ABSTRACT
The slowdown in productivity growth in the U.S. economy during the 1970’s has been a matter of great concern to policymakers, associated as it is with inflation, unemploy ment, and declining real wage growth. This paper examines the impact on productivity growth of government regulation, specifically worker health and safety regulation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administra tion (OSHA) and environmental regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Looking at data for 450 manufactur ing industries between 1958 and 1978, the study finds a large, negative relationship between such regulation and productivity growth. Using these results, about 30 percent of the decline in productivity growth in manufacturing during the 1970’s may be at tributed to such regulation.
