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Productivity

As nations engage in a race for global advantage in innovation, ITIF champions a new policy paradigm that ensures businesses and national economies can compete successfully by spurring public and private investment in foundational areas such as research, skills, and 21st century infrastructure. Our research on productivity issues analyzes past, present, and future trends in productivity, and advances policies to drive robust productivity growth, including through tech-based automation.

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The Enterprise Automation Imperative—Why Modern Societies Will Need All the Productivity They Can Get

The Enterprise Automation Imperative—Why Modern Societies Will Need All the Productivity They Can Get

Contrary to common belief, enterprise automation is not a cause for alarm, but instead a societal imperative. Modern nations will need all the productivity they can get to address today’s ever-more-resource-constrained challenges.

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March 11, 2024|Reports & Briefings

How Innovative Is China in the Robotics Industry?

China does not yet appear to be leading in robotic innovation, but its domestic production and adoption are growing rapidly, and the Chinese government has prioritized the industry. It is likely only a matter of time before Chinese robotics companies catch up to the leading edge.

March 11, 2024|Podcasts

Podcast: The Interplay of Hype and Skepticism in Autonomous Vehicle Advancements, With Richard Mudge

Amidst the burgeoning advancements in autonomous vehicles, striking a balance between expectation and reality emerges as a challenge.

March 4, 2024|Blogs

Fact of the Week: A 1 Percent Increase in STEM Technicians Raises Manufacturing Firms’ Productivity by 4 Percent

A recent working paper found that manufacturing firms, a 1 percent increase in techies’ share of wages was associated with a 4 percent increase in TFP in the next year.

January 16, 2024|Blogs

Fact of the Week: Robot Adoption Among Brazilian Firms Did Not Result in Significant Job Losses

A working paper analyzed the effect that robot and tool adoption have on Brazilian workers and found that there were no statistically significant effects on employment or earnings for workers with at least a high school diploma.

January 8, 2024|Blogs

Fact of the Week: Belgian Firms That Sold Their Products to Superstar Firms Increased Their Productivity by 8 Percent

A 2023 working paper suggests that firms that establish supply chain links with superstar firms saw an increase in total factor productivity of about 8 percent after three years.

December 17, 2023|Blogs

Fact of the Week: Adoption of “Industry 4.0” Technologies Increased Italian Firms’ Productivity by 3.7 Percentage Points

A November 2023 working paper found that firms that adopted Industry 4.0 technologies experienced, on average, a 3.7 percentage point increase in labor productivity.

December 4, 2023|Blogs

Fact of the Week: Robot Imports Improved Productivity of French Manufacturing Firms

An October 2023 working paper found that a 1-percent increase in a proxy for robot exposure was associated with a 0.30 percentage point increase per year in productivity and a 0.15-percentage point increase per year in sales.

December 4, 2023|Podcasts

Podcast: Cultivating Innovation Ecosystems, With Jessica Corrigan

To flourish, innovation hubs need the right combination of talent, tech, funding, and market access.

November 26, 2023|Blogs

Fact of the Week: R&D Supports Increased Productivity of Turkish Firms By 10 Percent

A September 2023 working paper analyzed the relationship between R&D support and firm performance and found that when looking at productivity and output, R&D supports increased productivity by about 10 percent and value-added output by about 9 percent

November 14, 2023|Op-Eds & Contributed Articles

Technology Will Eliminate Some Jobs, But That’s Not the End of the Story

As Robert D. Atkinson writes in National Review, the reality is that all AI applications that increase worker productivity are in the national interest, regardless of whether they complement or replace the worker.

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