The distribution of Productivity in Irish Manufacturing, 1995-2003

At the root of productivity dynamics at the aggregate level are huge differences in productivity between plants in even narrowly defined sectors. This chapter provides a synthesis of the results of a study using relative distribution methods and transition matrices to describe the changes in labour productivity in Irish manufacturing industries from 1995 to 2003. While labour productivity may be a poor measure to compare performance across plants, at the industry level comparisons over time should still produce reasonably reliable results.