Capital Utilisation, Capital Intensity and Factor Productivity: A Comparison of Factories in Developing and Industrialised Countries.

Data on shift-working, annual hours and employment are used to derive alternative measures of capital utilisation in seven countries. There is a positive relationship between utilisation and capital intensity, and utilisation levels in developing countries are significantly higher than in industrialised countries. Inter-country comparisons of capital productivity are made by comparing industries with similar levels of capital per production worker. It is shown that output per input of capital services in some developing countries is half that of comparable industries in industrialised countries. However, the higher levels of utilisation in developing countries partially offset these low values for the productivity of capital services. Data on labour productivity and earnings are combined to measure labour costs per unit of output and thus throw light on the overall competitive position of industry in the different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]