AARESNEB-UNEBS Seminar Professor Chris O'Donnell (UQ)

The AARES New England Branch and the UNEBS R&RT Committee cordially invite you to the Joint Seminar of Professor Chris O'Donnell (The University of Queensland).

Zoom Link : https://une-au.zoom.us/j/82073882547?pwd=vazCN0ZclxffuLBapczkc83HB2JGtQ.1 (Password: 442957).

Light food will be offered.

Abstract

This seminar presents a four-step approach to productivity analysis. The first step is to define exactly what is meant by the term productivity. In this seminar, productivity is defined as an output quantity divided by an input quantity. The second step is to measure productivity in a way that is consistent with this definition. I show how to construct output and input quantity indexes (and therefore productivity indexes) that satisfy basic axioms from measurement theory, permitting coherent comparisons across both time and space. The third step is to use a combination of economic theory and statistical methods (i.e., econometrics) to explain changes in measured productivity. I show how to identify the contributions of technical progress, environmental change, and changes in technical, scale and mix efficiency. The final step is to use this knowledge to develop policies aimed at improving productivity. The approach is illustrated using data on agricultural production across 156 countries over a 62-year period. I also discuss recent extensions to the measurement framework, including methods for accounting for undesirable outputs (or 'bads') and the use of natural capital.

Chris O'Donnell is a Professor of Econometrics at the University of Queensland. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Productivity Analysis and a Distinguished Fellow of the Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (AARES). His current research is focused on economic and statistical methods for measuring and explaining productivity and efficiency change. He has authored or co-authored three books on this topic. His work has also been published in leading economics and econometrics journals. He has provided in-house training and consulting services to organisations including the World Bank, the Asian Productivity Organisation, the Australian Energy Regulator, and the OECD.