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British and German Manufacturing Productivity Compared: A New Benchmark for 1935/36 Based on Double Deflated Value Added

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 May 2007

Rainer Fremdling ,
Herman De Jong  and
Marcel P. Timmer
Rainer Fremdling
Affiliation:
Professor of Economics, Faculty of Economics, University of Groningen Research Professor, Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin. E-mail: [email protected].
Herman De Jong
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics, University of Groningen Scientific Director of the N.W. Posthumus Instituut. E-mail: [email protected].
Marcel P. Timmer
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics, University of Groningen. E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

We present a new estimate of Anglo-German manufacturing productivity levels for 1935/36. It is based on archival data on German manufacturing and published British census data. We calculate comparative levels of value added, correcting for differences in prices for outputs and inputs. This so-called double deflation procedure provides new insights into productivity comparisons because output- and input price structures differed greatly between the two countries. Although the new calculations confirm existing results at an aggregate level, they reveal important differences at the industry level and show how Germany was striving for autarky as it prepared its economy for war.

Type
ARTICLES
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 67 , Issue 2 , June 2007 , pp. 350 - 378
Copyright
© 2007 The Economic History Association

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