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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2008‒07‒30
nine papers chosen by |
| By: | Benoit Dostie; Rajshri Jayaraman |
| Abstract: | Using a large longitudinal, nationally representative workplace-level dataset, we explore the productivity gains associated with computer use and organizational redesign. The empirical strategy involves the estimation of a production function, augmented to account for technology use and organizational design, correcting for unobserved heterogeneity. We find large returns associated with computer use. We also find that computer use and organizational redesign may be complements or substitutes in production, and that the productivity gains associated with organizational redesign are industry-specific. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, information technologies, linked employer-employee data, workplace practices, complementarities |
| JEL: | D20 L20 M54 O33 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:lacicr:0813&r=eff |
| By: | Michael Fritsch (Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration; Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany); Viktor Slavtchev (Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the relationship between the specialization of a region in certain industries and the efficiency of the region in generating new knowledge. The efficiency measure is constructed by relating regional R&D input and output. An inversely u-shaped relationship is found between regional specialization and R&D efficiency, indicating the presence of externalities of both Marshall and Jacobs’ type. Further factors influencing efficiency are spillovers within the private sector as well as from public research institutions. The impact of both the specialization and the additional factors is, however, different for regions at different efficiency levels. |
| Keywords: | Efficiency, innovation, spillovers, patents, regional analysis. |
| JEL: | O31 O18 R12 |
| Date: | 2008–07–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2008-058&r=eff |
| By: | Christophe Cahn; Arthur Saint-Guilhem |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we present international comparisons of potential output growth among several economies -Canada, the euro area, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States- for the period 1991-2004, for which we construct consistent and homogenous capital stock series. The main estimates rely on a structural approach where output of the whole economy is described by a Cobb-Douglas function and Total Factor Productivity (TFP) is estimated allowing for possible breaks in the deterministic trend. The results confirm that over the considered period the potential GDP growth has been faster in the United States than in other studied countries, reflecting a combination of higher labour contribution and faster TFP growth. Overall, this paper might help to shed some light on cross-country differences in economic performance over the recent period. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pse:psecon:2008-35&r=eff |
| By: | Chuc Dinh Nguyen (Aston Business School, Aston University, UK); Gary Simpson (Aston Business School, Aston University, UK); David Saal (Aston Business School, Aston University, UK); Anh Ngoc Nguyen (Development and Policies Research Center (DEPOCEN), 216 Tran Quang Khai Street, Hanoi, Vietnam); Ngoc Quang Pham (Development and Policies Research Center (DEPOCEN), 216 Tran Quang Khai Street, Hanoi, Vietnam) |
| Abstract: | Differencing from previous studies on foreign direct investment (FDI) spillovers to domestic enterprises which mainly focus on productivity, in this paper we take a different perspective by analysing the impacts of FDI to technical efficiency of domestic firms. The paper goes beyond the current literature to shed some light on the spillover effects of FDI to technical efficiency of small and medium enterprises in a developing country. By exploiting a firm-level panel dataset and using SFA models following Battese and Coelli (1995), the paper is able to analyse horizontal spillovers through imitation and competition and labour mobility as well as vertical spillovers through backward and forward linkages on technical efficiency. The paper contributes to the understanding of potential effects on foreign invested enterprises on domestic economy in general and local enterprises performance in particular. Thus it importantly assists policy making by the government of developing countries, where FDI is believed to create technical spillovers on domestic enterprises. |
| Keywords: | Technical Efficiency, Foreign Direct Investment, Spillovers |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpc:wpaper:1708&r=eff |
| By: | Guglielmo Barone (Bank of Italy, Economic Research Unit, Bologna Main Branch); Federico Cingano (Bank of Italy, Research Department) |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of anti-competitive service regulation by examining whether OECD countries with less anti-competitive regulation see a better economic performance of manufacturing industries using less-regulated services more intensively. Our results indicate that lower service regulation translates into faster value added, productivity, and export growth of downstream service-intensive industries. The negative growth-effect of anti-competitive regulation is particularly relevant in the case of professional services and energy provision. Our estimates prove robust to accounting for alternative forms of regulation (such as product and labor market regulation), for the degree of financial development and also to a number of other specification checks. |
| Keywords: | Regulation, financial development, sector analysis, growth |
| JEL: | O40 L51 L80 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_675_08&r=eff |
| By: | Javorcik, Beata Smarzynska; Li, Yue |
| Abstract: | During the past two decades many economies have opened their retail sector to foreign direct investment, yet little is known about possible implications of such liberalization on the economies of developing host countries. Using firm-level data from Romania, this study examines how the presence of global retail chains affects firms in the supplying industries. Applying a difference-in-differences method, the econometric analyses yield the following conclusions. The expansion of global retail chains leads to a significant increase in the total factor productivity in the supplying industries. Their presence in a region increases the total factor productivity of firms in the supplying industries by 15.2 percent and doubling the number of chains leads to a 10.8 percent increase in total factor productivity. However, the expansion benefits larger firms the most and has a much smaller impact on small enterprises. This conclusion is robust to several extensions and specifications, including the instrumental variable approach. These results suggest that the opening of the retail sector to foreign direct investment may stimulate productivity growth in upstream manufacturing and extend our understanding of foreign direct investment in service sectors. |
| Keywords: | backward linkages; global retail chains; productivity; Romania |
| JEL: | F21 F23 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6906&r=eff |
| By: | Karligash Kenjegalieva (Dept of Economics, Loughborough University); Maximilian J. B. Hall (Dept of Economics, Loughborough University); Richard Simper (Dept of Economics, Loughborough University) |
| Abstract: | Within the banking efficiency analysis literature there is a dearth of studies which have considered how banks have ‘survived’ the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. Considering the profound changes that have occurred in the region’s financial systems since then, such an analysis is both timely and warranted. This paper examines the evolution of Hong Kong’s banking industry’s efficiency and its macroeconomic determinants through the prism of two alternative approaches to banking production based on the intermediation and services-producing goals of bank management over the post-crisis period. Within this research strategy we employ Tone’s (2001) Slacks-Based Model (SBM) combining it with recent bootstrapping techniques, namely the non-parametric truncated regression analysis suggested by Simar and Wilson (2007) and Simar and Zelenyuk’s (2007) group-wise heterogeneous sub-sampling approach. We find that there was a significant negative effect on Hong Kong bank efficiency in 2001, which we ascribe to the fallout from the terrorist attacks in America in 9/11 and to the completion of deposit rate deregulation that year. However, post 2001 most banks have reported a steady increase in efficiency leading to a better ‘intermediation’ and ‘production’ of activities than in the base year of 2000, with the SARS epidemic having surprisingly little effect in 2003. It was also interesting to find that the smaller banks were more efficient than the larger banks, but the latter were also able to enjoy economies of scale. This size factor was linked to the exportability of financial services. Other environmental factors found to be significantly impacting on bank efficiency were private consumption and housing rent. |
| Keywords: | Finance and Banking; Productivity; Efficiency. |
| JEL: | C23 C52 G21 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lbo:lbowps:2008-01&r=eff |
| By: | KAMGNA, Severin Yves; DIMOU, Leonnel |
| Abstract: | In one decade, the CEMAC's countries passed from a banking crisis context to an excess systemic liquidity. In the present survey, we valued the relative levels of technical efficiency of 24 commercial banks of the CEMAC from January 2001 to December 2004 using the DEA method, and searched for the factors of the banking management susceptible to explain these evolutions. The results shows that, on average, under the hypothesis of constant scale outputs, the banks of the CEMAC only produced 36,9% of the quantity of outputs that they could have produced from their resources. While rather supposing the outputs variable, the middle level of technical efficiency settled to 0,693. Of other parts, The explanatory factors of the evolution of the technical efficiency of the banks during this period are: i) the risk of defect; ii) the importance of the Bank, identified by the proportion of the capital stocks on the assets of the banks, iii) the level of the treasury excesses, and iv) the proportion of capital stock in the total of the credits. |
| Keywords: | Efficacité technique; méthode DEA; rendement d’échelle; banques; CEMAC |
| JEL: | C69 G29 G32 G21 |
| Date: | 2008–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:9603&r=eff |
| By: | David Card; Martin Dooley; Abigail Payne |
| Abstract: | The province of Ontario has two publicly funded school systems: secular schools (known as public schools) that are open to all students, and separate schools that are open to children with Catholic backgrounds. The systems are administered independently and receive equal funding per student. In this paper we use detailed school and student-level data to assess whether competition between the systems leads to improved efficiency. Building on a simple model of school choice, we argue that incentives for effort will be greater in areas where there are more Catholic families, and where these families are less committed to a particular system. To measure the local determinants of cross-system competition we study the effects of school openings on enrollment growth at nearby elementary schools. We find significant cross-system responses to school openings, with a magnitude that is proportional to the fraction of Catholics in the area, and is higher in more rapidly growing areas. We then test whether schools that face greater cross-system competition have higher productivity, as measured by test score gains between 3rd and 6th grade. We estimate a statistically significant but modest-sized impact of potential competition on the growth rate of student achievement. The estimates suggest that extending competition to all students would raise average test scores in 6th grade by 6-8% of a standard deviation. |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14176&r=eff |