng, Gad Levanon, and Bart van Ark
    November 2011 - EPWP #11 – 07

11. Projecting Global Growth

    November 2012 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

    by Vivian Chen, Ben Cheng, Gad Levanon, Ataman Ozyildirim and Bart van Ark
    November 2012 - EPWP #12 – 02

12. Protecting Critical Infrastructure: A Cross-Border Action Plan

    November 2009 | Key Findings

    Canada and the United States share more than the longest common national border on the planet: they also share extensive critical infrastructures, such as electrical grids and transportation and communications systems.

13. Protecting Critical Infrastructure: A Cross-Border Action Plan

    November 2009 | Research Report

    Much of the critical infrastructure on which the citizens of the United States and Canada depend—transportation, energy, and communications systems, among others—exists on both sides of the border.

R

1. Ready to Innovate: Are Educators and Executives Aligned on the Creative Readiness of the U.S. Workforce?

   October 2008 | Research Report

   This report presents the results of a survey of executives and school superintendents, and offers an overview of the current efforts both communities are making to encourage creativity in schools and workplaces.

2. Restructuring Chinese Enterprises: Effects of Federalism and Privatization Initiatives on Business

   January 2002 | Research Report

   This report examines the progress of China’s transition to a market economy by assessing how its program of increased federalism and more private ownership has affected business productivity.

3. Retail Revolution - Can Europe Match U.S. Productivity Performance?

   March 2005 | Research Report

   This report dissects and identifies the root causes of the European Union-United States productivity growth gap in the retail and wholesale trade sectors.

4. Revolution in Retail Trade

   April 2005 | Executive Action Report

   Barcodes and scanning technologies spurred a transformation in retail and wholesale trade, including a recent explosion in labor productivity growth. Now, 30 years after the first price scan, has the retail revolution run its course?

S

1. Shotgun Blues

   April 2010 | The Conference Board Review

   A scattershot approach to innovation guarantees that you’ll miss the mark most of the time.

2. Sweat the Small Stuff to Improve Your Business Forecasts

   January 2012 | Executive Action Report

   While waiting for the clouds to part over worldwide economies, small and midsize businesses can do much to bring greater rigor to their short-term forecasts and eliminate costly errors.

3. Structure of Business R&D: Recent Trends and Measurement Implications

   August 2004 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Robert H. McGuckin, Robert Inklaar, Bart Van Ark, and Sean M. Dougherty, August 2004. - EPWP #04 - 01

T

1. Technological Change and Earnings Polarization: Implications for Skill Demand and Economic Growth

   December 2008 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by David Autor, December 2008. - EPWP #08 – 07

2. Technology, Productivity and Growth: U.S. and German Issues: Perspectives on a Global Economy

   December 1997 | Research Report

   Here's a hard look at "productivity" and the myth of the "computer productivity paradox."

3. Total Factor Productivity among Cities in China: Estimation and Explanation

   June 2012 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Yan Xu and Shu Yu
   June 2012 - EPWP #12 – 01

4. Towards Comprehensive Measurement of ICT’s Impact: Measuring the Impact of ICT on Health Care

   July 2011 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Robbin te Velde, Jesse Bos, and Reg Brennenraedts, July 2011. - ICTLinkedWorld #4

U

1. Understanding Productivity Growth: Entry, Survival, and the Competitive Process

   February 1999 | Research Report

   Do new plants outperform old plants? This study looks at a variety of factors to answer that question.

W

1. What's Your Next Big Thing?

   April 2010 | The Conference Board Review

   Beyond the search for the really cool idea.

2. Who's Afraid of the Cloud?

   May 2012 | Executive Action Report

   This report spells out the benefits and pitfalls for midsize businesses of migrating data and IT operations to the cloud.

3. Will the Decline in Unit Labor Cost in Europe's Troubled Economies Help Improve Competitiveness?

   January 2013 | Executive Action Report

   An examination of the shifts in competitiveness in various European countries.

4. Workforce Diversity and Productivity: An Analysis of Employer-Employee Match Data

   April 2001 | Economics Program Working Paper Series

   by Linda Barrington and Kenneth R. Troske, April 2001. - EPWP #01 - 02