APO Secretariat Research and Planning Director (R) welcoming speakers and audience

The APO, in partnership with Keio Economic Observatory (KEO) of Keio University, invited Professor Alice Nakamura, Department of Finance and Management Science, University of Alberta School of Business, Canada, and Professor Loretta Fung, Department of Economics, National Tsing Hua University, Republic of China, to speak at the APO-KEO Productivity Special Lecture Series III, held on 5 October 2009 in Tokyo. This was the third in the APO-KEO Productivity Special Lecture series organized under the APO Productivity Database project. This series offers opportunities for learning about numerous productivity measurement issues to enrich the quality of APO research while carrying out its think tank role. At the same time, the lectures are meant to update a wide audience of those involved in productivity measurement on recent developments. Lecture series III attracted an audience of 25, comprising economists, professors, researchers, and APO Secretariat staff.

Professor Fung

Professor Nakamura

Professor Fung’s presentation was on Business Dynamics and Productivity Growth with Application to Taiwanese Electronics Firms. The issue of productivity measurement at firm level has been under debate, as it is considered helpful to understand how to assess the impacts of various business dynamics on productivity growth at both macro and micro levels. Professor Fung highlighted the methodology used to undertake the challenging task of measuring the contribution of firms with different turnover status to the productivity growth of an industry and business sector (full paper in PDF).

Professor Nakamura spoke on The Treatment of Owner-occupied Housing in Measures of Inflation. This an important issue in the system of national accounts because shelter accounts for a large share of household expenditure and has been significantly affected by the bursting of the housing price bubble in the USA (full paper in PDF).