Multifactor productivity

Multifactor productivity (MFP) reflects the overall efficiency with which labour and capital inputs are used together in the production process. Changes in MFP reflect the effects of changes in management practices, brand names, organizational change, general knowledge, network effects, spillovers from production factors, adjustment costs, economies of scale, the effects of imperfect competition and measurement errors. Growth in MFP is measured as a residual, i.e. that part of GDP growth that cannot be explained by changes in labour and capital inputs. In simple terms therefore, if labour and capital inputs remained unchanged between two periods, any changes in output would reflect changes in MFP. This indicator is measured as an index and in annual growth rates.