Understanding and Predicting Productivity Growth, November 30 - December 1, 2007

November 30 - December 1, 2007
Sveriges Riksbank, Stockholm, Sweden

Sveriges Riksbank is pleased to announce that it will host a workshop on Understanding and Predicting Productivity Growth.

Aim

The questions we want to address at the workshop are: (i) What are the key factors for understanding total factor productivity (TFP) growth at the disaggregate level (e.g. information and communication technology (ICT) capital/human capital/organizational structure/competition). Especially, for sectors outside of the production of ICT. (ii) What are the important determinants for understanding the recent development of aggregate TFP outcomes? For example, has composition effects been at play and if so what, in turn, drives such effects (e.g. what role does globalization play)? (iii) Can we improve forecasts of aggregate TFP growth by using disaggregate data? (iv) What data do we need to deepen our understanding of TFP growth? To address the last question we plan for a panel session on data issues with representatives from statistical agencies as well as academia.

Format

Papers will be presented in plenary presentations of 40 minutes,
followed by 10 minutes of comments by a reviewer and an additional 10 minute
plenary discussion. Approximately 10 papers will be presented and overall
participation at the workshop will be limited to 40 people. Lunches and a
workshop dinner will be provided for. So far we are very happy to announce that
Susanto Basu, Eric Bartelsman and John Van Reenen have agreed on participating in the workshop.

Expenses

Sveriges Riksbank will refund economy-class travel expenses and
cover accommodation at the Sergel Plaza hotel, in the near vicinity of the
Riksbank for paper presenters and discussants.

Paper submission

A PDF file containing the paper should be e-mailed to the
Program Committee, at lena.lofgren@riksbank.se by September 10, 2007.
Authors will be notified by October 15, 2007. Authors submitting papers should
also indicate whether they are willing to act as discussants.

Organization

The workshop program and other information about the conference
are posted on the website of the riksbank (www.riksbank.com/workshop) as they
become available. The organizing committee consists of Tor Jacobson, Mikael
Carlsson and Björn Andersson. Questions can be directed to
lena.lofgren@riksbank.se.