TY  - JOUR
AU  - Bernstein,Jeffrey I.
TI  - Total Factor Productivity Growth in the Canadian Life Insurance Industry: 1979-1989
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 6475
PY  - 1998
Y2  - March 1998
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w6475
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w6475.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Jeffrey I. Bernstein
Department of Economics
University Park Campus
Florida International University
11200 S.W. 8th Street
Miami, FL 33199
Tel: 305/348-2592
E-Mail: jeffrey.bernstein@fiu.edu
AB  - This is the first paper to directly measure and decompose total factor productivity growth (TFPG) for the Canadian life insurance industry. TFPG averaged 1.0 percent per year over the period from 1979 to 1989, thereby outperforming many manufacturing industries. The rate of TFPG was 0.2 percent in the first half of the 1980's due to the depressed economy and 1.9 percent in the last half of the decade. Technological change was the major element contributing to TFPG. There was a large residual element in the decomposition of TFPG, reflecting possible adjustment costs associated with new information processing technologies.
ER  -