HC Deb 11 May 1983 vol 42 c312W
Mr. Trotter

asked the Secretary of State for Industry whether the evidence on which British Shipbuilders based its estimate of Japanese productivity being two and a half times that in the United Kingdom, referred to on 31 March, Official Report, column 487, is available to him.

Mr. Butcher

International comparisons of productivity in shipbuilding are difficult because of the problems in ensuring comparability of employment data, the extent of subcontracting and so on. A major international survey in the mid-1970s estimated Japanese labour productivity to be slightly over twice that of the United Kingdom. British Shipbuilders has made available to the Department information on Japanese labour productivity in recent years which supports its estimate that it is on average between two and two and a half times greater than in United Kingdom yards.

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