Logging productivity and production function in Alabama, 1995 to 2000.

Logging costs are a large proportion of the wood material cost for forest industries. The efficiency and productivity of the logging industry are important factors in the competitiveness of the forest industry in the regional and international marketplace. This paper analyzes logging productivity in Alabama using data from a mail survey that was sent to firm owners, co-owners, or firm managers in 2000. The labor and machine cost productivities discussed were calculated by firm size, machine type, and products. The contribution and substitution between labor and machine cost were estimated using the ordinary least square econometric method.