Productivity and business R&D: A study of Canadian food manufacturing industries, 1994‐2005

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the contribution of physical capital, skilled labor, research and development (R&D), and imports to the productivity of ten Canadian food and beverage manufacturing sectors.

Design/methodology/approach

A Cobb‐Douglas production function is estimated to discern the relative contribution of physical versus R&D knowledge capital in fostering productivity growth. The paper uses a balanced panel dataset and is based on pooled cross‐sectional time series data for ten food and beverage manufacturing industries over the period 1994‐2005. The methodological framework adopted in this paper is a cross‐sectionally correlated and time‐wise autoregressive model. Data employed in this paper are from Statistics Canada's annual survey of manufacturing industries and Canadian Socio‐economic Information Management computerized database.

Findings

The results show that food manufacturing productivity for ten food and beverage sectors is more responsive to physical capital than R&D knowledge capital. Some of the other determinants of labor productivity in food manufacturing included the contribution from university‐educated workers.

Originality/value

The paper is useful to both policy makers and academics in the research fields of R&D and productivity. It provides some interesting insights into the contribution of physical and knowledge capital to food manufacturing industry productivity.

Citation

Carew, R. and Florkowski, W.J. (2010), "Productivity and business R&D: A study of Canadian food manufacturing industries, 1994‐2005", British Food Journal, Vol. 112 No. 7, pp. 737-750. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070701011058262