Information note
02 February 2015
Productivity measures and analysis: ONS
work plan
Mark Franklin, Office of the Chief Economic Adviser
Abstract
This information note reviews developments at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in
measuring and analysing productivity since the last productivity work plan was published in 2006
and sets out some priorities for future work. Overall progress against the 2006 work plan has been
mixed, held up in some cases by re-scheduling and re-focusing of activities in other parts of ONS.
In general, the record has been one of incremental improvement rather than the paradigm shifts
envisaged in 2006. Looking ahead, the focus is similarly on piecemeal rather than radical
development.
Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to my ONS colleagues Fiona Massey and Richard Prothero for contributions on
public service productivity and regional productivity issues respectively.
1.
Introduction
Productivity is concerned with the relationship between economic inputs and economic outputs.
Within ONS there are four areas of activity related to productivity:
(i)
The Knowledge Economy and Productivity (KEP) branch of ONS compiles and publishes
quarterly estimates of labour productivity for the UK economy and a range of industries together
with related estimates of unit labour costs. Labour productivity measures the relationship
between labour input (such as hours worked) and economic output and is a key determinant of
living standards and underlying economic performance. Unit labour costs measure the interaction
between labour productivity and labour costs (such as earnings per hour) and reflect inflationary
pressures. KEP also publishes annual estimates of productivity by region and international
comparisons of productivity. All of these statistics were the subject of an Assessment by the UK
Statistics Authority in 2012 (UK Statistics Authority 2012) and were confirmed as National Statistics
in June 2013. In addition, annual sub-regional labour productivity estimates are published by the
Local Economic and Social Analysis branch of ONS on an ad hoc basis as experimental statistics.
These experimental statistics were outside the scope of the 2012 Assessment
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(ii)
The KEP branch compiles and publishes annual estimates of multi-factor productivity
(MFP), which measure the relationship between a wider basket of economic inputs into the
production process (including capital services and compositional changes in labour inputs as well
as hours worked) and economic output within a framework known as growth accounting.
Estimates of capital services and compositional changes in labour inputs, and MFP growth
accounting estimates are published on an ad hoc basis as experimental statistics. These
experimental statistics were also outside the scope of the 2012 Assessment
(iii)
The Public Service Productivity (PSP) branch of ONS publishes estimates of public
services productivity for healthcare, education and total public services. These statistics were the
subject of an Assessment by the UK Statistics Authority in 2011 (UK Statistics Authority 2011) and
were confirmed as National Statistics in June 2013, and
(iv)
In collaboration with academic partners the KEP branch carries out a programme of microdated based productivity analysis using linked business data available within the secure
environment of the ONS Virtual Micro-data Laboratory (VML).
Areas (i) and (ii) are conducted within the context of the UK National Accounts. That is to say,
output measures are consistent with the National Accounts concept of economic output from the
production account (known as gross value added – GVA), and input measures are as far as
possible consistent with the National Accounts framework. For example, estimates of unit labour
costs use measures of labour costs that are consistent with the income presentation of the
National Accounts1.
ONS measures of public services productivity are also partly grounded in the National Accounts
framework, but use the volume of Government final consumption demand (a component of the
expenditure presentation of the National Accounts) as the measure of output, rather than GVA. In
addition, estimates of outputs of healthcare and education include quality adjustments which are
different from those in the equivalent National Accounts concepts.
There is no direct read-across between micro-data based productivity analysis and the National
Accounts. Micro-data sources are of course used within the National Accounts framework but not
in a deterministic fashion, but rather as one source alongside other sources. Thus it is generally
not possible to replicate National Accounts statistics from micro-data. 2
Motivation
The UK Statistics Authority assessment report on ONS statistics on labour productivity (UK
Statistics Authority 2012) included a requirement to:
1
There are a number of minor inconsistencies between measurement of output and of labour inputs. For
example, GVA in the National Accounts includes the value of output of housing services from owneroccupied dwellings, which has no equivalent labour input, and labour market sources record some
employment in industry 99: activities of extra-territorial organisations, for which there is no corresponding
GVA series.
2 The relationships between survey data and National Accounts estimates are explored in Ayoubkhani (2014)
and Franklin and Murphy (2014a).
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Publish up-to-date information about ONS’s plans to develop its labour productivity statistics
(Requirement 7)
The assessment report also included a suggestion to:
Publish an update outlining the work done as a result of the previous productivity strategy and work
programmes (Suggestion 4)
The requirement (that is, a condition which was required to be met in order for National Statistics
status to be conferred) was met in the first instance by publication of an article on new labour
productivity statistics in 2013 (Allen and Franklin 2013). That article described the development of
new labour statistics to meet ONS’s outstanding obligations under European regulations, and how
ONS proposed to take this work forward.
The proximate motivation for this information note is to address the suggestion in the UK Statistics
Authority assessment report to publish an update on work done as a result of the previous
productivity strategy and work programmes. ONS last published its productivity work programme in
2006 (Camus and Lau 2006). This was a very ambitious programme, encompassing activities
across large parts of ONS and not confined to the four work areas described above3.
In addition, there is enhanced interest among users of economic statistics in understanding
productivity trends, especially during and after the economic downturn in 2008-09.
Layout of information note
The layout of the rest of the information note is as follows. Section 2 recaps the forward work
programme set out in Camus and Lau (2006) and provides a brief summary of achievements in
these work areas since 2006.
Section 3 summarises recent productivity–related developments at ONS outside the work areas
identified in the 2006 work programme. Lastly, Section 4 sets out some priorities for future work.
This section is less ambitious than the programme set out in 2006, and is confined fairly rigidly to
the four work areas described above. Although this article is not a formal consultation document,
ONS would particularly welcome feedback from users on the forward looking content of this
information note.
2.
Progress against 2006 work programme
The 2006 forward work programme was based on seven work projects, as follows:
(1)
Creating a structure for long-term productivity analysis within the National Accounts Reengineering Programme
(2)
Developing further the ability to use the growth accounting framework to analyse
productivity and test consistency and coherence of the National Accounts
3
The 2006 article updated an earlier productivity work plan published in 2002 (Lau, 2002).
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(3)
Continuing the project for improving the consistency between National Accounts and labour
market statistics
(4)
Improved measurement [of R&D, ICT investment and software deflators] to improve
productivity analysis
(5)
Continued development of micro-data resources for use in productivity analysis
(6)
Developing new productivity measures to meet users’ needs, under the following headings:
•
Public sector productivity estimates
•
Market sector productivity estimates
•
Service sector productivity estimates
•
International comparisons of productivity
(7)
Publish a comprehensive guide for ONS estimates of productivity
Overall progress against this work programme has been mixed. The aim of work project (7) was
met in 2007 with the publication of the ONS Productivity Handbook (Camus (ed) 2007). And the
aims of work project (6) have been met through (i) regular publication of estimates of public sector
productivity in education, healthcare and total public services, (ii) incorporation of estimates of
market sector productivity into the quarterly Labour Productivity release, (iii) improved
measurement and reporting of service sector productivity and (iv) improvements to estimates and
reporting of international comparisons of productivity.
In some other areas, significant work has been carried out but challenges remain. Under work
project (5), the KEP team has conducted considerable work with business micro-data including
some work not envisaged in 2006 (see the next section for more details), and time lags between
survey activity and delivery of datasets into the VML have generally shortened. On the other hand,
changes to survey design and sampling practices combined with a scaling back of VML analytical
resources have led to discontinuities in some key business micro-datasets. This has proved
challenging and time-consuming for researchers inside and outside ONS seeking to use microdata sources for productivity analysis.
Similarly under work project (4), ONS has carried out work to improve the measurement of
intangible assets including R&D and computer software. Under new international standards known
as the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA 2010) adopted in Blue Book 2014, R&D is treated
as an asset which adds to the productive potential of the economy, directly analogous with other
forms of capital accumulation such as machinery and buildings. This has implications for GDP
(principally to levels, but also some second-order impact on growth rates) and therefore affects
productivity and MFP. ONS has published several articles explaining the process of
implementation of this change and its impact on measurement, most recently in June 2014 (Ker
2014). Measures of capital services and MFP including the impact of R&D capitalisation were
published for the first time in January 2015 (Murphy and Franklin 2015, Connors and Franklin
2015).
Since 2006 there have been multiple changes to deflators for software as well as to other capital
assets; a summary is available in the National Statistics Quality Review (Barker and Ridgeway
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2014). A project is currently underway to improve estimates of software deflators for Blue Book
2015. Asset deflators feed into estimates of capital services and hence into MFP.
Under work project (2), progress has been made in measuring quality-adjusted labour inputs
(QALI), notably in terms of timeliness and consistency of methodology with other ONS estimates;
see Franklin and Murphy (2014b) for more information. Nevertheless the QALI system remains in a
formative stage and the QALI methodology remains under review. For example, QALI does not
currently provide the level of industry detail requested by some users, while other users have
suggested that a different methodological approach may better capture measurable quality
differences across the workforce.
Equally, some development of capital services estimates occurred between 2006 and 2011, when
issues with industry and asset patterns of gross fixed capital formation associated with the
introduction of new National Accounts production systems for Blue Book 2011 and the transition
from the SIC03 to SIC07 industry taxonomies led ONS to suspend publication of capital services
and MFP estimates with effect from April 20124.
In short, ONS remains some way away from routinely using the growth accounting framework to
“analyse productivity and test consistency and coherence of the National Accounts”.
This leaves work projects (1) and (3) where there is the least substantive progress to report. Under
(3), the formal project that had been set up to improve consistency between labour market
statistics and the National Accounts was closed in 2007 due to a combination of resource
pressures and emerging evidence of the complexities and challenges inherent in achieving its
objectives5. Some modest achievements nevertheless came out of the LMS/NA project, notably
improved coherence between employment and earnings estimates and National Accounts
estimates of compensation of employees, see Lindsay (2006) for more details.
Under work project (1), which was arguably the most ambitious and far-reaching of the 2006 work
programme there is little to report apart from the limited incorporation of recommendations noted in
the previous paragraph arising out of the LMS/NA consistency project. The vision of putting
productivity at the heart of economic statistics has not been realised and does not currently feature
in ONS strategic planning. The National Accounts Re-engineering Project has been progressively
scaled back in scope and deliverables have been re-scheduled6.
4
Indicative annual high-level estimates of capital services and MFP were published in 2012 (Appleton and
Franklin 2012) and 2014 (Field and Franklin 2014). Capital services estimates to 2013 were published as a
stand-alone release in January 2015 (Murphy and Franklin 2015), following reinstatement of ONS capital
stocks estimates during 2014. However, these estimates remain experimental and there remain some issues
with the underlying GFCF estimates used in both ONS capital stock and capital services systems.
5 The challenges inherent in developing the QALI system noted above can be seen as echoes of the
challenges surfaced by the LMS/NA project.
6 The latest ‘National Accounts and Related Statistics Work Plan’ consulted upon in 2013 (ONS 2013) sets
out a programme of planned developments to the national accounts which will have a bearing on productivity
measurement and analysis. But there is no specific reference to the productivity dimension, and no mention
of the 2006 productivity work plan. Similarly, the NSQR review of National Accounts and Balance of
Payments (Barker and Ridgeway 2014) contains a raft of recommendations, some of which echo the 2006
work plan. Again, there is no specific articulation of the impact of recommendations on productivity
measurement or analysis, other than a somewhat misleading statement that capital stocks data are crucial to
the estimation of MFP.
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3.
Other developments since 2006
While progress has been limited towards some areas of the 2006 productivity work programme,
there have been a number of other developments that were not anticipated in the 2006 work
programme.
Work to investigate the impact of intangible investment on productivity
Academic and policy-related interest in the role of intangible investment in productivity is evidenced
by the publication of ‘Intangible investment and Britain’s productivity’ to re-launch the Treasury’s
Economic Working Paper series in 2007 (Giorgio Marrano et al, 2007). Intangible investment in the
form of computer software was fully capitalised in the National Accounts from Blue Book 2007, and
as noted above, R&D was capitalised in Blue Book 2014. Capitalisation impacts on labour
productivity because it increases the level of economic output and may also affect growth rates.
The impact on MFP is not straightforward because capitalisation also increases the stock of
productive capital and may affect the growth of capital services7.
There have been two further elements to ONS work on intangible investment since 2006. First,
work has been undertaken to improve the measurement of overall intangible investment by firms,
including ‘own-account’ asset accumulation. To this end ONS conducted two pilot surveys to
estimate investment in six types of intangible assets in 2008 and 2010. The six asset categories
include training, design, reputation and branding and business process improvement as well as
software and R&D. The surveys were designed to provide information on asset lives as well as
levels of asset accumulation. Results from the 2008 survey are reported in Awano et al (2010);
results from the 2010 survey are reported in Field and Franklin (2012).
Second, survey results and estimates of intangible investment from other sources have been used
to construct modified national accounts to explore the impact of capitalisation of intangible assets
for the economy as a whole and for a range of component industries, incorporating the impact on
outputs, inputs and productivity. This is a complex ‘what if’ exercise which involves taking account
of the input-output structure of the economy and was conducted in partnership with academic
researchers as part of the ‘Innovation Index’ programme sponsored by the National Endowment for
Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA). Results from round one are reported in Haskel et al
(2011) and the second round results are reported in Goodridge et al (2012).
Micro-data based productivity analysis
ONS activity in this area since 2006 has been dominated by work carried out as part of three
successive Eurostat-funded projects to investigate the economic impact of ICT using micro-data
linking across a consortium of European national statistics offices. More information and links to
reports of each project are available on the Eurostat website:
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/information_society/methodology
7
To the extent that capitalisation improves the capture of capital inputs into the production process, one
would expect MFP to be lower, other things equal.
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A corollary of this work has been the development of a framework of linked business microdatasets. These, combined with analytical coding developed by the project’s lead academic
adviser Eric Bartelsman, a world authority on micro-data linking, permit approaches to productivity
analysis over and above those that can be explored using conventional aggregate published
estimates of outputs and inputs. For example, the micro-data approach allows analysis of
productivity in terms of firm-specific characteristics such as size and age of the firm, and binary
characteristics such as whether the firm is an exporter or part of a multinational enterprise. Some
results for the UK are reported in Field and Franklin (2013).
Another spin-off from the Eurostat funded work has been the development of micro-datasets for
derived variables including firm-level capital stocks and panel datasets of exporting firms. These
datasets have been made available to other researchers through the VML and the Secure Lab
provided by the UK Data Service.
Labour productivity developments
There have been three main developments in the area of labour productivity since 2006. First,
ONS has developed and introduced a new and improved methodology to derive whole economy
unit labour costs (ULCs) and unit wage costs, which utilise more consistent and robust estimates
for labour remuneration of the self-employed (Appleton 2011). Corresponding estimates for ULCs
for principal industries below the whole economy level have also been developed (Franklin and
Mistry 2012). These section-level ULC estimates are currently published as a separate component
of the Labour Productivity quarterly release.
Second, ONS has developed a new system for compiling estimates of labour inputs (in terms of
hours, jobs and employment on a headcount basis) which incorporate a number of methodological
refinements over current estimates (for hours and jobs) used in the quarterly Labour Productivity
release (Allen and Franklin 2013). The new estimates for hours and employment are currently
delivered to Eurostat on a quarterly basis and are broken down between employees and the selfemployed as well as across a number of industries.
Third, in response to a number of user requests, ONS has assembled long historic time series of
the principal productivity estimates. These estimates are also published as a component of the
Labour Productivity quarterly release8.
Labour productivity from the Annual Business Survey (ABS)
Since 2006 ONS has published three analyses of labour productivity using detailed industry-level
estimates from the ABS, most recently in Franklin and Murphy (2014a). This article included some
experimental estimates of productivity using the technique of ‘double deflation’, that is, deflating
ABS estimates of turnover and intermediate consumption separately, rather than deflating ABS
estimates of value added (turnover minus intermediate consumption) by a single deflator. Double
deflation is recognised as conceptually preferable for measuring productivity. However, as noted in
Franklin and Murphy (2014a), the absence of constant price balancing in the UK National Accounts
8
Historical estimates have not yet been published consistent with the ESA2010 revisions introduced in Blue
Book 2014.
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is reflected in inconsistencies between reported estimates of prices and volumes for individual
industries when confronted in an input-output framework.
Public Service Productivity developments and methods changes
In 2012, a methods change was introduced for healthcare productivity estimates which took more
account of the increase in public expenditure on services provided by non-NHS organisations.
These include private treatment centres and hospitals providing a range of acute, mental health
and emergency hospital services. In addition, charitable organisations and local authorities are
funded by government to provide care for those with learning difficulties, and continuing care
packages to older patients with underlying health needs. There are currently no direct measures
for the provision of healthcare by non-NHS organisations so output has been incorporated on an
inputs=output basis.
4.
Future work programme
The UK Statistics Authority Assessment Report on ONS productivity statistics does not ask ONS to
publish its forward work programme beyond plans to develop labour productivity statistics.
Nonetheless users may find it helpful to see consolidated plans across the four work areas noted in
the Introduction. Feedback on these work programmes is welcome and can be sent to
mark.franklin@ons.gsi.gov.uk or productivity@ons.gsi.uk.
(i) Labour productivity statistics
ONS operates a policy of continuous improvement of labour productivity statistics, including
International Comparisons of Productivity (published twice a year) as well as the quarterly Labour
Productivity release.
As noted above, ONS published an article in August 2013 describing development work on labour
input measures (Allen and Franklin 2013). That article set out a number of advantages of the new
estimates over existing estimates (known as ‘productivity jobs’ and ‘productivity hours’) and
outlined an intention to incorporate the new estimates into the quarterly Labour Productivity
release, subject to user feedback.
This development work was presented at a productivity statistics user group event in January
2014. Users were generally supportive, but expressed a desire for more information on the impact
of the proposed changes on the published productivity record before incorporation into the
quarterly release.
Since the user group event, ONS KEP branch has undertaken more development work, including
publication in May 2014 of some preliminary productivity estimates using the new methodology,
along with differences from the estimates in the 2013Q4 Labour Productivity release which was
originally published on 1 April 20149. In general, the differences are relatively modest and do not
significantly change the historic record.
9
These estimates were published as an additional component to the August 2013 article.
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This work has identified some issues which remain to be resolved. One issue concerns the
aggregate Labour Force Survey (LFS) hours worked series to which the new industry components
are benchmarked, where there is a discontinuity in 2010Q4 due to a change in the LFS rolling 13week sampling timetable. This is also an issue in the existing productivity hours system (which also
benchmarks to LFS hours), but it is more problematic in the new system due to a different
approach to seasonal adjustment. Additionally, users have expressed a preference for consistency
between published estimates of output, labour inputs and corresponding productivity estimates.
Consistency can become an issue when seasonal adjustment is carried out on the numerator and
denominator independently. ONS’s current intention is to publish a further article setting out
proposed solutions to these issues, reporting a full set of results in terms of labour inputs and
productivity estimates, and analysing differences from results using the current methodology.
Users will have an opportunity to provide feedback before any decision is taken to adopt the new
methodology in the quarterly Labour Productivity release.
Other planned developments in labour productivity include:

Incorporation of new estimates of section-level ULCs into the quarterly Labour Productivity
release. This will entail replacement of the existing series for manufacturing unit wage costs
(DIX4) with a new and consistent series for manufacturing ULCs

Building on initial analysis of trends in labour productivity between employees and the selfemployed presented to the ONS Quarterly Economic Forum in July 2014

Reviewing the methodology used in compiling market sector productivity estimates

Provision of additional long time series of historical productivity estimates

Provision of more information on international comparisons of productivity, possibly including
comparisons of productivity below the whole economy level and comparisons which take
account of different levels of capital consumption across different economies
There is also demand from local users for more information on spatial differences in labour
productivity. The Local Economic and Social Analysis branch at ONS is keen to investigate the
scope to provide additional information to users in this regard, including:

bringing the current ad-hoc "subregional productivity" release up to National Statistics status

expanding QALI to the regional level, and

the provision of ad-hoc articles to explain to users underlying drivers of spatial productivity
differences across the UK
(ii) Growth accounting
The outlook for development work relating to growth accounting is uncertain. On the one hand, as
noted in the 2006 work programme, growth accounting provides a powerful framework which can
be used both diagnostically (to test coherence between output measures from the National
Accounts and inputs of factors of production, including but not limited to labour inputs) and
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analytically, for example to identify the sources of productivity growth. These potential benefits are
recognised and valued by users, and the growth accounting framework is embedded in the
processes of a number of national statistics offices including the US, Australia and Finland.
On the other hand, there are formidable obstacles to progress, including:

The absence of constant price estimates of gross output and intermediate consumption within
the UK National Accounts. Such estimates are essential for unbiased growth accounting
estimates below the whole economy level. The current ONS National Accounts development
strategy is to generate constant price estimates through an extension of the existing strategy
through which the three approaches to GDP are reconciled annually through the supply and
use framework. The ‘National Accounts and Related Statistics Work Plan’ published in 2013
(ONS 2013) and the National Statistics Quality Review (NSQR) of National Accounts and
Balance of Payments (Barker and Ridgeway 2014) both note the requirement under European
regulations to produce annual supply and use tables at previous year prices, but as noted by
the NSQR, ONS has a derogation until 2017. Moreover, the NSQR highlights several issues
with the existing current price supply and use framework, including a need for improved and
updated information on product use by industry, and a need for systems improvements

Some data sources for capital services are either not available or are subject to quality issues.
A corollary is that publication of official estimates of capital stocks, which rely on similar data
sources as capital services (principally long time series of real investment flows by asset, and
corresponding deflators), was suspended in 2010 due to quality issues. New estimates of
capital stocks and consumption of fixed capital to 2012 were published in July 2014 and
November 2014, although, as noted in the Barker and Ridgeway review, it is not clear that all of
the issues with the source data have yet been resolved. Changes required for compliance with
ESA 2010 represent an additional challenge as, for example, deflators for R&D are currently
estimated from the input side

QALI development is hampered by the lack of integration between the LFS (a household
survey) and National Accounts systems, which the LM/NA project was designed to address.
This raises conceptual and empirical challenges as noted above. The challenges are not
insurmountable, but they mean that development of QALI is resource intensive and time
consuming
Reflecting these obstacles, and since the main rationale for QALI is as a component within a
growth accounting framework, ONS plans in this field are confined to updating QALI on a ‘care and
maintenance’ footing, pending greater clarity on the future of the wider growth accounting
framework.
Future ONS work in this area will depend on resource availability and ONS strategic priorities.
Given the fundamental importance of productivity as a driver of long term economic performance,
there could be strong user interest in developing this area of work. It would be helpful to hear the
views of users on the merit of doing so.
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(iii) Public sector productivity
There are two main priorities for the development of public service productivity estimates:

Developing and consulting on an improved method for quality-adjusting education output which
takes greater account of the changed nature of examinations and curricula since the series
began in 1996. A large micro-dataset has been obtained from the National Pupil Database for
England which will be used to test alternative measures of average attainment at the end of
Key Stage 4 (15-16 year olds)

Improving the timeliness of the articles by utilising source data as soon as it becomes available
and possibly introducing the use of projections for some data series
User guides
In addition, during 2014-15, ONS aims to provide users with a new guide to the different
productivity estimates that are produced, updating a paper by Phelps (2010). This will explain the
improvements that have been made to the whole economy and public service productivity
statistical releases, and provide a guide to their interpretation.
This user guide will complement a forthcoming ONS publication which explains how public service
productivity statistics and their analysis can establish a framework for considering the efficiency
and effectiveness of the provision of public services in the UK.
More generally, ONS is interested in users’ views on revising and updating some or all of the 2007
ONS Productivity Handbook.
New metrics
In the longer term, ONS will be exploring the feasibility of developing a ‘non-market’ labour
productivity statistic to complement the experimental ‘market’ labour productivity estimate included
in the current quarterly Labour Productivity release.
ONS also has plans to investigate the use of quarterly National Accounts to calculate an alternative
measure of public service based on chained volume measures of government output and deflated
input expenditure. It should be noted that any alternative measure would not contain any quality
adjustment factors and would not have comprehensive coverage of all Government-funded output.
It would however offer much timelier estimates of broad productivity trends for Government-funded
services using a National Accounts (expenditure) framework.
In both cases, ONS will consult with users before introducing any new methods or metrics to
ensure proposals meet with user needs.
(iv) Micro-data based productivity analysis
Reflecting the resource intensity and complexity of micro-data based productivity analysis,
progress in this area is largely dependent on collaborating and partnering with academic
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researchers. ONS is currently in discussion with academic partners on two areas of micro-data
research:
(i)
To develop the business micro-data infrastructure to facilitate productivity analysis by the
wider research community across government and academia
(ii)
To investigate productivity and job creation before and after the economic downturn with a
focus on business strategy, competition, innovation and exports.
Within ONS work is in hand to investigate the feasibility of using business micro-data to explore
productivity at the spatial (regional) level.
As with other areas of this work plan, ONS is interested in views of users on the importance of
micro-data based productivity analysis.
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Information Note
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