Canadian Productivity Growth: Stuck in the Oil Sands

Oliver Loertscher and Pau Pujolas

Department of Economics Working Papers from McMaster University

Abstract: We study the behaviour of Canadian total factor productivity growth over the past 60 years. We find that the observed stagnation during the last 20 years is entirely accounted for by the Oil sector. Higher oil prices made capital-intensive sources of oil like the oil sands viable to extract on a commercial scale. However, the greater input required per barrel of oil slowed productivity growth. Comparing Canadian TFP growth to that of the United States reinforces these results. However, our result should not be interpreted to carry any welfare implications.

Keywords: Canadian Productivity Stagnation; Oil Sector; TFP (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D24 E01 O47 O51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 22 pages
Date: 2023-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eff and nep-ene
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Journal Article: Canadian productivity growth: Stuck in the oil sands (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mcm:deptwp:2023-01

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