TECHNICAL PROGRESS IN AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING.

The main purpose of this study was to compile estimates of technical progress for a large number of individual manufacturing industries in Australia, and to make some preliminary analysis of the factors responsible for, or related to, technical progress. Estimates have been prepared of average percentage changes in output, inputs, productivity, technical progress, earnings and prices in 54 industries over the decade 1949/50 to 1959/60. The unweighted average of these industries shows increases in output of nearly 6% per annum, in employment of nearly 2% and in capital of 5.9%. Weighted inputs grew, on the average, by over 4%, and technical progress was 1.66%. All these growth rates were widely dispersed, skew and leptokurtic. It is particularly important to note that the range of variation of technical progress between industries was substantial. From a regression analysis of the data it seems that economies of scale contributed a small part of the growth of output, and disembodied technical progress a larger part. Technical progress is positively, but not strongly, related to change in output, but there is little or no relation between technical progress and change in the capital stock. This again suggests that disembodied technical progress is of greater importance. There is a fairly close positive relation between technical progress and changes in productivity. Changes in earnings are slightly related to changes in productivity (between industries), but this effect disappears when output and employment are taken separately. There is little or no association between changes in earnings and technical progress. Price changes are positively related to changes in earnings and negatively related to changes in productivity, with the former influence apparently slightly greater. There is a similar relation, though not so good, between price changes, earnings changes and technical progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]