TY  - JOUR
AU  - Diewert,W. Erwin
AU  - Smith,Ann Marie
TI  - Productivity Measurement for a Distribution Firm
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 4812
PY  - 1994
Y2  - July 1994
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4812
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4812.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
W. Erwin Diewert
Department of Economics
University of British Columbia
#997-1873 East Mall
Vancouver, BC  V6T 1Z1
CANADA
Tel: 604/822-2544
Fax: 604/822-5915
E-Mail: diewert@econ.ubc.ca
AB  - The paper derives a consistent accounting framework for the treatment of inventories when measuring the productivity of a distribution firm.  The average purchase price of an inventory item during an accounting period must be distinguished from its average selling price and these two average prices should be distinguished from the corresponding balance sheet prices.  The accounting framework is implemented for a distribution firm which sold 76,000 separate items.  The firm achieved a 9.6 percent per quarter total factor productivity growth rate over 6 quarters.
ER  -