No single lever to lift productivity, says former Productivity Commission chair | The Business
The former chair of the Productivity Commission, Michael Brennan says Australia’s Treasurer is right when he says improving productivity takes time, but Mr Brennan says the Labor government has made good progress in its first term and has a platform for further progress in its second. Now, the chief executive of economic research institute, e61, Mr Brennan says there’s no single lever to magically lift productivity growth in the near term but it is important for governments to work in a methodical way to target it from day one. But he says productivity isn’t always about what the government does but overwhelmingly what decisions are made in the private sector about the adoption of technology. Such decisions might include trying new business models, starting a new firm, and to innovate, research and develop. Mr Brennan says the stakes for Australia are particularly high when it comes to productivity in housing construction. He says because Australia’s construction sector is larger as a share of the economy than it is in other OECD countries, slow productivity growth in construction hurts Australia more than it does in other developed economies.
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