Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Capacity and Utilization: Historical Bibliography and Other References

Koenig, Evan F. "Capacity Utilization as a Real-Time Predictor of Manufacturing Output," Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Economic Review, Q III 1996, pp. 16–23.

Mohr, Michael, and Charles Gilbert. "Capital Stock Estimates for Manufacturing Industries: Methods and Data" (Industrial Output Section, Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, December 1995, unpublished).

• The paper is a thorough review of methods used to estimate "productive" capital stocks by industry.

Raddock, Richard D. "Recent Developments in Industrial Capacity and Utilization," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 76 (June 1990), pp. 411–35.

• This article documents the revision and restructuring of the capacity indexes for manufacturing, mining, and utilities for the period since 1967. The appendix includes a discussion of concepts, a summary of the methodology, and a table of the new industry structure, series composition, and the sources of capacity data. In this revision, the separate set of capacity estimates for industrial materials was eliminated, and many of its former components were included in the new estimates for mining and the primary-processing component of manufacturing.

———. "Revised Federal Reserve Rates of Capacity Utilization," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 71 (October 1985), pp. 754–66.

• The appendix to the article is a methodological description of the capacity and utilization rate measures.

Rost, Ronald F. "New Federal Reserve Measures of Capacity and Capacity Utilization," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 69 (July 1983), pp. 515–21.

• This article introduced the measures of mining, utilities, and total industry.

de Leeuw, Frank, Lawrence R. Forest, Jr., Richard D. Raddock, and Zoltan E. Kenessey. Measurement of Capacity Utilization: Problems and Tasks, Federal Reserve Staff Study 105, Board of Governors, Washington, D.C., July 1979. 259 pages.

• Papers presented at a Round Table Conference, December 4, 1978. Topics: Why and how utilization rates differ, capacity concepts and measures, and plans for improving the measures.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Federal Reserve Measures of Capacity Utilization, Board of Governors, Washington, D.C., February 1978. Lawrence R. Forest, Jr. and Richard D. Raddock.

• This pamphlet provides a complete description of the measures of capacity for manufacturing and materials, but is dated.

Raddock, Richard D. and Lawrence R. Forest. "New Estimates of Capacity Utilization: Manufacturing and Materials," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 62 (November 1976), pp. 892–905.

• The monthly G.3 statistical release began after this article was published.

Edmonson, Nathan. "Capacity Utilization for Major Materials: Revised Measures," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 60 (April 1974), pp.246–51.

• Capacity utilization rates for major materials appeared in the Industrial Production statistical release, G.12.3.

———. "Economic Productive Capacity in the Broadweaving Industry: An Approach to Measurement," The Southern Economic Journal, vol. XL (January 1974), pp. 484–88.

———. "Production Relations at High Levels of Capacity Utilization in the Steel Industry," 1973 Business and Economics Statistics Section, Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, pp. 73–79.

———. "Capacity Utilization in Major Materials Industries," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 9 (August 1973), pp. 564–66.

———. "Revised Measures of Manufacturing Capacity Utilization," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 57 (October 1971), pp. 779–81

Enzler, Jared. "Manufacturing Capacity: A Comparison of Two Sources of Information," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 54 (November 1968). pp. 900–40.

• This was part of a paper presented at the meeting of the American Statistical Association held on August 20, 1968.

de Leeuw, Frank, et al. "A Revised Index of Manufacturing Capacity," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 52 (November 1966), pp. 1605–15.

• The quarterly statistical release E.5 was initiated after publication of this article; three series were included, primary and advanced processing industries, and total manufacturing.

Gajewski, Peter. "Manufacturing Capacity Measures and Current Economic Analysis," 1964 Proceedings of the Business and Economic Statistics Section, American Statistical Association, Washington, D.C., pp. 466–78.

de Leeuw, Frank. "The Concept of Capacity," Journal of the American Statistical Association. vol. 57 (December 1962), pp. 826–40.

———. "The Demand for Capital Goods by Manufacturers: A Study of Quarterly Timeseries," Econometrica, vol. 30 (July 1962), pp.407–23.

———. "Measures of Capacity: Work of the Division of Research and Statistics, Federal Reserve System," in Measures of Productive Capacity, Hearings before the Subcommittee on Economic Statistics of the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Eighty-seventh Congress, second session May 14, 22, 23, and 24, 1962, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1962, pp. 121–37.

———. "Capacity and Output Indexes for Major Materials," unpublished mimeographed study done at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, August 1957.

• These indexes were shown in charts in analytical articles in the Federal Reserve Bulletin, but were not regularly published. The estimates were primarily used internally at the Board of Governors.

Board of Governors. "Developments in Production," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 43 (May 1957), pp. 509–10.

• Charts of output and capacity for selected major materials, metals, and textiles were included along with a note that explained briefly the construction of the measures. Pressure on materials capacity was related to upward pressures on prices and wages rates, and growth in capacity was related to "waves of capital investment."

———. "The Rise in Prices," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 42 (November 1956), p. 1159.

• A chart of major materials capacity and output was included in a discussion relating "capacity operations in many basic industries since late 1955, exerting upward pressures on prices and reinforcing claims for higher rates of pay." A brief note explained the construction of the estimates.