The Productivity Research Network (PRN) collects firm-level data to conduct in-depth studies on productivity and related economic issues, particularly in the digital economy, which can result in concrete policy actions at the firm, industry and country levels.

Besides the challenges related to limited data quality and availability, the development of international comparative studies in the Asia-Pacific region is severely limited by the lack of cross-country harmonisation. The proposed project aims to tackle these constraints.

PRN currently comprises around 150 contributors across the region, including COLLABORATIONS WITH Singaporean institutions such Ministry of Trade and Industry AND THE Economic Development Board. PRN has organised four international workshops focusing on the recent dynamics of firm productivity, particularly in relation to innovation, advances in information technology, financial constraints and labour decisions. An outcome of these events is the creation of 10-country teams in the Asia-Pacific region, each currently generating productivity indicators using the combination of firm-level data and a common set of codes provided by the core NUS team.  With the PRN providing a data collection and sharing platform, researchers from around the world can tackle important questions regarding productivity.