They are. Below is a neat little table which uses the OECD's 2003 data on working hours and employment. Based on current exchange rates (a.k.a. the judgement of the currency markets, and who are we mortals to question the wisdom of the marketplace), you can construct an all-purpose productivity index, based in terms of output per hour worked, per employed person.
-- DRR
----------------------
GDP as output per hour worked, US = 100
(Data from Table F, OECD Employment Outlook, ISBN 92-64-10812-2, OECD 2004, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/55/32494755.pdf, and OECD Employment Outlook July 2004, Table B, Web: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/55/32494755.pdf)
Country Index ------------------ Norway 157.7 Denmark 123.6 Switzerland 121.9 Ireland 113.1 France 110.0 Belgium 109.9 Germany 108.9 Netherlands 108.4 Japan 100.9 US 100.0 Austria 99.5 Sweden 97.6 Italy 95.5 Finland 92.4 UK 78.2 Canada 69.6 Australia 65.0 Spain 60.1 New Zealand 52.1 Greece 44.2 Portugal 43.9 Korea 30.2** Hungary 21.1** Czech Rep 20.7 Slovak Rep 19.9 Poland 15.8 Mexico 15.0
**Guesstimates based on average annual working hours of 2,000 per employed person