Labour or Total Factor Productivity: Do We Need to Choose?

. In this article, as part of the symposium on total factor productivity, Timothy C. Sargent and Edgard R. Rodriquez of Finance Canada discuss the issue of the choice between labour and total factor productivity. They conclude that both measures have uses. For periods of less than a decade, labour productivity is the preferred measure, but for longer periods total factor productivity is superior. When capital stock estimates are of poor quality, it is better to use labour productivity.