Growth, Expansion, Productivity, and Prices under Utility-Dollar Normalization

Growth, Expansion, Productivity, and Prices under Utility-Dollar Normalization | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Growth, Expansion, Productivity, and Prices under Utility-Dollar Normalization Yakov Gurovich This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9033441/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract We develop a unit-consistent accounting framework that separates nominal measurement from real economic dynamics and links relative prices to productivity in a transparent way. Real output is measured in utilities (units of the base-year GDP basket) and real input in contributions (units of the base-year GDI/factor basket), yielding three core aggregates: output growth, input expansion, and aggregate productivity (Π = G/E). To make intertemporal comparisons invariant to purely nominal rescalings, we introduce a standard utility basket (SUB) and use it to define the utility-dollar unit of account; in this normalization the GDP deflator is the nominal price of SUB. Within this unit system, we provide quantity-first definitions of good and factor productivity and deduce real-price representations that decompose good and factor price changes into aggregate productivity and sector-specific components. An illustrative example demonstrates the accounting. Empirically, we validate the framework using BLS private nonfarm business series: productivity computed from published output and combined-input indexes reproduces published MFP, and reduced-basket proxies track MFP growth closely. A lightweight pseudo real-time exercise using quarterly nonfarm series illustrates how representative baskets support near-term attribution of nominal movements into price versus quantity components. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9033441","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":621725178,"identity":"57589866-cc2e-4da2-8229-cd36ba90aa37","order_by":0,"name":"Yakov Gurovich","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAs0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACNhBhI8NGqpY0HpK1HOYhXoPB8WOJj3l+nefhk0g+wPCjYhsRWs6kHTbm7bvNwyaRlsDYc+Y2EVoOpLdJzuwBauE5Y8DM2EaMlvPPQVrOAbWc/0CklhtpxyQ+/DjAw8bew0CcFskbz5INPjYkA7W0GRwkyi9859MMHyT8sZOTb2Z++OBHBRFaFA4ACcY2COcAYfVAIN8AIv8QpXYUjIJRMApGKgAAnlQ6qNA9VWYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Independent Researcher","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yakov","middleName":"","lastName":"Gurovich","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-04 19:38:20","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9033441/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9033441/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106853724,"identity":"ef4af6e4-43d6-41b3-870a-3000736dce76","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-14 06:57:39","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":710190,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"JPAsubmissionv2.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9033441/v1_covered_dbe5e493-d0e5-4295-ad15-d7e22283bf3c.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Growth, Expansion, Productivity, and Prices under Utility-Dollar Normalization","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9033441/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9033441/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eWe develop a unit-consistent accounting framework that separates nominal measurement from real economic dynamics and links relative prices to productivity in a transparent way. Real output is measured in utilities (units of the base-year GDP basket) and real input in contributions (units of the base-year GDI/factor basket), yielding three core aggregates: output growth, input expansion, and aggregate productivity (Π = G/E). To make intertemporal comparisons invariant to purely nominal rescalings, we introduce a standard utility basket (SUB) and use it to define the utility-dollar unit of account; in this normalization the GDP deflator is the nominal price of SUB. Within this unit system, we provide quantity-first definitions of good and factor productivity and deduce real-price representations that decompose good and factor price changes into aggregate productivity and sector-specific components. An illustrative example demonstrates the accounting. Empirically, we validate the framework using BLS private nonfarm business series: productivity computed from published output and combined-input indexes reproduces published MFP, and reduced-basket proxies track MFP growth closely. A lightweight pseudo real-time exercise using quarterly nonfarm series illustrates how representative baskets support near-term attribution of nominal movements into price versus quantity components.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Growth, Expansion, Productivity, and Prices under Utility-Dollar Normalization","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-14 06:57:25","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9033441/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"d1827887-815a-414f-ab41-982ad642988d","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 14th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-14T06:57:25+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-14 06:57:25","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9033441","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9033441","identity":"rs-9033441","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}