Industrial Conflict, the Quality of Worklife, and the Productivity Slowdown in U.S. Manufacturing

Abstract

Productivity analysis generally omits the study of labor performed per labor hour hired. It therefore fails to identify two important determinants of productivity: workplace conflict and industrial accidents. Consideration of the effect of deteriorating work relation s increases the proportion of the variance of productivity growth explained for 1951-80 by 37 percent above technical models; and social-relations variables alone explain almost two-thirds of the productivity slowdown of 1973-80. The seemingly small impact of the energy crisis is also clarified: the labor-effort/labor-hours distinction implies that the energy/labor ratio is subject to measurement error.