Ritschl, Albrecht (2008) The Anglo-German productivity puzzle, 1895-1935: a restatement and a possible resolution. Economic History Working Papers, 108/08. Department of Economic History, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.
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Abstract
Recent research on international productivity comparisons has focused on the discrepancies between benchmark comparisons and time series extrapolations from other benchmarks. For a 1907 benchmark, Stephen Broadberry and Carsten Burhop (2007) find German manufacturing to be only slightly ahead of Britain. Their backward extrapolation from a broader 1935 benchmark is consistent with their 1907 benchmark, provided that a traditional but disputed industrial production series of Walther Hoffmann (1965) is used. If they instead employ a revised series by Ritschl (2004), they obtain an implausibly high productivity lead of 50 percent, evidence that they therefore discard. The present paper revisits this Anglo-German productivity puzzle and suggests a resolution. Drawing on Rainer Fremdling and Reiner Staeglin (2003), I present further revisions to Germany’s industrial production series. I also calculate a revised 1907 productivity benchmark. Both the revised extrapolation and the revised benchmark indicate that on the eve of World War I, German manufacturing productivity was clearly ahead of Britain.
| Item Type: | Monograph (Working Paper) |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://www2.lse.ac.uk/economicHistory/workingPaper... |
| Additional Information: | © 2008 Albrecht Ritschl |
| Library of Congress subject classification: | H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D204 Modern History D History General and Old World > DD Germany D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain |
| Sets: | Departments > Economic History Collections > Economists Online |
| Identification Number: | 108/08 |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Jan 2009 18:30 |
| URL: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/22309/ |
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