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153-463: The stated rationale for deregulation is often that fewer and simpler regulations will lead to raised levels of competitiveness, therefore higher productivity , more efficiency and lower prices overall. Opposition to deregulation may involve apprehension regarding environmental pollution and environmental quality standards (such as the removal of regulations on hazardous materials), financial uncertainty, and constraining monopolies . Regulatory reform

306-523: A fixed exchange rate during the Menem administration (1989–1999). In December 2001, Paul Krugman compared Enron with Argentina, claiming that both were experiencing economic collapse due to excessive deregulation. Two months later, Herbert Inhaber claimed that Krugman confused correlation with causation , and neither collapse was due to excessive deregulation. Having announced a wide range of deregulatory policies, Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke announced

459-465: A complex interaction of factors. Some of the most important immediate factors include technological change , organizational change, industry restructuring and resource reallocation, as well as economies of scale and scope. A nation's average productivity level can also be affected by the movement of resources from low-productivity to high-productivity industries and activities. Over time, other factors such as research and development and innovative effort,

612-693: A driver of productivity itself. There is also considerable evidence to support improved productivity through operant conditioning reinforcement, successful gamification engagement, and research-based recommendations on principles and implementation guidelines for using monetary rewards effectively. Workplace bullying results in a loss of productivity, as measured by self-rated job performance . Over time, targets of bullying will spend more time protecting themselves against harassment by bullies and less time fulfilling their duties. Workplace incivility has also been associated with diminished productivity in terms of quality and quantity of work. A toxic workplace

765-567: A few fossils are the Belly River Group and St. Mary River Formations of the southwest and the northwestern Wapiti Formation , which contains two Pachyrhinosaurus bone beds. The Bearpaw Formation represents strata deposited during a marine transgression . Dinosaurs are known from this formation, but represent specimens washed out to sea or reworked from older sediments . Paleo-Indians arrived in Alberta at least 10,000 years ago, toward

918-649: A great deal of infrastructure and maintenance work previously carried out by government departments was contracted out (outsourced) to private enterprise under the public–private partnership , with competitive bidding for contracts within a regulatory framework. This included large projects such as building new hospitals for the NHS , building new state schools, and maintaining the London Underground . These were never privatized by public offer, but instead by tendering commercial interests. One problem that encouraged deregulation

1071-466: A high rate of interprovincial migration compared to other provinces. In 2016, Alberta continued to have the youngest population among the provinces with a median age of 36.7 years, compared with the national median of 41.2 years. Also in 2016, Alberta had the smallest proportion of seniors (12.3%) among the provinces and one of the highest population shares of children (19.2%), further contributing to Alberta's young and growing population. About 81% of

1224-437: A knowledge worker to seemingly produce more in a day than was previously possible in a year. Environmental factors such as sleep and leisure play a significant role in work productivity and received wage. Drivers of productivity growth for creative and knowledge workers include improved or intensified exchange with peers or co-workers, as more productive peers have a stimulating effect on one's own productivity. Productivity

1377-530: A land area of 634,658.27 km (245,042.93 sq mi), it had a population density of 6.7/km in 2021. Statistics Canada estimated the province to have a population of 4,800,768 in Q1 of 2024. Since 2000, Alberta's population has experienced a relatively high rate of growth, mainly because of its burgeoning economy. Between 2003 and 2004, the province had high birthrates (on par with some larger provinces such as British Columbia), relatively high immigration, and

1530-591: A law, regulation, or other provision having the force and effect of law related to a price, route, or service of any motor carrier." 49 U.S.C.   § 14501 (c)(1) (Supp. V 1999). Ocean transportation was the last to be addressed. This was done in two acts, the Shipping Act of 1984 and the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 . These acts were less thoroughgoing than the legislation dealing with U.S. domestic transportation, in that they left in place

1683-953: A major industry, transportation, originated in the Richard Nixon Administration and was forwarded to Congress in late 1971. This proposal was initiated and developed by an interagency group that included the Council of Economic Advisors (represented by Hendrik Houthakker and Thomas Gale Moore), White House Office of Consumer Affairs (represented by Jack Pearce), Department of Justice, Department of Transportation, Department of Labor, and other agencies. The proposal addressed both rail and truck transportation, but not air carriage. (92d Congress, Senate Bill 2842) The developers of this legislation in this Administration sought to cultivate support from commercial buyers of transportation services, consumer organizations , economists, and environmental organization leaders. This 'civil society' coalition became

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1836-404: A measure of the economic growth of nations and industries. GDP is the income available for paying capital costs, labor compensation, taxes and profits. Some economists instead use gross value added (GVA); there is normally a strong correlation between GDP and GVA. The measure of input use reflects the time, effort and skills of the workforce. The denominator of the ratio of labour productivity,

1989-566: A production unit or a company, yet, the object of modelling is substantially wider and the information more aggregate. The calculations of productivity of a nation or an industry are based on the time series of the SNA, System of National Accounts . National accounting is a system based on the recommendations of the UN (SNA 93) to measure the total production and total income of a nation and how they are used. International or national productivity growth stems from

2142-759: A ratio-type measure of productivity. Productivity is a crucial factor in the production performance of firms and nations. Increasing national productivity can raise living standards because increase in income per capita improves people's ability to purchase goods and services, enjoy leisure, improve housing, and education and contribute to social and environmental programs. Productivity growth can also help businesses to be more profitable. Productivity measures that use one class of inputs or factors , but not multiple factors, are called partial productivities. In practice, measurement in production means measures of partial productivity. Interpreted correctly, these components are indicative of productivity development, and approximate

2295-477: A semi-arid steppe climate because the annual precipitation is less than the water that evaporates or is used by plants . The southeastern corner of Alberta, part of the Palliser Triangle , experiences greater summer heat and lower rainfall than the rest of the province, and as a result, suffers frequent crop yield problems and occasional severe droughts. Western Alberta is protected by the mountains and enjoys

2448-481: A series of financial crises, including the savings and loan crisis , the Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM) crisis, each of which necessitated major bailouts, and the derivatives scandals of 1994. These warning signs were ignored as financial deregulating continued, even in view of the inadequacy of industry self-regulation as shown by the financial collapses and bailout. The 1998 bailout of LTCM sent

2601-540: A serious detrimental impact on productivity in an organisation. In companies where the traditional hierarchy has been removed in favor of an egalitarian, team-based setup, the employees are often happier, and individual productivity is improved (as they themselves are better placed to increase the efficiency of the workfloor). Companies that have these hierarchies removed and have their employees work more in teams are called liberated companies or "Freedom Inc.'s". The Kaizen system of bottom-up, continuous improvement

2754-459: A sustainable free market system. Regarding the electricity market, contemporary academic Adam Thierer, "The first step toward creating a free market in electricity is to repeal the federal statutes and regulations that hinder electricity competition and consumer choice ." This viewpoint stretches back centuries. Classical economist Adam Smith argued the benefits of deregulation in his 1776 work, The Wealth of Nations : [Without trade restrictions]

2907-688: A template for coalitions influential in efforts to deregulate trucking and air transport later in the decade. After Nixon left office, the Gerald Ford presidency, with the allied interests, secured passage of the first significant change in regulatory policy in a pro-competitive direction, in the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 . President Jimmy Carter – aided by economic adviser Alfred E. Kahn – devoted substantial effort to transportation deregulation, and worked with Congressional and civil society leaders to pass

3060-634: A tributary of the Mackenzie River . Alberta's capital city, Edmonton , is at about the geographic centre of the province. It is the most northerly major city in Canada and serves as a gateway and hub for resource development in northern Canada. With its proximity to Canada's largest oil fields, the region has most of western Canada's oil refinery capacity. Calgary is about 280 km (170 mi) south of Edmonton and 240 km (150 mi) north of Montana, surrounded by extensive ranching country. Almost 75% of

3213-500: A type of intense, fast-moving winter storm that generally forms over or near the province and, pushed with great speed by the continental polar jetstream , descends over the rest of southern Canada and the northern tier of the United States. In southwestern Alberta, the cold winters are frequently interrupted by warm, dry Chinook winds blowing from the mountains, which can propel temperatures upward from frigid conditions to well above

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3366-417: Is Edmonton , while Calgary is its largest city. The two are Alberta's largest census metropolitan areas . More than half of Albertans live in either Edmonton or Calgary, which contributes to continuing the rivalry between the two cities . English is the official language of the province. In 2016, 76.0% of Albertans were anglophone, 1.8% were francophone and 22.2% were allophone . Alberta's economy

3519-425: Is GDP per worker. There are many different definitions of productivity (including those that are not defined as ratios of output to input) and the choice among them depends on the purpose of the productivity measurement and data availability. The key source of difference between various productivity measures is also usually related (directly or indirectly) to how the outputs and the inputs are aggregated to obtain such

3672-532: Is a parallel development alongside deregulation. Regulatory reform refers to organized and ongoing programs to review regulations with a view to minimizing, simplifying, and making them more cost effective. Such efforts, given impetus by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, are embodied in the United States Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs , and

3825-525: Is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces . Alberta borders British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south. It is one of the only two landlocked provinces in Canada, with Saskatchewan being the other. The eastern part of the province is occupied by the Great Plains , while

3978-421: Is a rough measure of average living standards or economic well-being and is one of the core indicators of economic performance. GDP is, for this purpose, only a very rough measure. Maximizing GDP, in principle, also allows maximizing capital usage. For this reason, GDP is systematically biased in favour of capital intensive production at the expense of knowledge and labour-intensive production. The use of capital in

4131-428: Is a workplace that is marked by significant drama and infighting, where personal battles often harm productivity. While employees are distracted by this, they cannot devote time and attention to the achievement of business goals. When toxic employees leave the workplace, it can improve the culture overall because the remaining staff become more engaged and productive. The presence of a workplace psychopath may have

4284-447: Is added in production and this means more income is available to be distributed. At a firm or industry level, the benefits of productivity growth can be distributed in a number of different ways: Productivity growth is important to the firm because it means that it can meet its (perhaps growing) obligations to workers, shareholders, and governments (taxes and regulation), and still remain competitive or even improve its competitiveness in

4437-438: Is based on hydrocarbons , petrochemical industries , livestock and agriculture. The oil and gas industry has been a pillar of Alberta's economy since 1947, when substantial oil deposits were discovered at Leduc No. 1 well. It has also become a part of the province's identity. Since Alberta is the province most rich in hydrocarbons, it provides 70% of the oil and natural gas produced on Canadian soil. In 2018, Alberta's output

4590-504: Is home to six UNESCO -designated World Heritage Sites : the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks , Dinosaur Provincial Park , Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump , Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park , Wood Buffalo National Park and Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park . Other popular sites include Banff National Park , Elk Island National Park , Jasper National Park , Waterton Lakes National Park , and Drumheller . Alberta

4743-470: Is influenced by effective supervision and job satisfaction. An effective or knowledgeable supervisor (for example a supervisor who uses the Management by objectives method) has an easier time motivating their employees to produce more in quantity and quality. An employee who has an effective supervisor, motivating them to be more productive is likely to experience a new level of job satisfaction thereby becoming

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4896-403: Is largely computerized and almost any variable can be viewed graphically in real time or retrieved for selected time periods. In macroeconomics, a common partial productivity measure is labour productivity . Labour productivity is a revealing indicator of several economic indicators as it offers a dynamic measure of economic growth , competitiveness , and living standards within an economy. It

5049-446: Is largely influenced and affected by operational byproducts—meetings. The past few years have seen a positive uptick in the number of software solutions focused on improving office productivity. In truth, proper planning and procedures are more likely to help than anything else. Overall productivity growth was relatively slow from the 1970s through the early 1990s, and again from the 2000s to 2020s. Although several possible causes for

5202-405: Is of the opinion that deregulation is responsible for increasing price volatility on the commodity market. This particularly affects people and economies in developing countries. More and more homogenization of financial institution which may also be a result of deregulation turns out to be a major concern for small-scale producers in those countries. Productivity (economics) Productivity

5355-426: Is one of the more frequent demands placed upon Russia by the United States and European Union. The Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher started a programme of deregulation and privatization after the party's victory at the 1979 general election . The Building Act 1984 reduced building regulations from 306 pages to 24, while compulsory competitive tendering required local government to compete with

5508-406: Is still searching for a stable working regulatory framework. The current status is a partially regulated structure in which consumers have received a capped price for a portion of the publicly owned generation. The remainder has been at market price and there are numerous competing energy contract providers. However, Ontario is installing Smart Meters in all homes and small businesses and is changing

5661-424: Is that of Robert Solow 's (1957): "I am using the phrase 'technical change' as a shorthand expression for any kind of shift in the production function . Thus slowdowns, speed ups, improvements in the education of the labor force and all sorts of things will appear as 'technical change' ." The original MFP model involves several assumptions: that there is a stable functional relation between inputs and output at

5814-404: Is the assembly line and the process of mass production that appeared in the decade following commercial introduction of the automobile. Mass production dramatically reduced the labor in producing parts for and assembling the automobile, but after its widespread adoption productivity gains in automobile production were much lower. A similar pattern was observed with electrification , which saw

5967-413: Is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production process, i.e. output per unit of input, typically over a specific period of time. The most common example is the (aggregate) labour productivity measure, one example of which

6120-446: Is the measure of labour productivity (and all that this measure takes into account) which helps explain the principal economic foundations that are necessary for both economic growth and social development. In general labour productivity is equal to the ratio between a measure of output volume (gross domestic product or gross value added) and a measure of input use (the total number of hours worked or total employment). The output measure

6273-438: Is typically net output, more specifically the value added by the process under consideration, i.e. the value of outputs minus the value of intermediate inputs. This is done in order to avoid double-counting when an output of one firm is used as an input by another in the same measurement. In macroeconomics the most well-known and used measure of value-added is the gross domestic product or GDP. Increases in it are widely used as

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6426-512: The 2013 Alberta floods Alberta experienced heavy rainfall that triggered catastrophic flooding throughout much of the southern half of the province along the Bow , Elbow , Highwood and Oldman rivers and tributaries. A dozen municipalities in Southern Alberta declared local states of emergency on June 21 as water levels rose and numerous communities were placed under evacuation orders. In 2016,

6579-441: The 2021 Canadian Census , the ten most spoken languages in the province included English (4,109,720 or 98.37%), French (260,415 or 6.23%), Tagalog (172,625 or 4.13%), Punjabi (126,385 or 3.03%), Spanish (116,070 or 2.78%), Hindi (94,015 or 2.25%), Mandarin (82,095 or 1.97%), Arabic (76,760 or 1.84%), Cantonese (74,960 or 1.79%), and German (65,370 or 1.56%). The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses. As of

6732-625: The Airline Deregulation Act on October 24, 1978 – the first federal government regulatory regime, since the 1930s, to be completely dismantled. Carter also worked with Congress to produce the Staggers Rail Act (signed October 14, 1980), and the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 (signed July 1, 1980). These were the major deregulation acts in transportation that set the general conceptual and legislative framework, which replaced

6885-600: The Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute , were active in holding seminars and publishing studies advocating deregulatory initiatives throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Cornell economist Alfred E. Kahn played a central role in both theorizing and participating in the Carter Administration 's efforts to deregulate transportation. The first comprehensive proposal to deregulate

7038-452: The District of Columbia have introduced deregulated electricity markets to consumers in some capacity. Additionally, seven states ( Arizona , Arkansas , California , Nevada , New Mexico , Virginia , and Wyoming ) began the process of electricity deregulation in some capacity but have since suspended deregulation efforts. Deregulation was put into effect in the communications industry by

7191-651: The Drumheller Valley and Edmonton regions there are exposed Horseshoe Canyon facies . Other formations have been recorded as well, like the Milk River and Foremost Formations. The latter two have a lower diversity of documented dinosaurs, primarily due to their lower total fossil quantity and neglect from collectors who are hindered by the isolation and scarcity of exposed outcrops. Their dinosaur fossils are primarily teeth recovered from microvertebrate fossil sites. Additional geologic formations that have produced only

7344-554: The Fort McMurray wildfire resulted in the largest fire evacuation of residents in Alberta's history, as more than 80,000 people were ordered to evacuate. From 2020 until restrictions were lifted in 2022, Alberta was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic . The 2021 Canadian census reported Alberta had a population of 4,262,635 living in 1,633,220 of its 1,772,670 total dwellings, an 4.8% change from its 2016 population of 4,067,175. With

7497-553: The Fourth National Government of New Zealand . The policies had the goal of liberalizing the economy and were notable for their very comprehensive coverage and innovations. Specific policies included: floating the exchange rate; establishing an independent reserve bank; performance contracts for senior civil servants; public sector finance reform based on accrual accounting; tax neutrality; subsidy-free agriculture; and industry-neutral competition regulation. Economic growth

7650-527: The Government of Alberta has operated a rat-control program, which has been so successful that only isolated instances of wild rat sightings are reported, usually of rats arriving in the province aboard trucks or by rail. In 2006, Alberta Agriculture reported zero findings of wild rats; the only rat interceptions have been domesticated rats that have been seized from their owners. It is illegal for individual Albertans to own or keep Norwegian rats of any description;

7803-642: The Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown developed a programme called " better regulation ". This required government departments to review, simplify or abolish existing regulations, and a "one in, one out" approach to new regulations. In 1997, Chancellor Brown announced the "freeing" of the Bank of England to set monetary policy, so the Bank was no longer under direct government control. In 2006, new primary legislation (the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 )

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7956-754: The National Industrial Recovery Act (which was struck down by the Supreme Court), regulation of trucking, airlines and communications, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 , and the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933. These regulations stayed largely in place until Richard Nixon 's Administration. In supporting his competition-limiting regulatory initiatives President Roosevelt blamed the excesses of big business for causing an economic bubble . However, historians lack consensus in describing

8109-615: The North West Company (NWC) of Montreal to compete with the HBC in 1779. The NWC occupied the northern part of Alberta territory. Peter Pond built Fort Athabasca on Lac la Biche in 1778. Roderick Mackenzie built Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca ten years later in 1788. His cousin, Sir Alexander Mackenzie , followed the North Saskatchewan River to its northernmost point near Edmonton, then setting northward on foot, trekked to

8262-679: The Northwest Territories . The 110th meridian west separates it from the province of Saskatchewan ; while on the west its boundary with British Columbia follows the 120th meridian west south from the Northwest Territories at 60°N until it reaches the Continental Divide at the Rocky Mountains , and from that point follows the line of peaks marking the Continental Divide in a generally southeasterly direction until it reaches

8415-688: The Plains Indians of southern Alberta such as those of the Blackfoot Confederacy and the Plains Cree, who generally lived by hunting buffalo , and the more northerly tribes such as the Woodland Cree and Chipewyan who hunted, trapped, and fished for a living. The first Europeans to visit Alberta were French Canadians during the late 18th century, working as fur traders. French was the predominant language used in some early fur trading forts in

8568-464: The Proto-Germanic language *Aþalaberhtaz (compound of "noble" + "bright/famous"). Alberta, with an area of 661,848 square kilometres (255,541 square miles), is the fourth-largest province after Quebec , Ontario , and British Columbia . Alberta's southern border is the 49th parallel north , which separates it from the U.S. state of Montana . The 60th parallel north divides Alberta from

8721-599: The Surface Freight Forwarder Deregulation Act of 1986 . As many states continued to regulate the operations of motor carriers within their own state, the intrastate aspect of the trucking and bus industries was addressed in the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 , which provided that "a State, political subdivision of a State, or political authority of two or more States may not enact or enforce

8874-455: The fronts between the air masses shift north and south across Alberta, the temperature can change rapidly. Arctic air masses in the winter produce extreme minimum temperatures varying from −54 °C (−65 °F) in northern Alberta to −46 °C (−51 °F) in southern Alberta, although temperatures at these extremes are rare. In the summer, continental air masses have produced record maximum temperatures from 32 °C (90 °F) in

9027-408: The prairie crocus ( Pulsatilla nuttalliana ) anemone ; this member of the buttercup family has been recorded flowering as early as March, though April is the usual month for the general population. Other prairie flora known to flower early are the golden bean ( Thermopsis rhombifolia ) and wild rose ( Rosa acicularis ). Members of the sunflower ( Helianthus ) family blossom on the prairie in

9180-622: The "conference" system in international ocean liner shipping, which historically embodied cartel mechanisms. However, these acts permitted independent rate-making by conference participants, and the 1998 Act permitted secret contract rates, which tend to undercut collective carrier pricing. According to the United States Federal Maritime Commission , in an assessment in 2001, this appears to have opened up substantial competitive activity in ocean shipping, with beneficial economic results. The Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act

9333-469: The 2016 census Alberta has 779,155 residents (19.2%) between the ages of 0–14, 2,787,805 residents (68.5%) between the ages of 15–64, and 500,215 residents (12.3%) aged 65 and over. Additionally, as per the 2016 census, 1,769,500 residents hold a postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree, 895,885 residents have obtained a secondary (high) school diploma or equivalency certificate, and 540,665 residents do not have any certificate, diploma or degree. As of

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9486-608: The American consumer, the creation of a federal income tax (by the Sixteenth Amendment ; the income tax used a progressive tax structure with especially high taxes on the wealthy), the establishment of the Federal Reserve , the institution of shorter working hours , higher wages , better living conditions, better rights and privileges to trade unions, protection of the rights of strikers , banning of unfair labor practices, and

9639-730: The Athabasca River, which he followed to Lake Athabasca. It was there he discovered the mighty outflow river which bears his name—the Mackenzie River —which he followed to its outlet in the Arctic Ocean. Returning to Lake Athabasca, he followed the Peace River upstream, eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean, and so he became the first European to cross the North American continent north of Mexico. The extreme southernmost portion of Alberta

9792-541: The District of Alberta was enlarged and given provincial status, with the election of Alexander Cameron Rutherford as the first premier. Less than a decade later, the First World War presented special challenges to the new province as an extraordinary number of volunteers left relatively few workers to maintain services and production. Over 50% of Alberta's doctors volunteered for service overseas. On June 21, 2013, during

9945-597: The First Nations and guaranteed their hunting and fishing rights. The most significant treaties for Alberta are Treaty 6 (1876), Treaty 7 (1877) and Treaty 8 (1899). The District of Alberta was created as part of the North-West Territories in 1882. As settlement increased, local representatives to the North-West Legislative Assembly were added. After a long campaign for autonomy, in 1905,

10098-488: The GDP or even invalid because this measure allows maximizing all supplied inputs, i.e. materials, services, energy and capital at the expense of producer income. When multiple inputs are considered, the measure is called multi-factor productivity or MFP. Multi-factor productivity is typically estimated using growth accounting . If the inputs specifically are labor and capital, and the outputs are value added intermediate outputs,

10251-671: The GDP-measure is considered to be as valuable as the production's ability to pay taxes, profits and labor compensation. The bias of the GDP is actually the difference between the GDP and the producer income. Another labour productivity measure, output per worker, is often seen as a proper measure of labour productivity, as here: "Productivity isn't everything, but in the long run it is almost everything. A country's ability to improve its standard of living over time depends almost entirely on its ability to raise its output per worker." This measure (output per worker) is, however, more problematic than

10404-556: The Glass–Steagall Act of 1933, removing barriers in the market that prohibited any one institution from acting as any combination of an investment bank, a commercial bank, and an insurance company. Such deregulation of the financial sector in the United States fostered greater risktaking by finance sector firms through the creation of innovative financial instruments and practices, including securitization of loan obligations of various sorts and credit default swaps . This caused

10557-649: The Montana border at 49°N. The province extends 1,223 kilometres (760 miles) north to south and 660 kilometres (410 miles) east to west at its maximum width. Its highest point is 3,747 metres (12,293 feet) at the summit of Mount Columbia in the Rocky Mountains along the southwest border while its lowest point is 152 metres (499 feet) on the Slave River in Wood Buffalo National Park in the northeast. With

10710-589: The NWT in 1870. From the late 1800s to early 1900s, many immigrants arrived to prevent the prairies from being annexed by the United States. Growing wheat and cattle ranching also became very profitable. In 1905, the Alberta Act was passed, creating the province of Alberta. Massive oil reserves were discovered in 1947. The exploitation of oil sands began in 1967. Alberta is renowned for its natural beauty, richness in fossils and for housing important nature reserves. Alberta

10863-507: The UK's 'productivity puzzle' is an urgent issue for policy makers and businesses to address in order to sustain growth. Over long periods of time, small differences in rates of productivity growth compound, like interest in a bank account, and can make an enormous difference to a society's prosperity. Nothing contributes more to reduction of poverty, to increases in leisure, and to the country's ability to finance education, public health, environment and

11016-644: The US. Regulation characteristics of Natural Gas Choice programs vary between the laws of the currently adoptive 21 states (as of 2008). Deregulation of the electricity sector in the U.S. began in 1992. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 eliminated obstacles for wholesale electricity competition, but deregulation has yet to be introduced in all states. As of April 2014, 16 U.S. states ( Connecticut , Delaware , Illinois , Maine , Maryland , Massachusetts , Michigan , Montana , New Hampshire , New Jersey , New York , Ohio , Oregon , Pennsylvania , Rhode Island , and Texas ) and

11169-484: The United Kingdom's Better Regulation Commission . Cost–benefit analysis is frequently used in such reviews. In addition, there have been regulatory innovations, usually suggested by economists, such as emissions trading . Deregulation can be distinguished from privatization , which transfers state-owned businesses to the private sector . Argentina underwent heavy economic deregulation, privatization , and had

11322-481: The United States are banking, telecommunications, airlines, and natural resources. During the Progressive Era (1890s–1920), Presidents Theodore Roosevelt , William Howard Taft , and Woodrow Wilson instituted regulation on parts of the American economy, most notably big business and industry. Some prominent reforms were trust-busting (the destruction and banning of monopolies), the creation of laws protecting

11475-642: The animals can only be kept in the province by zoos, universities and colleges, and recognized research institutions. In 2009, several rats were found and captured, in small pockets in southern Alberta, putting Alberta's rat-free status in jeopardy. A colony of rats was subsequently found in a landfill near Medicine Hat in 2012 and again in 2014. Alberta has one of the greatest diversities and abundances of Late Cretaceous dinosaur fossils worldwide. Taxa are represented by complete fossil skeletons, isolated material, microvertebrate remains, and even mass graves . At least 38 dinosaur type specimens were collected in

11628-439: The arts’. Productivity is considered basic statistical information for many international comparisons and country performance assessments and there is strong interest in comparing them internationally. The OECD publishes an annual Compendium of Productivity Indicators that includes both labor and multi-factor measures of productivity. Alberta Alberta is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It

11781-473: The badlands terrain, desert flora, and remnants from Alberta's past when dinosaurs roamed the then lush landscape. Alberta extends for over 1,200 km (750 mi) from north to south; its climate, therefore, varies considerably. Average high temperatures in January range from 0 °C (32 °F) in the southwest to −24 °C (−11 °F) in the far north. The presence of the Rocky Mountains also influences

11934-403: The banks) to become foreign-owned. Russia went through wide-ranging deregulation (and concomitant privatization) efforts in the late 1990s under Boris Yeltsin , now partially reversed under Vladimir Putin . The main thrust of deregulation has been the electricity sector (see RAO UES ), with railroads and communal utilities tied in second place. Deregulation of the natural gas sector ( Gazprom )

12087-627: The biggest gains are normally from adopting new technologies, which may require capital expenditures for new equipment, computers or software. Modern productivity science owes much to formal investigations that are associated with scientific management . Although from an individual management perspective, employees may be doing their jobs well and with high levels of individual productivity, from an organizational perspective their productivity may in fact be zero or effectively negative if they are dedicated to redundant or value destroying activities. In office buildings and service-centred companies, productivity

12240-571: The causal relationship between various events and the role of government economic policy in causing or ameliorating the Depression. Deregulation gained momentum in the 1970s, influenced by research by the Chicago school of economics and the theories of George Stigler , Alfred E. Kahn , and others. The new ideas were widely embraced by both liberals and conservatives. Two leading think tanks in Washington,

12393-566: The change, as they had invested up to €100,000 to purchase licenses from existing holders, and regarded them as assets. In October 2013 they brought a test case in the High Court for damages. Their claim was dismissed two years later. New Zealand Governments adopted policies of extensive deregulation from 1984 to 1995. Originally initiated by the Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand , the policies of deregulation were later continued by

12546-479: The choice of purchasing from a local distribution company (LDC) or a deregulated supplier. In most provinces the LDC is not allowed to offer a term contract, just a variable price based on the spot market. LDC prices are changed either monthly or quarterly. Ontario began deregulation of electricity supply in 2002, but pulled back temporarily due to voter and consumer backlash at the resulting price volatility. The government

12699-403: The climate to the southwest, which disrupts the flow of the prevailing westerly winds and causes them to drop most of their moisture on the western slopes of the mountain ranges before reaching the province, casting a rain shadow over much of Alberta. The northerly location and isolation from the weather systems of the Pacific Ocean cause Alberta to have a dry climate with little moderation from

12852-611: The delivery of more social services to the working classes and social safety nets to many unemployed workers, thus helping to create a welfare state . During the Presidencies of Warren Harding (1921–23) and Calvin Coolidge (1923–29), the federal government generally pursued laissez-faire economic policies. After the onset of the Great Depression , President Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented many economic regulations, including

13005-610: The development of human capital through education, and incentives from stronger competition promote the search for productivity improvements and the ability to achieve them. Ultimately, many policy, institutional and cultural factors determine a nation's success in improving productivity. At the national level, productivity growth raises living standards because more real income improves people's ability to purchase goods and services (whether they are necessities or luxuries), enjoy leisure, improve housing and education and contribute to social and environmental programs. Some have suggested that

13158-568: The direct sale of ethanol by fuel stations and opening rail transport industry to private investment. and deregulating the use of foreign currency. Natural gas is deregulated in most of the country, with the exception of some Atlantic provinces and some pockets like Vancouver Island and Medicine Hat. Most of this deregulation happened in the mid-1980s. Comparison shopping websites operate in some of these jurisdictions, particularly Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. The other provinces are small markets and have not attracted suppliers. Customers have

13311-467: The dry prairie of the southeast. The northern and western parts of the province experience higher rainfall and lower evaporation rates caused by cooler summer temperatures. The south and east-central portions are prone to drought-like conditions sometimes persisting for several years, although even these areas can receive heavy precipitation, sometimes resulting in flooding. In the winter, the Alberta clipper ,

13464-504: The economy-wide level of aggregation, that this function has neoclassical smoothness and curvature properties, that inputs are paid the value of their marginal product, that the function exhibits constant returns to scale, and that technical change has the Hicks’n neutral form. In practice, TFP is "a measure of our ignorance", as Abramovitz (1956) put it, precisely because it is a residual. This ignorance covers many components, some wanted (like

13617-493: The effects of technical and organizational innovation), others unwanted (measurement error, omitted variables, aggregation bias, model misspecification) Hence the relationship between TFP and productivity remains unclear. When all outputs and inputs are included in the productivity measure it is called total productivity. A valid measurement of total productivity necessitates considering all production inputs. If we omit an input in productivity (or income accounting) this means that

13770-521: The efficiency with which inputs are used in an economy to produce goods and services. However, productivity is only measured partially – or approximately. In a way, the measurements are defective because they do not measure everything, but it is possible to interpret correctly the results of partial productivity and to benefit from them in practical situations. At the company level, typical partial productivity measures are such things as worker hours, materials or energy used per unit of production. Before

13923-515: The end of the last ice age . They are thought to have migrated from Siberia to Alaska on a land bridge across the Bering Strait and then possibly moved down the east side of the Rocky Mountains through Alberta to settle the Americas . Others may have migrated down the coast of British Columbia and then moved inland. Over time they differentiated into various First Nations peoples, including

14076-624: The exception of the semi-arid climate of the steppe in the south-eastern section, the province has adequate water resources . There are numerous rivers and lakes in Alberta used for swimming, fishing and a range of water sports. There are three large lakes, Lake Claire (1,436 km  [554 sq mi]) in Wood Buffalo National Park, Lesser Slave Lake (1,168 km  [451 sq mi]), and Lake Athabasca (7,898 km  [3,049 sq mi]), which lies in both Alberta and Saskatchewan. The longest river in

14229-516: The freezing point in a very short period. During one Chinook recorded at Pincher Creek , temperatures soared from −19 to 22 °C (−2 to 72 °F) in just one hour. The region around Lethbridge has the most Chinooks, averaging 30 to 35 Chinook days per year. Calgary has a 56% chance of a white Christmas , while Edmonton has an 86% chance. After Saskatchewan, Alberta experiences the most tornadoes in Canada with an average of 15 verified per year. Thunderstorms, some of them severe, are frequent in

14382-532: The government at the start of the Multi-Channel Transition era. This deregulation put into place a division of labor between the studios and the networks. Communications in the United States (and internationally) are areas in which both technology and regulatory policy have been in flux. The rapid development of computer and communications technology – particularly the Internet ;– have increased

14535-994: The highest productivity gains in the early decades after introduction. Many other industries show similar patterns. The pattern was again followed by the computer, information and communications industries in the late 1990s when much of the national productivity gains occurred in these industries. There is a general understanding of the main determinants or drivers of productivity growth. Certain factors are critical for determining productivity growth. The Office for National Statistics (UK) identifies five drivers that interact to underlie long-term productivity performance: investment, innovation, skills, enterprise and competition . Research and development (R&D) tends to increase productivity growth, with public R&D showing larger spillovers and smaller firms experiencing larger productivity gains from public R&D. Technology has enabled massive personal productivity gains—computers, spreadsheets, email, and other advances have made it possible for

14688-405: The hundreds of small lakes that dot northern Alberta. Eagles , hawks , owls, and crows are plentiful, and a huge variety of smaller seed and insect-eating birds can be found. Alberta, like other temperate regions, is home to mosquitoes , flies , wasps , and bees. Rivers and lakes are populated with pike , walleye , whitefish , rainbow , speckled , brown trout , and sturgeon . Native to

14841-401: The input measure is the most important factor that influences the measure of labour productivity. Labour input is measured either by the total number of hours worked of all persons employed or total employment (head count). There are both advantages and disadvantages associated with the different input measures that are used in the calculation of labour productivity. It is generally accepted that

14994-537: The interest of the society. Scholars who theorize that deregulation is beneficial to society often cite what is known as the Iron Law of Regulation, which states that all regulation eventually leads to a net loss in social welfare. Critics of economic liberalization and deregulation cite the benefits of regulation, and believe that certain regulations do not distort markets and allow companies to continue to be competitive , or according to some, grow in competition. Much as

15147-489: The latter being the longest unbroken run in government at the provincial or federal level in Canadian history. Since before becoming part of Canada, Alberta has been home to several First Nations like Plains Indians and Woodland Cree . It was also a territory used by fur traders of the rival companies Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company . The Dominion of Canada bought the lands that would become Alberta as part of

15300-753: The losses when the fraudulent Ponzi schemes finally collapsed and were exposed. After the collapse, regulators in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) were finally allowed to file thousands of criminal complaints that led to over a thousand felony convictions of key Savings and Loan insiders. By contrast, between 2007 and 2010, the OCC and OTS combined made zero criminal referrals; Black concluded that elite financial fraud has effectively been decriminalized. Economist Jayati Ghosh

15453-470: The market place. Adding more inputs will not increase the income earned per unit of input (unless there are increasing returns to scale). In fact, it is likely to mean lower average wages and lower rates of profit. But, when there is productivity growth, even the existing commitment of resources generates more output and income. Income generated per unit of input increases. Additional resources are also attracted into production and can be profitably employed. In

15606-510: The measure is called total factor productivity (TFP]. TFP measures the residual growth that cannot be explained by the rate of change in the services of labour and capital. MFP replaced the term TFP used in the earlier literature, and both terms continue in use (usually interchangeably). TFP is often interpreted as a rough average measure of productivity, more specifically the contribution to economic growth made by factors such as technical and organisational innovation. The most famous description

15759-419: The measurement of productivity shall be developed so that it "will indicate increases or decreases in the productivity of the company and also the distribution of the ’fruits of production’ among all parties at interest". According to Davis, the price system is a mechanism through which productivity gains are distributed, and besides the business enterprise, receiving parties may consist of its customers, staff and

15912-483: The mild temperatures brought by winter Chinook winds. Central and parts of northwestern Alberta in the Peace River region are largely aspen parkland, a biome transitional between prairie to the south and boreal forest to the north. Alberta has a humid continental climate with warm summers and cold winters. The province is open to cold Arctic weather systems from the north, which often produce cold winter conditions. As

16065-584: The most immediate sense, productivity is determined by the available technology or know-how for converting resources into outputs, and the way in which resources are organized to produce goods and services. Historically, productivity has improved through evolution as processes with poor productivity performance are abandoned and newer forms are exploited. Process improvements may include organizational structures (e.g. core functions and supplier relationships), management systems, work arrangements, manufacturing techniques, and changing market structure. A famous example

16218-447: The mountains and wooded regions. Smaller carnivores of the canine and feline families include coyotes , red foxes , Canada lynx , and bobcats . Wolverines can also be found in the northwestern areas of the province. Central and northern Alberta and the region farther north are the nesting ground of many migratory birds. Vast numbers of ducks, geese , swans and pelicans arrive in Alberta every spring and nest on or near one of

16371-473: The mountains to over 40 °C (104 °F) in southeastern Alberta. Alberta is a sunny province. Annual bright sunshine totals range between 1,900 up to just under 2,600 hours per year. Northern Alberta gets about 18 hours of daylight in the summer. The average daytime temperatures range from around 21 °C (70 °F) in the Rocky Mountain valleys and far north, up to around 28 °C (82 °F) in

16524-573: The newly formed Canadian Government purchased Rupert's Land. Northern Alberta was included in the North-Western Territory until 1870, when it and Rupert's land became Canada's North-West Territories . First Nations negotiated the Numbered Treaties with the Crown in which the Crown gained title to the land that would later become Alberta, and the Crown committed to the ongoing support of

16677-405: The obvious and simple system of natural liberty establishes itself of its own accord. Every man...is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest in his own way.... The sovereign is completely discharged from a duty [for which] no human wisdom or knowledge could ever be sufficient; the duty of superintending the industry of private people, and of directing it towards the employments most suitable to

16830-399: The ocean. Annual precipitation ranges from 300 mm (12 in) in the southeast to 450 mm (18 in) in the north, except in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where total precipitation including snowfall can reach 600 mm (24 in) annually. Northern Alberta is mostly covered by boreal forest and has a subarctic climate . The agricultural area of southern Alberta has

16983-454: The omitted input can be used unlimitedly in production without any impact on accounting results. Because total productivity includes all production inputs, it is used as an integrated variable when we want to explain income formation of the production process. Davis has considered the phenomenon of productivity, measurement of productivity, distribution of productivity gains, and how to measure such gains. He refers to an article suggesting that

17136-593: The other hand, there exists substantial concern about concentration of media ownership resulting from relaxation of historic controls on media ownership designed to safeguard diversity of viewpoint and open discussion in the society, and about what some perceive as high prices in cable company offerings at this point. The financial sector in the U.S. has been considerably deregulated in recent decades, which has allowed for greater financial risktaking . The financial sector used its considerable political sway in Congress and in

17289-542: The parkland region of the province grow in clumps and belts on the hillsides. These are largely deciduous , typically aspen , poplar , and willow . Many species of willow and other shrubs grow in virtually any terrain. North of the North Saskatchewan River, evergreen forests prevail for thousands of square kilometres. Aspen poplar, balsam poplar ( Populus balsamifera ) or in some parts cottonwood ( Populus deltoides ), and paper birch ( Betula papyrifera ) are

17442-660: The policy of "Minimum Effective Regulation" in 1986. This introduced now-familiar requirements for "regulatory impact statements", but compliance by governmental agencies took many years. The labor market under the Hawke/Keating governments operated under the Prices and Incomes Accord . In the mid-90s John Howard 's Liberal Party began deregulation of the labor market with the Workplace Relations Act 1996 , going much further in 2005 through its WorkChoices policy. However, this

17595-508: The political establishment and influenced the ideology of political institutions to press for more and more deregulation. Among the most important of the regulatory changes was the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980, which repealed the parts of the Glass–Steagall Act regarding interest rate regulation via retail banking. The Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 repealed part of

17748-410: The population lives in urban areas and only about 19% in rural areas. The Calgary–Edmonton Corridor is the most urbanized area in the province and is one of the most densely populated areas of Canada. Many of Alberta's cities and towns have experienced very high rates of growth in recent history. Alberta's population rose from 73,022 in 1901 to 3,290,350 according to the 2006 census . According to

17901-448: The pricing structure to Time of Use pricing. All small volume consumers were scheduled to shift to the new rate structure by the end of 2012. Alberta has deregulated its electricity provision. Customers are free to choose which company they sign up with, but there are few companies to choose from and the consumer price of electricity has increased substantially as it has in all other Canadian provinces.. Consumers may choose to remain with

18054-405: The primary large deciduous species. Conifers include jack pine ( Pinus banksiana ), Rocky Mountain pine, lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta ), both white and black spruce , and the deciduous conifer tamarack ( Larix laricina ). The four climatic regions ( alpine , boreal forest , parkland , and prairie ) of Alberta are home to many different species of animals. The south and central prairie

18207-450: The private sector in delivering services. Other steps included express coach ( Transport Act 1980 ), British Telecom (completed in 1984), privatization of London bus services (1984), local bus services ( Transport Act 1985 ) and the railways ( Railways Act 1993 ). The feature of all those privatizations was that their shares were offered to the general public. This continued under Thatcher's successor John Major . From 1997 to 2010,

18360-524: The promise of rolling back environmental regulations. His devotion to the economic beliefs of Milton Friedman led him to promote the deregulation of finance, agriculture, and transportation. A series of substantial enactments were needed to work out the process of encouraging competition in transportation. Interstate buses were addressed in 1982, in the Bus Regulatory Reform Act of 1982. Freight forwarders (freight aggregators) got more freedoms in

18513-401: The province is prairie , ranging from shortgrass prairie in the southeastern corner to mixed grass prairie in an arc to the west and north of it. The central aspen parkland region extending in a broad arc between the prairies and the forests, from Calgary, north to Edmonton, and then east to Lloydminster , contains the most fertile soil in the province and most of the population. Much of

18666-574: The province is the Athabasca River , which travels 1,538 km (956 mi) from the Columbia Icefield in the Rocky Mountains to Lake Athabasca. The largest river is the Peace River with an average flow of 2,100 m /s (74,000 cu ft/s). The Peace River originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows through northern Alberta and into the Slave River,

18819-567: The province's population lives in the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor . The land grant policy to the railways served as a means to populate the province in its early years. Most of the northern half of the province is boreal forest , while the Rocky Mountains along the southwestern boundary are largely temperate coniferous forests of the Alberta Mountain forests and Alberta–British Columbia foothills forests . The southern quarter of

18972-407: The province, the bull trout , is the provincial fish and an official symbol of Alberta . Turtles are found in some water bodies in the southern part of the province. Frogs and salamanders are a few of the amphibians that make their homes in Alberta. Alberta is the only province in Canada — as well as one of the few places in the world — that is free from Norwegian rats . Since the early 1950s,

19125-605: The province. The Foremost Formation , Oldman Formation and Dinosaur Park Formations collectively comprise the Judith River Group and are the most thoroughly studied dinosaur-bearing strata in Alberta. Dinosaur-bearing strata are distributed widely throughout Alberta. The Dinosaur Provincial Park area contains outcrops of the Dinosaur Park Formation and Oldman Formation. In Alberta's central and southern regions are intermittent Scollard Formation outcrops. In

19278-648: The public utility at the Regulated Rate Option. In 2003, there were amendments to EU directive on software patents . Since 2006, the European Common Aviation Area has given carriers from one EU country the freedom of the air in most others. The taxi industry was deregulated in Ireland in 2000, and the price of a license dropped overnight to €5,000. The number of taxis increased dramatically. However, some existing taxi drivers were unhappy with

19431-592: The region, such as the first Fort Edmonton (in present-day Fort Saskatchewan). After the British arrival in Canada , approximately half of the province of Alberta, south of the Athabasca River drainage, became part of Rupert's Land which consisted of all land drained by rivers flowing into Hudson Bay . This area was granted by Charles II of England to the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1670, and rival fur trading companies were not allowed to trade in it. The Athabasca River and

19584-520: The regulatory systems put in place between the 1880s and the 1930s. The dominant common theme of these Acts was to lessen barriers to entry in transport markets and promote more independent, competitive pricing among transport service providers, substituting the freed-up competitive market forces for detailed regulatory control of entry, exit, and price making in transport markets. Thus deregulation arose, though regulations to promote competition were put in place. U.S. President Ronald Reagan campaigned on

19737-462: The reliability of the electricity supply." William K. Black says that inappropriate deregulation helped create a criminogenic environment in the savings and loan industry , which attracted opportunistic control frauds like Charles Keating , whose massive political campaign contributions were used successfully to further remove regulatory oversight. The combination substantially delayed effective governmental action, thereby substantially increasing

19890-563: The rivers north of it were not in HBC territory because they drained into the Arctic Ocean instead of Hudson Bay, and they were prime habitats for fur-bearing animals. The first European explorer of the Athabasca region was Peter Pond , who learned of the Methye Portage , which allowed travel from southern rivers into the rivers north of Rupert's Land. Other North American fur traders formed

20043-414: The signal to large " too-big-to-fail " financial firms that they would not have to suffer the consequences of the great risks they take. Thus, the greater risktaking allowed by deregulation and encouraged by the bailout paved the way for the financial crisis of 2007–08 . The deregulation movement of the late 20th century had substantial economic effects and engendered substantial controversy. The movement

20196-537: The size and variety of communications offerings. Wireless, traditional landline telephone, and cable companies increasingly invade each other's traditional markets and compete across a broad spectrum of activities. The Federal Communications Commission and Congress appear to be attempting to facilitate this evolution. In mainstream economic thinking, development of this competition would militate against detailed regulatory control of prices and service offerings, and hence favor deregulation of prices and entry into markets. On

20349-412: The slowdown have been proposed there is no consensus. The matter is subject to a continuing debate that has grown beyond questioning whether just computers can significantly increase productivity to whether the potential to increase productivity is becoming exhausted. In order to measure the productivity of a nation or an industry, it is necessary to operationalize the same concept of productivity as in

20502-494: The state plays an important role through issues such as property rights , appropriate regulation is argued by some to be "crucial to realise the benefits of service liberalisation". Critics of deregulation often cite the need of regulation in order to: Sharon Beder, a writer with PR Watch, wrote "Electricity deregulation was supposed to bring cheaper electricity prices and more choice of suppliers to householders. Instead it has brought wildly volatile wholesale prices and undermined

20655-426: The summer months between July and September. The southern and east central parts of Alberta are covered by short prairie grass, which dries up as summer lengthens, to be replaced by hardy perennials such as the prairie coneflower ( Ratibida ), fleabane , and sage ( Artemisia ). Both yellow and white sweet clover ( Melilotus ) can be found throughout the southern and central areas of the province. The trees in

20808-481: The summer, especially in central and southern Alberta. The region surrounding the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor is notable for having the highest frequency of hail in Canada, which is caused by orographic lifting from the nearby Rocky Mountains, enhancing the updraft/downdraft cycle necessary for the formation of hail. In central and northern Alberta the arrival of spring is marked by the early flowering of

20961-483: The suppliers of production inputs. In the main article is presented the role of total productivity as a variable when explaining how income formation of production is always a balance between income generation and income distribution. The income change created by production function is always distributed to the stakeholders as economic values within the review period. Productivity growth is a crucial source of growth in living standards. Productivity growth means more value

21114-593: The total number of hours worked is the most appropriate measure of labour input because a simple headcount of employed persons can hide changes in average hours worked and has difficulties accounting for variations in work such as a part-time contract , paid leave , overtime , or shifts in normal hours. However, the quality of hours-worked estimates is not always clear. In particular, statistical establishment and household surveys are difficult to use because of their varying quality of hours-worked estimates and their varying degree of international comparability. GDP per capita

21267-497: The unforested part of Alberta is given over either to grain farming or cattle ranching, with mixed farming more common in the north and centre, while ranching and irrigated agriculture predominate in the south. The Alberta badlands are in southeastern Alberta, where the Red Deer River crosses the flat prairie and farmland, and features deep canyons and striking landforms. Dinosaur Provincial Park , near Brooks , showcases

21420-453: The western part borders the Rocky Mountains . The province has a predominantly continental climate but experiences quick temperature changes due to air aridity . Seasonal temperature swings are less pronounced in western Alberta due to occasional Chinook winds . Alberta is the fourth-largest province by area at 661,848 square kilometres (255,541 square miles), and the fourth-most populous, being home to 4,262,635 people. Alberta's capital

21573-452: The widespread use of computer networks, partial productivity was tracked in tabular form and with hand-drawn graphs. Tabulating machines for data processing began being widely used in the 1920s and 1930s and remained in use until mainframe computers became widespread in the late 1960s through the 1970s. By the late 1970s inexpensive computers allowed industrial operations to perform process control and track productivity. Today data collection

21726-489: The wooded regions, and pronghorn can be found in the prairies of southern Alberta. Bighorn sheep and mountain goats live in the Rocky Mountains. Rabbits, porcupines , skunks , squirrels, and many species of rodents and reptiles live in every corner of the province. Alberta is home to only one venomous snake species, the prairie rattlesnake . Alberta is home to many large carnivores such as wolves , grizzly bears , black bears , and mountain lions , which are found in

21879-447: Was CA$ 338.2 billion, 15.27% of Canada's GDP. Until the 1930s, Alberta's political landscape consisted of two major parties: the centre-left Liberals and the agrarian United Farmers of Alberta . Today, Alberta is generally perceived as a conservative province. The right-wing Social Credit Party held office continually from 1935 to 1971 before the centre-right Progressive Conservatives held office continually from 1971 to 2015,

22032-645: Was a regulating law, consisting of a mix of regulations and deregulation, which passed in response to OPEC price hikes and domestic price controls which affected the 1973 oil crisis in the United States. After adoption of this federal legislation, numerous state legislation known as Natural Gas Choice programs have sprung up in several states, as well as the District of Columbia. Natural Gas Choice programs allow residential and small volume natural gas users to compare purchases from natural gas suppliers with traditional utility companies. There are currently hundreds of federally unregulated natural gas suppliers operating in

22185-460: Was based on intellectual perspectives which prescribed substantial scope for market forces, and opposing perspectives have been in play in national and international discourse. The movement toward greater reliance on market forces has been closely related to the growth of economic and institutional globalization between about 1950 and 2010. Many economists have concluded that a trend towards deregulation will increase economic welfare long-term and

22338-575: Was first practiced by Japanese manufacturers after World War II, most notably as part of The Toyota Way . Productivity is one of the main concerns of business management and engineering. Many companies have formal programs for continuously improving productivity, such as a production assurance program. Whether they have a formal program or not, companies are constantly looking for ways to improve quality, reduce downtime and inputs of labor, materials, energy and purchased services. Often simple changes to operating methods or processes increase productivity, but

22491-475: Was introduced to establish statutory principles and a code of practice and it permits ministers to make Regulatory Reform Orders (RROs) to deal with older laws which they deem to be out of date, obscure or irrelevant. This act has often been criticized and was described in Parliament by Lord (Patrick) Jenkin as the "Abolition of Parliament Act". New Labour privatized only a few services, such as Qinetiq . But

22644-569: Was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848–1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria . Princess Louise was the wife of John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne , Governor General of Canada (1878–83). Lake Louise and Mount Alberta were also named in her honour. The name "Alberta" is a feminine Latinized form of Albert , the name of Princess Louise's father, the Prince Consort ( cf. Medieval Latin : Albertus , masculine) and its Germanic cognates, ultimately derived from

22797-686: Was part of the French (and Spanish) territory of Louisiana and was sold to the United States in 1803. In the Treaty of 1818 , the portion of Louisiana north of the Forty-Ninth Parallel was ceded to Great Britain. Fur trade expanded in the north, but bloody battles occurred between the rival HBC and NWC, and in 1821 the British government forced them to merge to stop the hostilities. The amalgamated Hudson's Bay Company dominated trade in Alberta until 1870 when

22950-550: Was resumed in 1991. New Zealand was changed from a somewhat closed and centrally controlled economy to one of the most open economies in the OECD. As a result, New Zealand, went from having a reputation as an almost socialist country to being considered one of the most business-friendly countries of the world, next to Singapore. However, critics charge that the deregulation has brought little benefit to some sections of society, and has caused much of New Zealand's economy (including almost all of

23103-483: Was reversed under the following Rudd Labor government . After Dilma's impeachment , Michel Temer introduced a labor reform , besides allowing up to 100% of foreign capital on Brazilian air companies and giving more protection to state-owned enterprises from political pressure. Bolsonaro administration also promoted deregulations (even the expression "Bolsonomics" was created), such as Economic Freedom Law, Natural Gas Law, Basic Sanitation Legal Framework, besides allowing

23256-465: Was the homeland of the American bison , also known as buffalo, with its grasses providing pasture and breeding ground for millions of buffalo. The buffalo population was decimated during early settlement, but since then, buffalo have made a comeback, living on farms and in parks all over Alberta. Herbivores are found throughout the province. Moose , mule deer , elk , and white-tailed deer are found in

23409-502: Was the way in which regulated industries often come to control the government regulatory agencies in a process known as regulatory capture . Industries then use regulation to serve their own interests, at the expense of the consumer. A similar pattern has been seen with the deregulation process itself, often effectively controlled by regulated industries through lobbying. Such political forces, however, exist in many other forms for other lobby groups . Examples of deregulated industries in

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