As Tej Parikh (FT) suggests, there's no 'puzzle' to the UK's low productivity, the puzzles is the lack of ability to shape a workable response.
We already know productivity rises are depressed by:
a lack of investment;
widespread failing management;
regional misallocation of what investment there is (too much in the SE);
badly matched education & work opportunities;
staggeringly high energy costs;
and more recently Brexit.
But shaping a workable response... that's the puzzle!
There is a view that #multifactor #productivity in the #uk is actually quite high by international standards - and that the real problem is one of factor proportions - too little #capital as against #labour in particular. To which the answer would be either to attract in #capital or for the #uk to find the #capital itself. One form of #endogenousgrowththeory suggests that the latter strategy would work well. Interpreting fiscal rules to enable it would make sense!
Strange as it may seem it is possible - and has been observed in practice - for an economy to experience rapid increases in income per head and indeed living standards with no noticeable change in its level of #totalfactor #productivity ,
Yes, he explored that a little too.... however, the answer also is that while productivity is relatively high, as you say, by international standards, its growth has largely stagnated, while the surplus has been reallocated to top executives, shareholders & other rentiers....
So while, returning to an increasingly in productivity would help living standards, potentially, without some action on changing surplus distribution the effect will me less than many will hope.
In fact #totalfactor #productivity outside government appears to have declined slightly since 2019. Like you I think #capital has been over rewarded for what it has contributed so rather fancy returning to the #crosland and #peston idea of the state mobilising and providing additional #capital - as it did before #margaretthatcher - or even going further still and reviving the idea of 'the state as entrepreneur' in fashion half a century back!
I'd add lack of or poor training in work compared to competitors. I've worked in a number of companies with large sites in other countries, and the attitude to skilling staff was completely different locally.
Well, it does back to my frequent comment about managers seeing staff as a cost to be rescued, not a resource to be invested in....
Yes, the British version is (sadly) not an isolate situation - my commiserations
Emeritus Prof Christopher May
Donald Roy
Tony Wells
Cara Bruar