Labor Productivity in Sawmills of the Eastern and Southeastern United States

Authors

  • Robert J. Bush
  • Steven A. Sinclair

Keywords:

Productivity, sawmills, production

Abstract

A survey of sawmills in the eastern and southeastern regions of the United States was conducted. Responding mills produced an average of 12,661 MBf in calendar year 1984 and 76 percent reported annual sales of less than $10 million. The majority of sawmills utilized circular saw headrigs and the most common type of computer controlled/assisted equipment was a log carriage. Softwood sawmills were found to have significantly higher labor productivity than hardwood sawmills. Regression analysis indicated that labor productivity economies of scale exist within the softwood segment of the industry. Labor productivity increased with mill size but at a decreasing rate. No strong evidence of labor productivity economies of scale in the hardwood industry segment was found.

References

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Published

2007-06-22

Issue

Number 2 / April 1989

Section

Research Contributions

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