New Zealand’s Production Structure: An International Comparison
New Zealand Treasury Working Paper 03/16
Published: September 2003
Authors: Iris Claus and Kathy Li
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to compare New Zealand’s production structure in the mid-1990s to that in other OECD countries using input output analysis. Comparable inter industry transactions tables to the New Zealand data are available for Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom. The composition of total supply and value added is examined across countries. Backward and forward linkages, indices of industry interconnectedness, a value added production multiplier, a cumulated primary input coefficient for compensation of employees and a measure of import content of final demand output are calculated, taking into account direct and indirect transactions. New Zealand’s industrial structure is broadly similar to that in other OECD countries. Some differences arise as certain industries are more important in some countries. New Zealand’s exports appear to be more diversified and have a large value added content. Moreover, the return to capital, as measured by the share of gross operating surplus in value added, is high.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank John Creedy, Khoon Goh and Dean Hyslop for useful suggestions. Special thanks are due to Barry Voice at Statistics New Zealand. Thanks are also due to Jenny Fenwick and Claire Gardiner for their assistance with the data and David Law and Shaohong Xie for help with the graphs and tables.
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the New Zealand Treasury. The paper is presented not as policy, but with a view to inform and stimulate wider debate.
