Does the Housing Slump Account for the Slowdown in Productivity Growth?
Bhash Mazumder, Ana Rocca, Daniel G. Sullivan
The authors examine how much of the slowdown in productivity growth in the early and mid 2000s may be attributed to a decline in productivity in the construction sector. Unlike some previous analyses, the authors look at the entire construction sector rather than simply the residential portion. This is mainly because some businesses that are classified as being in the residential construction sector may also serve the commercial or government sectors in which building has continued to grow at a healthy pace.
