Methodology 

Productivity and economic growth accounts were newly included in the Regulation No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 21 May 2013, on the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Union. In order to measure the productivity of the economy, the Regulation recommends the use of the Total Factor Productivity (PTF).

Idescat presents an updated set of records of Total Factor Productivity for the period 2000–2019. This new set of records has been prepared using the same methodology as the previous one, however the incorporation in the calculation of the estimates of the main aggregates obtained in the 2019 Benchmark Revision has modified all of the results of the reference period.

1. Definitions

Total Factor Productivity (PTF)

The PTF can be interpreted as the difference between the growth rate of production and the mean growth rate of the factors used to obtain it, where the weighting factors are the share of each factor in the national income. In other words, the sum of contributions of the productive factors (labour and capital) and the PTF coincide with the rate of variation of the GDP. The latter rate is calculated in logarithmic terms, which could generate minor discrepancies compared to the data published in the Annual Economic Accounts in Catalonia.

Thus, the PTF includes the impact of any factor which shifts the production function: not only technical progress, but also organizational innovations, economies of scale, better training of employees and sectoral reallocation of resources, among other aspects. It is identified with what is referred to in the field of economic growth theory as the 'Solow Residual'.

Labour factor

Labour is measured in terms of full time equivalent jobs defined as the total number of hours worked divided by the mean annual hours worked in full time employment in the economic territory.

In the 2019 Benchmark Revision, to obtain the total annual hours worked, the main information sources (the Active Population Survey and the Annual Labour Cost Survey) were analysed and, once the data had been assessed, an allocation was made by branch lists. The annual mean average of hours actually worked in full-time employment was calculated based on a specific exploitation by branch lists of the Active Population Survey.

Capital factor

Capital stock is measured on a net basis and has been evaluated at constant prices since 2000, with separate treatment of housing stock. The data used to obtain this comes from the historical series of physical capital stock calculated by the BBVA Foundation and the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (IVIE). As of the update corresponding to the year 2016, the BBVA Foundation and the IVIE revised the series of capital stock in order to adapt them to the new European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).

Capital stock estimates of the IVIE comply with the OECD's guidelines for calculating the capital stocks of the member states and are based on the flow of services offered by capital goods. Thus, the net capital stock is calculated using the perpetual inventory method, so that the net capital stock of a specific asset is calculated by adding to the capital stock of the previous period the value of the investment (measured in real terms) and subtracting the rate of depreciation that has affected the capital of the period.

2. Comparability of data

For reasons of statistical comparability with Spanish data, the PTF of Catalonia is calculated using the average units of the whole of the available sample period. In Spain, this period starts in 1960 and in Catalonia, in 1986.

The data for Catalonia are annually prepared by Idescat and the Ministry of the Economy and Finance. The data for Spain is prepared by the European Commission.

3. Further information