Skip Navigation


Cambridge Journal of Economics Advance Access originally published online on June 6, 2005
Cambridge Journal of Economics 2005 29(5):799-815; doi:10.1093/cje/bei043
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
29/5/799    most recent
bei043v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mohun, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Related Collections
Right arrow B50 - General
Right arrow E24 - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution
Right arrow J24 - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
Right arrow J31 - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
Right arrow L16 - Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics; Macroeconomic Industrial Structure; Industrial Price Indices
Right arrow L80 - General
Right arrow O51 - U.S.; Canada
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved.

On measuring the wealth of nations: the US economy, 1964–2001

Simon Mohun*

* Queen Mary, University of London

Address for correspondence: Centre for Business Management, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK; email: s.mohun{at}qmul.ac.uk

This paper examines the methodology of Shaikh and Tonak (Measuring the Wealth of Nations, 1994) underlying their calculation of estimates of productive labour in the US economy from 1964 to 2001. The focus is not on the results but on the methods that generate them. The paper finds that the compromises made by Shaikh and Tonak because of data unavailability are unreliable, and that better approximations are possible. On this latter basis, the Shaikh and Tonak methodology can be used to provide the labour and wage estimates needed for empirical investigations in the surplus-based tradition.

Key Words: Productive labour • Unproductive labour • US economy

JEL classifications: B5, O51

Manuscript received April 2, 2002; final version received April 16, 2004.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Cambridge J EconHome page
S. Mohun
Aggregate capital productivity in the US economy, 1964-2001
Camb. J. Econ., September 1, 2009; 33(5): 1023 - 1046.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.