Unions, Productivity and Technology

Productivity growth can be briefly explained as growth in value creation, for a given use of input factors in production. The growth can then either come as a result of better quality of the input factors, or by us finding new and more efficient ways of combining the input factors. If we concentrate on the input factors labor and capital, respectively education and technological development normally contribute to increased quality. New technology can also contribute to a more efficient combination of labor and capital. In this context, the concept of technology also includes organizational conditions. In this project, we want to examine in more detail how the productivity development in Norwegian enterprises is linked to technological development and changes in the strength of the cooperation between the social partners at the micro level. We will also study how technological developments both influence and can be influenced by trade unions.