In the context of a pre-existing labour force with 66% untrained and uncertified members, would expanding the pool of available talent in the labour force result in a positive productivity impact (refer section 2, page 7 on Policy Document attached). On a scale of Very Low, Low, Neither Low nor High, High, Very High, what productivity impact would most likely be the result ? Are there empirical data to support your assertion ?
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305687139_Priority_policy_recommendations_for_transforming_individual_productivity_and_SME_competitiveness_in_Jamaica
Technical Report Priority policy recommendations for transforming individual ...
If we measure average productivity as output per hour worked, then holding other things constant such as the 66 percent of the workers being untrained in your example, then adding skilled workers would likely increase average productivity.
When we are looking for greater precision, measuring the marginal product of each worker group becomes more interesting. For example, examining changes in the marginal product of skilled workers when adding more of them might be quite revealing. This assumes the skilled workers are doing different tasks than the untrained workers, of course.
I hope this helps.
Rob
If having more skilled labour in the workforce, ceteris paribus, does not increase total productivity, the workforce has acquired redundant skill or skill that has no use in the particular activity. You cannot expect to increase productivity of farmers or ordinary labourers by employing people with Ph.D. in astronomy etc. Research in growth theory suggest that skill is one of major determinants of productivity.
Thanks Rob,
The distinction between the average productivity effects and the precision of dissecting the marginal productivity effect, is appreciated.
Siburn
Mark Murphy’s research summarised at
https://youtu.be/rrznxVJPqmY
suggests attitudes may be more important than technical skills in determining early career performance. In many occupations (perhaps not dentistry) a worked with curiosity, initiative, ingenuity, and drive for results and an incomplete skills set might be more productive than a worker with a complete skills set but no curiosity, initiative, ingenuity, or drive for results.
Schwartz’ taxonomy of human values provides a framework for helping people to choose occupations which they feel are “worthwhile”, and which are more likely to call out attitudes of productivity such as curiosity, initiative, ingenuity, and drive for results. You can find a summary at
http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1116&context=orpc
…and a guide for practitioners in the Public Interest Research Centre’s Common Cause Handbook
http://publicinterest.org.uk/download/values/Common%20Cause%20Handbook.pdf
The Schwartz values survey has been included in each biennial round of the European Social Survey since 2002.
Researchers such as Knafo and Sagiv have mapped the values priorities of people working in various professional roles. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225747676_Values_and_work_environment_Mapping_32_occupations
People who have sensitised their life-wide occupational choices to their values may be more productive in paid employment, and also unpaid in their community and family lives, the Core Economy which makes up around 40% of productive economic activity, according to Edgar Cahn
http://timebanks.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Non-MonetaryEconomy.pdf
Measures of the extent to which people feel that the things they do in their lives are worthwhile are included in the European Social Survey, and in the UK Office of national Statistics surveys. The worthwhile item is often measured alongside other subjective well-being items which evaluate life-wide satisfaction, happiness, anxiety and social trust, all of which determine productivity. The satisfaction scores seem (to me) more about how an activity is performed and more connected with skills, and the worthwhile scores seem more about why an activity is performed, and more connected with values.
You can download the New Economics Foundation’s Guide to measuring subjective wellbeing at
http://www.neweconomics.org/publications/entry/measuring-well-being
The role of subjective wellbeing in determining graduates’ life-wide productivity is acknowledged by the UK Higher Education Statistics Agency proposal to include these items in university outcome measures
https://www.hesa.ac.uk/dox/publishing/consultations/NewDLHE_Consultation_May_2016.pdf
Imagine a league table that ranked universities and subject of study for their capacity to enable graduates to establish productive, self-directed, worthwhile, satisfying, happy, socially connected whole lives, within and beyond their paid employment.
Article Values and work environment: Mapping 32 occupations
Not necessarily that skilled labour will increase productivity. creativity,attitude towards increasing effort towards increased productivity and depend on how controls the human resources this also contributes much on productivity.
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