Robust measurement of national technological progress

We propose a measure of technological progress based on the information embedded in standard input–output tables. A connection is established between the quantities necessary as inputs, the associated output and auxiliary prices. It is argued that the wage-profit frontiers and the associated production prices together provide a robust basis for measuring technological progress and productivities. The computation of the wage-profit frontiers is a non-trivial exercise because of high combinatorial complexity.An algorithm that renders this computation feasible is presented. We analyse technological progress and productivities among 30 countries between 1995 and 2011 using the latest multi-regional input–output data.