The information content of capacity utilization for detrending total factor productivity

In the production function approach, an accurate output gap assessment requires a careful evaluation of the total factor productivity (TFP) cycle. We build a common cycle model that links TFP to capacity utilization and we show that, in almost all of the preenlargement EU countries, using information about capacity utilization reduces both the total estimation error and the revisions in real-time estimates of the concurrent TFP cycle compared to a univariate decomposition. We also argue that relaxing the constant drift hypothesis in favour of a non-linear specification helps to offset a general tendency to underestimate the TFP cycle in the last decade. & 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.