Market Services and the Productivity Race, 1850–2000: British Performance in International PerspectiveNow that services account for such a dominant part of economic activity, it has become apparent that achieving high levels of productivity in the economy requires high levels of productivity in services. This book offers a major reassessment of Britain's comparative productivity performance over the last 150 years. Whereas in the mid-nineteenth century Britain had higher productivity than the United States and Germany, by 1990 both countries had overtaken Britain. The key to achieving high productivity was the 'industrialisation' of market services, which involved both the serving of business and the provision of mass-market consumer services in a more business like fashion. Comparative productivity varied with the uneven spread of industrialised service sector provision across sectors. Stephen Broadberry provides a quantitative overview of these trends, together with a qualitative account of developments within individual sectors, including shipping, railways, road and air transport, telecommunications, wholesale and retail distribution, banking, and finance. |
Other editions - View all
Market Services and the Productivity Race, 1850-2000: British Performance in ... Stephen Broadberry No preview available - 2009 |
Market Services and the Productivity Race, 1850-2000: British Performance in ... Stephen Broadberry No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
accounted aggregate economy agriculture annum balance of payments Bank of England benchmark Britain Broadberry building societies Central Statistical Office centralised Channon clearing banks companies comparative labour productivity comparative productivity competition corporatist countries customised decline difficult distribution efficient employment exports Feinstein 1972 figures finance financial services fire firms first fleet freight Germany Germany’s Germany/UK Growth rates hierarchical human capital important Indices of output industrialisation industrialisation of services industry inputs and productivity inter-war period investment labour force labour productivity lead labour productivity levels liabilities manufacturing market services merchant million nineteenth century non-bank financial Note O’Mahony Office Annual Abstract overseas passenger physical capital Post Office post-war productivity gap productivity performance reflected road transport series projections service sector share significant Source standardised Statistical Office Annual Statistisches substantial tonnage trade traffic transport and communications trends UK Central Statistical United Kingdom venture World World War II