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on Economics of Strategic Management |
| By: | Borrás , Susana (Department of Business and Politics, Copenhagen Business School, and CIRCLE, Lund University); Edquist , Charles (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Who produces scientific and technical knowledge these days? What type of knowledge is being produced and for what purposes? Why are firms and governments funding research and development? This chapter studies the role of knowledge production (especially R&D activities) in the innovation process from an innovation system perspective. It examines how governments and public agencies in different countries and at different times have actually approached the issue of building, maintaining and using knowledge production in their innovation systems. It also examines the critical and most important issues at stake from the point of view of innovation policy, looking in particular at the unresolved tensions and systemic unbalances related to knowledge production and last but not least, it elaborates a set of overall criteria for the selection and design of relevant policy instruments and addresses those tensions and unbalances. This chapter suggests that innovation policy develops a portfolio approach to the public investment in R&D and knowledge production. |
| Keywords: | Innovation system; innovation policy; knowledge production; R&D; universities; innovation policy instruments |
| JEL: | L38 M38 O25 O31 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2014–10–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2014_021&r=cse |
| By: | Sanchez, Juana |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a novel empirical study of innovation practices of U.S. companies and their relation to productivity levels using new business micro data from the Business Research and Development and Innovation Survey (BRDIS) for the years 2008-2011. The paper follows the work of Frenz and Lambert, who use factor analysis to reduce a set of inputs and outputs of innovation activities into four latent unobserved innovation modes or practices for OECD countries using Community Innovation Surveys (CIS). Patterns obtained with BRDIS data are very similar to those found by those authors in some OECD countries. Companies are grouped according to their scores across the four factors to see that in large, small and medium companies more than one mode of innovation practices prevails. The next step in the analysis links different types of innovation practices to levels of productivity using regression analysis. The four innovation modes have a statistically signifcant positive relation with the level of productivity, other things constant. The paper demonstrates the possibility of taking into account the multidimensionality of innovation without the use of composite indicators. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, R&D, Productivity, Cluster, Latent Modes, Regression |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O33 O34 O4 |
| Date: | 2014–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:58719&r=cse |
| By: | Claire Nauwelaers; Karen Maguire; Giulia Ajmone Marsan |
| Abstract: | The Bothnian Arc is a cross-border area on the border of Finland and Sweden that covers the most populated areas along the upper Bothnian Bay, spanning 800 kilometres. It has a population of around 710 000, across 55 000 km² with an economic output of USD 31 billion. The Bothnian Arc collaboration was initiated by local authorities, with strong commitment of the mayors of the cities of Oulu and Luleå (300 kilometres apart). Despite a peripheral location in all respects, some parts of the Bothnian Arc have shown a remarkable vitality, notably Oulu (Finland), driven by an innovation ecosystem that builds on the heritage of Nokia and the contribution of Oulu University. Luleå (Sweden) has recently attracted the European Facebook data centre. The area is looking to go beyond ad hoc projects for a more strategic approach to innovation-driven collaboration to be the dynamic hub of the north. This case study is part of the project Regions and Innovation: Collaborating Across Borders . A summary of this working paper appears in a report of the same name. |
| Keywords: | Sweden, Finland, innovation, science and technology, regional growth, cross-border, regional development, regional innovation strategies, Bothnian Arc, Oulu, regional innovation, Luleä |
| JEL: | L52 L53 O14 O18 O38 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2013–11–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:govaab:2013/17-en&r=cse |
| By: | Attila Havas (Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Business-academia (B-A) collaborations have been analysed by an extensive body of literature, taking many different angles, and using various sources and types of information (patent statistics, the Community Innovation Survey data, evidence from specific surveys, interviews, or case studies), but usually a given paper is relying on a single method, addressing one or two major research questions. In contrast, this paper tackles both R&D and innovation collaborations among businesses and academia relying on information from different statistics and interviews. The latter source also allows exploring motivations for, and major features of, business-academia co-operation. The paper argues that mapping B-A collaborations by using multiple methods and multiple sources of information can significantly improve the reliability and richness of our understanding, and can offer insights on dynamics and qualitative features of these co-operation processes. Interviews conducted in Hungary – in line with other research findings – have also confirmed that (i) motivations, incentives for, and norms of, conducting R&D and innovation activities diametrically differ in business and academia; and (ii) different types of firms have different needs. Thus, more refined policy measures are to be devised to promote B-A collaboration more efficiently, better tuned to the needs of the actors, based on a relevant taxonomy of their co-operations. Evaluation criteria for academics should also be revised to remove some major obstacles, currently blocking more effective B-A co-operation. Several findings presented in this paper can be generalised beyond the cases considered, but the research design to analyse B-A collaborations and the concomitant policy recommendations always need to be tailored to the innovation systems in question. |
| Keywords: | Types of knowledge; Business-academia collaboration; Multiple methods to map business-academia collaborations; STI policy implications |
| JEL: | O38 O33 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:discpr:1419&r=cse |
| By: | Giuliani , Elisa (Dept. Economics & Management, University of Pisa); Martinelli , Arianna (LEM – Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna); Rabellotti , Roberta (Department of Political and Social Sciences, Università di Pavia) |
| Abstract: | Firms from emerging countries such as Brazil, India, and China (BIC) are going global, and Europe is attracting around one-third of their direct outward investments. Growing internationalization constitutes an opportunity for technological catch up. In this paper we analyze BIC firms’ cross-border inventions with European Union (EU-27) actors, during the period 1990-2012. Our results suggest that cross-border inventions represent an opportunity for BIC firms to accumulate technological capabilities, access frontier knowledge, and appropriate the property rights of co-inventions. This paper contributes to the understanding of the catching up process by emerging country firms, and offers some policy recommendations. |
| Keywords: | emerging countries; multinationals; technological catch up; patents; European Union |
| JEL: | O10 O30 O34 |
| Date: | 2014–11–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2014_025&r=cse |
| By: | Basu, Sujata |
| Abstract: | An advanced economy relies on innovation activity for its further technology improvement. On the other hand a backward economy depends on both imitation from the world technology frontier and innovation activities - innovation being more skilled-intensive than imitation. In this paper I theoretically examine the impact of R & D outsourcing from an economy which is in the innovation-only regime to an imitation-innovation regime. I show that dependence on imitation activities rises and as a consequence of which share of skilled human capital falls and both skilled and unskilled human capital shifts from innovation to imitation activities in the backward economy. As a result proportion of outsourcing from advanced economy to backward economy falls. Thus, growth rate of the backward economy declines as time progresses. In the long run backward economy will get into a trap and gap from the world technology frontier rises, even if it falls in the initial period. |
| Keywords: | R & D activity, outsourcing, economic growth, imitation-innovation, convergence |
| JEL: | I24 O3 O43 |
| Date: | 2014–10–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:59107&r=cse |
| By: | Najda-Janoszka, Marta |
| Abstract: | Numerous studies challenge the ultimately advantageous position of innovators and indicate that imitation, in the whole spectrum of its diverse forms, generates a considerable potential for enhancing the competitiveness of the followers and shaping the path for effective surpassing the innovators. The emerging literature suggest strategic integration of innovative and imitative practices in order to achieve above average profits. Therefore, in this article imitation is considered on par with innovation as an alternative strategic option for successful business performance. The article presents the fundamental conditions affecting the managerial decision on the model of value creation for particular project or its modules |
| Keywords: | innovation, imitation, value creation process |
| JEL: | M10 O30 O33 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:58609&r=cse |
| By: | Kuzyaeva, Anastasia; Didenko, Alexander |
| Abstract: | Over the last decades, much attention has been drawn to the question of productivity variation across countries. The differences in cross-country productivity could be explained by both foreign and domestic innovation. In order to estimate the influence of the former, the international transfer of technology should be considered. Foreign direct investment (FDI) and international trade are suggested to be major conduits of international technology transfer. The present paper aims to extend the current empirical literature by determining the effect and the source of productivity spillover in Russia on the example of chemical industry. In order to find out the existence of FDI and international trade productivity spillover we applied the methodology developed by Ericson and Pakes (1995) and Olley and Pakes (1996). The econometric model was tested on the companies from chemical industry for the period 2007-2012. The empirical results show that FDI and international trade productivity spillovers are present in Russian chemical industry. The size of FDI spillovers is economically more important than imports-related spillovers. Based on the empirical results, we may predict that Russian accession to the World Trade Organization in 2012 should result in productivity growth. However, further research on this topic will be possible when the statistical data is available for several years after annexation. |
| Keywords: | FDI, chemical industry, technology transfer, productivity spillover, international trade |
| JEL: | D24 F13 L65 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:59349&r=cse |
| By: | Huu Thanh Tam Nguyen (University of Evry Val d’Essonne, EPEE & Economics Department); Ngoc-Sang Pham (CES, University Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | We consider a small open economy with two productive sectors (an old and a new). There are two types of firms in the new industry: a well planted multinational firm and a potential domestic firm. Our framework highlights a number of results. First, in a poor country with low return of training and weak FDI spillovers, the domestic firm does not exist in the new industry requiring a high fixed cost. Second, once the host economy has the capacity to create the new firm, the productivity of the domestic firm is the key factor allowing it to enter into the new industry, and even eliminate the multinational firm. Interestingly, in some cases where FDI spillovers are strong, the country should invest in the new industry, but not train specific workers. Last, credit constraints and labor/capital shares play important roles in the competition between the multinational firm and the domestic one. |
| Keywords: | FDI spillovers, investment in training, heterogeneous firms, entry cost |
| JEL: | F23 F4 O3 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eve:wpaper:14-08&r=cse |
| By: | Antoine Dechezleprêtre; Ralf Martin; Myra Mohnen |
| Abstract: | How much should governments subsidize the development of new clean technologies? We use patent citation data to investigate the relative intensity of knowledge spillovers in clean and dirty technologies in two technological fields: energy production and transportation. We introduce a new methodology that takes into account the whole history of patent citations to capture the indirect knowledge spillovers generated by patents. We find that conditional on a wide range of potential confounding factors clean patents receive on average 43% more citations than dirty patents. Knowledge spillovers from clean technologies are comparable in scale to those observed in the IT sector. The radical novelty of clean technologies relative to more incremental dirty inventions seems to account for their superiority. Our results can support public support for clean R&D. They also suggest that green policies might be able to boost economic growth through induced knowledge spillovers. |
| Keywords: | Innovation spill-overs, Climate Change, Growth, Patents, Clean technology, Optimal climate policy |
| JEL: | O30 O44 Q54 Q55 Q58 H23 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1300&r=cse |
| By: | Michael Fritsch (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena); Javier Changoluisa (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effect of new business formation on the productivity of incumbent manufacturing establishments. We obtain robust empirical evidence of productivity improvements that are due to the emergence of new businesses in the same industry, that is, on the output market. This effect is spatially limited to the respective region. Regional competition from new businesses on the input market and cross-industry effects are not related to incumbents' productivity changes. The effect that new competition has on incumbents is moderated by an incumbent's distance from the technological frontier; incumbents close to the frontier exhibit a more pronounced positive reaction. |
| Keywords: | New business formation, productivity, incumbent firms |
| JEL: | L26 D20 O12 |
| Date: | 2014–10–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2014-025&r=cse |
| By: | Alberdi Pons , Xabier (Deusto Business School (DBS), Universidad de Deusto); Gibaja Martíns, Juan José (Deusto Business School (DBS), Universidad de Deusto); Parrilli, Mario Davide (Deusto Business School (DBS), Universidad de Deusto and DBS and Orkestra-Basque Institute of Competitiveness) |
| Abstract: | Interaction is a central feature of well-functioning and integrated Regional Innovation Systems. However, it does not necessarily occur in an automatic fashion, denoting the existence of various system problems that may block learning and other crucial innovation processes. “Intermediaries” are organizations that encompass an increasing role in overcoming these problems. Still, they have not been adequately framed and assessed. The paper meets this need and presents a number of developments. First, we identify and categorize intermediaries according to some specific Innovation System problems they tap into, while we also include them in a novel intermediary component. Second, we operationalize sets of quantitative variables that permit new preliminary assessments. This methodology also permits new empirical insights that help framing more specific policy tools. The empirical analysis roots on an ad hoc data exploitation stemming from various surveys conducted by the Spanish Official Statistical Institute (INE) and the Spanish Venture Capital Association (ASCRI). We conduct multivariate techniques such as Multiple Factor and Cluster Analysis. The methodology creates a new typology that sorts Spanish regions according to the presence -or absence- of intermediaries when dealing with system problems. We find dissimilar outputs across regions. The latter might demand that their intermediary components are provided with strategic recommendations in response to specific system requirements. |
| Keywords: | regions; innovation systems; system problems; intermediaries; Spain; multiple factor analysis |
| JEL: | O18 R15 R50 R58 |
| Date: | 2014–10–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2014_020&r=cse |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); (South Asia Department, ADB); ; |
| Abstract: | This publication highlights priorities and strategies in meeting current and emerging needs for skills development in South Asia. The report is in line with the Asian Development Bank’s effort to support its developing member countries’ priorities toward global competitiveness, increased productivity, and inclusive growth. It also identifies key issues, constraints and areas of improvement in making skills training more responsive to emerging labor market needs in South Asia as an important factor in sustaining high economic growth. The report was completed in 2012 under the Australian AID-supported Phase 1 of Subproject 11 (Innovative Strategies for Accelerated Human Resource Development) of RETA 6337 (Development Partnership Program for South Asia). |
| Keywords: | education, technical skills, vocational skills, labor market, gender inequality, human resources, human capital, innovation, knowledge, skills, human development index, secondary education, labor force, skilling, upskilling, TVET, skills development, training programs, higher education, youth, strategies and innovations |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt136125&r=cse |
| By: | Ulf Lewrick; Lukas Mohler; Rolf Weder |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a framework to assess the relative importance of three key sources of productivity growth that research on international trade focuses on: (i) inter-industry specialisation; (ii) intra-industry reallocation of resources across heterogeneous firms, including firm entry and exit; and (iii) technological progress. Detailed data on Swiss manufacturing firms illustrate how the framework can be empirically applied. Based on this example, we find that intra-industry reallocations are the most important source of growth in aggregate total factor productivity, reflecting in particular the productivity growth of large, incumbent firms and the entry of new firms. That said, inter-industry specialisation and general technological progress remain important supplementary sources of growth in Swiss manufacturing. |
| Keywords: | Growth, total factor productivity, inter-industry trade, intra-industry trade |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bis:biswps:469&r=cse |
| By: | Aristovnik, Aleksander |
| Abstract: | The main aim of the paper is to measure the relative efficiency of the R&D sector in the EU-27 at the regional level. For this purpose, the paper applies a non-parametric approach, i.e. data envelopment analysis (DEA), to assess the relative technical efficiency of R&D activities across selected EU (NUTS-2) regions. The empirical analysis integrates available inputs (R&D expenditures, researchers and employment in high-tech sectors) and outputs (patent and high-tech patent applications) over the 2005–2010 period. The empirical results show that among regions with a high intensity of R&D activities the most efficient performers are Noord-Brabant (Netherlands), Stuttgart (Germany) and Tirol (Austria). In contrast, a wide range of NUTS-2 regions from the Baltics, Eastern and Southern Europe is characterized by an extremely low rate of knowledge production and its efficiency, particularly in Poland (Mazowieckie), Lithuania (Lietuva), Latvia (Latvija), Romania (Bucuresti-Ilfov), Bulgaria (Yugozapaden), Slovakia (Západné Slovensko), Greece (Attiki), Spain (Canarias) and Italy (Sardegna). |
| Keywords: | Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA); Efficiency; EU; NUTS-2 regions; R&D |
| JEL: | C61 O3 R1 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:59081&r=cse |
| By: | Chaminade , Cristina (CIRCLE, Lund University); Padilla Pérez , Ramón (United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at shedding some light on the challenges of designing and implementing STI policies in developing countries. In particular, we discuss the problems of alignment of STI policies with the national economic development agenda, the alignment of innovation system policy with ST policies, the alignment of objectives and instruments with systemic problems as well as a proposed method for the identification of systemic problems in systems of innovation in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | innovation policy; science and technology policy; developing countries |
| JEL: | O25 O33 O38 |
| Date: | 2014–11–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2014_026&r=cse |
| By: | Huric Larsen, Jesper Fredborg |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this note is to introduce how to evaluate strategic choices of the firm using economic principles. The procedure is based on simple cost benefit considerations such as building on the economic principles of incentive compatibility constraints based in Game Theory. |
| Keywords: | strategic interaction, game theory, evaluation of strategic choices, incentives constraints |
| JEL: | C7 L1 L2 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:58586&r=cse |
| By: | Xichen Sun (Student of Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University); Michiyuki Yagi (Interfaculty Initiative in the Social Science, Kobe University); Katsuhiko Kokubu (Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University) |
| Abstract: | As global competition is getting more and more intense, there is an increasing trend manifesting the increasing interest in sustainable supply chain management. This study introduces four sustainable supply chain indicators from the upstream (supplier), middle stream (focal firm) and downstream (customer) of a supply chain to empirically examine the relationship between sustainable supply chain performance and firm performance (ROA), as well as the relationship between environmental efficiency and other three indicators. It focuses on the Energy and Utilities industries. In this study we use global firm dataset from Bloomberg professional service, and the number of observation is 86 during 2005 to 2013. We find an inversely U-shaped curve relationship between environmental efficiency in supply chain and firm' s profitability (ROA); and a U-shaped relationship between investments in operational sustainability and firm' s profitability. Also a negative relationship is found between having a new product and ROA. We provide implications obtained from our analysis of regression results for managers. We contribute to the literature by responding to the call for more empirical research in this filed, providing the evidence that sustainable supply chain performance can bring actual benefits for the firm, as long as firms identify their own position accurately and take the right action. |
| Keywords: | sustainable supply chain, environmental efficiency, new product, firm performance |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kbb:dpaper:2014-30&r=cse |
| By: | Ufuk Akcigit (University of Pennsylvania); Murat Celik (University of Pennsylvania); Daron Acemoglu (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that openness to new, unconventional and disruptive ideas has a first-order impact on creative innovations---innovations that break new ground in terms of knowledge creation. After presenting a motivating model focusing on the choice between incremental and radical innovation, and on how managers of different ages and human capital are sorted across different types of firms, we provide cross-country, firm-level and patent-level evidence consistent with this pattern. Our measures of creative innovations proxy for innovation quality (average number of citations per patent) and creativity (fraction of superstar innovators, the likelihood of a very high number of citations, and generality of patents). Our main proxy for openness to disruption is manager age. This variable is based on the idea that only companies or societies open to such disruption will allow the young to rise up within the hierarchy. Using this proxy at the country, firm or patent level, we present robust evidence that openness to disruption is associated with more creative innovations. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed014:377&r=cse |
| By: | Unay Gailhard, ilkay; Bavorova, Miroslava |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of interpersonal networks and other information sources on the innovativeness of farmers. This understanding can be useful for organizations that are involved in extension work that aims to increase the farmers’ innovativeness and for farmers who aim to be more innovative. The study focuses on two types of farmers’ network ties: friendship ties (ties to other farmers) and affiliation ties (ties to associations). Additionally, the importance of information gathered by farmers from interpersonal sources and from media is compared. We collected data within the European Union (EU)-funded Food Industry Dynamics and Methodological Advances (FOODIMA) Project using face-to-face interviews. Our sample, which consists of 72 farmers (organic and conventional) in Germany, was used to map farmers’ innovativeness (number of innovations adopted). We analyzed the data to determine if the structure and strength of network ties can be used as predictors of innovativeness for organic and conventional farmers. When considering both the friendship and affiliation ties, the main results show that organic farmers who communicate more frequently with other farmers are more likely to be highly innovative. The large network size indicates low innovativeness on the part of organic farmers. Membership in at least one association is positively interconnected with high innovativeness of conventional farmers. Regarding information sources, the results indicate that the highly innovative farmers appreciate information from research institutes more and information from agricultural organization less than the less innovative farmers. |
| Keywords: | Innovativeness; Social network ties; Communication frequency; Information sources; Organic and conventional farmers |
| JEL: | Q5 Q55 Q57 R14 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:58331&r=cse |
| By: | Alfredo Martín Oliver (Universitat de les Illes Balears); Sonia Ruano Pardo (Banco de España); Vicente Salas Fumás (Universidad de Zaragoza) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the links between productivity and social welfare, with an application to the banking industry. It models spatial price competition between bank branches jointly with banks’ decisions on the opening or closing of branches based on profit expectations. The model predicts that more productive banks set lower (higher) interest rates on loans (deposits) and increase their market share through both higher demand per branch and a larger network of branches. Specifically, the paper i) uses a new measure of bank productivity; ii) provides a productivity differences-based explanation of the distance between bank branches and bank customers; and iii) shows how the intensity of market competition may be unaffected when the number of banks decreases, provided that banks continue expanding their branch network. The empirical implementation of the model uses Spanish banks over the period 1993-2007 and it confirms the theoretical predictions of the paper |
| Keywords: | banking spatial competition, bank branch productivity, interest rates, branch dynamics, bank economic profits. |
| JEL: | E43 G21 L11 O30 R32 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:1426&r=cse |
| By: | Kimitaka Nishitani (Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration (RIEB), Kobe University, Japan); Katsuhiko Kokubu (Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University) |
| Abstract: | The goal of this paper is to perform an empirical analysis on the impact on shareholder value of corporate environmental initiatives, focusing on the environmental disclosure and its credibility. The authors verified their hypothesis regarding this, which states, "corporations' environmental initiatives improve shareholder value via release of environmental reports. This trend grows stronger when the credibility of the disclosed information is enhanced." The results of the empirical analysis supported this hypothesis. Specifically, it was revealed that corporations that conduct more environmental initiatives release more environmental reports, and corporations that release more environmental reports have higher shareholder value, and the increased credibility gained via the disclosure of information that includes third-party reviews strengthens this trend even further. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Disclosures, Environmental Initiatives, Economic Performance, Improvement in Productivity, Increase in Demand, Fixed Effects Instrumental Variables Model |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2014-34&r=cse |
| By: | Tommaso Agasisti (Politecnico di Milano School of Management, Milano) |
| Abstract: | This research conducts a comparison of secondary schools’ efficiency in an international perspective, focusing on five economies in the European Union (UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain) and employing an institutionlevel dataset built through data from the 2012 edition of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Overall, around 2,700 schools from these five countries are included in the empirical analysis; it uses a bootstrap version of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), and a common (international) frontier of efficient schools is assumed. The production process is modelled in a very simple way, by including human and capital resources, together with students’ socioeconomic background, among inputs; and average scores in reading and mathematics, as outputs. Although within-country dispersion of efficiency scores is much wider than between-countries differences, some between-countries efficiency differentials can be observed. A second-stage tobit regression reveals that some factors are statistically associated with schools’ efficiency, as for example the indexes for the quality of educational resources and teachers’ morale. Conversely, the efficiency scores are inversely correlated with the proportion of students who perform below proficiency level 2, suggesting that there is not a trade-off between efficiency and equity. All these evidences can stimulate interesting reflections for national and European-based policy-makers. |
| Keywords: | schools’ efficiency, equity, OECD-PISA2012, bootstrap DEA, cross-country comparison |
| JEL: | I21 I28 C14 H52 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipu:wpaper:9&r=cse |