LAUSR

Abstract The extractive industries, as the suppliers of essential raw materials, carry out activities that are fundamental to the development of modern societies. Therefore, how they are managed and administered is of the utmost importance. Optimizing these management procedures is often difficult, however, due to the highly specific nature of the extraction of non-renewable resources. The sustainable management of the process should begin on the extraction stage to efficiently utilize said resources. Total productivity indices are good indicators for measuring efficiency. This work proposes the construction of total productivity indices that break down productivity growth into its principal determinants. The elaboration of these indices takes into consideration the idiosyncratic nature of the industry, how the gradual depletion of the resources impacts upon productivity, and scenarios in which more than one principal output is generated. The methodology which is proposed in this paper is used to analyse fluorite mining in Spain. Based on the empirical analysis, the study shows how the depletion of resources and countervailing technological advances serve to determine the levels of productivity within the industry. In light of these results, policy implications are then discussed.