890 PONTIFICIAE ACADEMIAE SCIENTIARVM SCRIPTA VARIA -

28

Comparative Productivity of the United States and French
Economies

431. The comparison between the productivity of the French
and American economies in 1957 can be summarized in the
following figures:

U.S.A. / FRANCE

Productivity: ratio
Equipment per worker: ratio .

23

2.4

Output per unit of equipment: ratio

Capital-Output Ratio
v=C/R

U.S.A.

3.3
{1056)

France

>3.3 (1
(1054)

From these figures it appears that output per working hour
in the United States is approximately twice as high as in
France, whereas the productivity of a unit of equipment is
about the same (2).
Certain analyst have sought to attribute greater American
productivity per man-hour to the larger volume of equipment
used there. However. it has been seen that

( N
431-1,

y £_8
R

fe

(1) As far as can be judged, y is of the same order of magnitude in
France as in the U.S.A. [ArraIs (1960 B), p. 29].
(?) ALLAIS (1960 B), pp. 28-32 and 105-207: ALLAIS (1062 A). p. 721.
(3) Relation (251-12)

rr] Allais - pag. 104