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Productivity

As nations engage in a race for global advantage in innovation, ITIF champions a new policy paradigm that ensures businesses and national economies can compete successfully by spurring public and private investment in foundational areas such as research, skills, and 21st century infrastructure. Our research on productivity issues analyzes past, present, and future trends in productivity, and advances policies to drive robust productivity growth, including through tech-based automation.

Robert D. Atkinson
Robert D. Atkinson

President

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

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Stephen Ezell
Stephen Ezell

Vice President, Global Innovation Policy, and Director, Center for Life Sciences Innovation

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

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Trelysa Long
Trelysa Long

Policy Analyst

Schumpeter Project on Competition Policy

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Meghan Ostertag
Meghan Ostertag

Research Assistant

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Featured

The Enterprise Automation Imperative—Why Modern Societies Will Need All the Productivity They Can Get

The Enterprise Automation Imperative—Why Modern Societies Will Need All the Productivity They Can Get

Contrary to common belief, enterprise automation is not a cause for alarm, but instead a societal imperative. Modern nations will need all the productivity they can get to address today’s ever-more-resource-constrained challenges.

More Publications and Events

November 15, 2024|Blogs

Falling Behind: US Businesses Are Overlooking Emerging Tech That Could Drive Productivity

The United States has faced an unprecedented slowdown in labor productivity in the last two decades. Policymakers must incentivize businesses to adopt and invest in the development of critical and emerging technologies.

November 11, 2024|Blogs

Fact of the Week: Robot Adoption in Nursing Homes Is Positively Correlated With Productivity, Revenue, and Quality of Care

Nursing homes are notorious for worker shortages, which worsens the quality of care for patients and the work environment for employees. Japanese nursing homes have begun deploying robots to address these problems.

November 4, 2024|Blogs

Don’t Worry About Manufacturing Jobs. Worry About Manufacturing Productivity

U.S. manufacturing productivity has been in decline for more than a decade. If policymakers don’t do more to turn that around, real wages will stagnate and U.S. manufacturers will increasingly find themselves at a competitive disadvantage.

October 15, 2024|Blogs

Studies Show AI Triggers Delirium in Leading Experts

Absent major policy intervention, the experts tell us, AI will drive up income inequality to stratospheric levels. This idea is becoming de rigueur in Western intellectual circles, even though the underlying arguments supporting it are fallacious to the point of absurdity.

October 7, 2024|Blogs

Fact of the Week: US Small Businesses Are 47 Percent as Productive as Big Businesses

In the United States, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises are just 47 percent as productive as large firms, compared to 60 percent in other advanced economies.

October 2, 2024|Blogs

Yes, America Should Automate Dock Work

Giving in to dockworkers’ demands for higher wages without higher productivity would set a dangerous precedent that opposing automation is a noble cause. It’s not. It costs U.S. consumers and the economy dearly.

September 30, 2024|Blogs

Increasing Productivity Is Key to Generating Federal Revenue

Increasing labor productivity through the development and adoption of new technologies will drive economic growth and should not be ignored as a viable way to raise federal revenue and decrease the budget deficit.

September 23, 2024|Blogs

Fact of the Week: Over 13 Percent of Firms That Use Artificial Intelligence Have Expanded Their Workforce

Data from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics shows that 13.7 percent of firms who use artificial intelligence experienced an increase in total employment.

September 9, 2024|Blogs

Fact of the Week: Manufacturing Firms in EU-27 Countries Using Cloud Computing Are More Likely To Export

The use of cloud computing by firms has been proven to increase productivity and innovation and to lower costs.

August 23, 2024|Blogs

Labour Should Prioritize Spreading Innovation To Succeed Where the Conservatives Fell Short

Labour aims to revive the UK’s economy by focusing on spreading innovation across all sectors, addressing the nation's productivity challenges through practical measures. By building on existing projects and ensuring the adoption of new technologies, particularly in both high-tech and low-tech sectors, Labour can deliver visible results and drive meaningful growth across the country.

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