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UK's persistent low productivity

There is talk yet again about the need to improve productivity in the UK. The country's low productivity is curious and apparently persistent, assuming that the figures are not affected by recording errors or other systematic mistake. This problem is not going to be solved until the reasons are discovered. It raises some obvious questions, of which these are just a few:
  • What are people doing when they are at work?
  • How much time are workers actually at their work?
  • How much time is wasted doing nothing, waiting for other people to finish things?
  • How much time is wasted on abortive activities?
  • How much time is wasted in putting right what has been done wrongly?
  • How much time is wasted due to design not made for efficient assembly ie poor production engineering?
  • How many firms are operating inefficiently due to being in unsuitable premises?
  • How many firms are operating inefficiently due to being in an unsuitable location?
  • Are there geographical factors here eg transport costs?
  • How much resources are wasted due to logistical problems eg transport delays?

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