Factor Utilisation and Productivity Estimates for the United Kingdom

Abstract

This paper derives series for capital utilisation, labour effort and total factor productivity from a DGE model with variable utilisation and labour adjustment costs. Capital utilisation tracks survey-based measures closely, while movements in total hours worked drive our labour effort series. TFP is less cyclical than the traditional Solow residual, though a weighted average of capital utilisation and labour effort - aggregate factor utilisation - and the Solow residual are not closely related. Rather, aggregate factor utilisation is correlated with detrended labour productivity, providing more evidence that differences in average and marginal labour productivity may be linked to factor hoarding.