Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.
The primary aim of the research project was to present an overview of Britain's relative competitive performance in the postwar period. Previous research in this area has concentrated on either the total economy or on manufacturing. The aim of the project was to broaden the scope of research by examining competitive performance for all sectors of the aggregate economy. To do so, a dataset was constructed to enable measurement of productivity (both labour and total factor productivity) and unit labour costs comparing Britain to four of her major competitors, i.e. the US, France, Germany and Japan. The research was concerned with to what extent the performance at the aggregate economy level was affected by the inclusion of non-market services (health, education and government), which are poorly measured in the national accounts. Differences in performance between service sectors and production industries were also analysed.
Main Topics:
The dataset contains the raw data necessary to enable an evaluation of Britain's relative competitive performance at the sector level. Hence the dataset contains annual time series, from 1950 to 1995, on real output (generally value added), number of persons engaged, average annual hours worked, net capital stocks, labour force skills and labour's share of value added. It also includes benchmark estimates of relative productivity levels for 1993. The data are available for a maximum of 33 sectors, some of which are broad sectors and some comprise sub-industries with these broad sectors. The sectors included are : 1. Agriculture, forestry and fishing; 2. Mining and oil refining (2.1 oil and gas extraction, 2.2 other mining, 2.3 mineral oil refining); 3. Utilities (3.1 electricity, 3.2 gas, 3.3 water supply); 4. Manufacturing 5. Construction 6. Distributive trades (6.1 wholesale trade, 6.2 retail trade, 6.3 hotels and catering); 7. Transport and communications (7.1 rail transport, 7.2 water transport, 7.3 air transport, 7.4 other transport & transport services, 7.5 communications); 8. Financial & business services (8.1 banking & finance, 8.2 insurance, 8.3 business services); 9. Miscellaneous personal services; 10. Non-market services (10.1 health, 10.2 education, 10.3 government) plus the total for the aggregate economy and the total over market sectors (excluding non-market sectors). The manufacturing sectors are : 4.1. Chemicals and allied products (4.11 chemicals, 4.12 rubber and plastics); 4.2. Metals (4.21 basic metals and 4.22 metal products); 4.3. Engineering industries (4.31 mechanical engineering, 4.32 office machinery, 4.33 electrical engineering, 4.34 mo tor vehicles, 4.45 other transport equipment, 4.36 instrument engineering); 4.4. Textile and related products (4.41 textiles, 4.42 clothing, footwear and leather); 4.5. Food, drink and tobacco and 4.6. Other manufacturing (4.61 non-metallic mineral products, 4.62 wood & furniture, 4.63 paper & printing, 4.64 miscellaneous manufacturing. The data originate from official publications but include adjustment to render them internationally comparable. Data limitations imply that the series are not always available for all sectors in all countries. The most complete data series are for the US, the UK and Germany - less detail is available for France and Japan. The data represent in some cases a complete, and in some cases a partial transcription of original sources. Adjustments were made to the original sources to render them consistent across both time and countries. For example, in constructing real output for the US, the data are those published for Construction, indexed to 1993=100. For the communications sector, however, the US industry definition includes telecommunications, radio and TV, whereas communications in all other countries comprise telecommunications and postal services. Hence for the US output of the postal services (included with the Federal Government) was estimated and added to output in telecommunications. For further details, please see documentation. The dataset contains the following files : NISECQ.xls: Real value added by sector, (index, 1993=100). NISECMQ.xls: Real value added in manufacturing industries, (index, 1993=100). NISECE.xls: Number of persons engaged by sector, (thousands of persons). NISECME.xls: Number of persons engaged in manufacturing, (thousands of persons). NISECHR.xls: Annual average hours per worker by sector, (number of hours). NISECMHR.xls: Annual average hours per worker in manufacturing, (number of hours). NISECPR.xls: Value added per hour worked by sector, (index, 1993=100). NISECMPR.xls: Value added per hour worked in manufacturing, (index, 1993=100). NISECK.xls: Capital services by sector, (index, 1993=100). NISECMK.xls: Capital services in manufacturing, (index, 1993=100). (this file does include a spreadsheet for Japan ) NISECLS.xls: Labour's share of value added by sector, (proportions). NISECMLS.xls: Labour's share of value added in manufacturing, (proportions). (this file does include a spreadsheet for Japan) NISECSK.xls: Labour force skills by sector, divided into higher level, intermediate level and low skills (percent of the workforce). Note: these data are available only for the US, the UK and Germany. NISECMSK.xls: Labour force skills in manufacturing, divided into higher level, intermediate level and low skills (percent of the workforce). Note: these data are available only for the US, the UK and Germany. NISECLV.xls: Relative levels of value added per hour worked and capital per hour worked in 1993, (UK=100). This contains one spreadsheet for sectors and one for manufacturing.
No information recorded
Compilation or synthesis of existing material
the data were compiled from a wide range of official publications with the aim of including as many
