her than that in the United States. In fact, labor productivity in the United States remains approxi mately 25 percent higher than that in Japan, with output valued in constant prices and labor input measured in hours of work (Council of Economic Advisers, 1990). What the data presented in Table 1 do indicate is that Japanese productivity is improv ing far more rapidly than is that in the United States. In this context, however, it must be recognized that, as Japanese productivity started at a far lower base level in 1960 than did that in the United States, large proportionate improvements were far easier to attain than they were in the United States. Having made this assertion, it is necessary to emphasize that the Japanese productivity gains have been significant, and that, should existing trends continue unchanged, the Japanese labor produ
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