|
on Efficiency and Productivity |
|
Issue of 2011‒11‒14
twenty-one papers chosen by |
| By: | Marian Rizov |
| Abstract: | Abstract We compute aggregate productivity of three categories of regions, classified by level of urbanization in the Netherlands, from firm-specific total factor productivity (TFP) measures. TFP measures are estimated by a semi-parametric algorithm, within 2-digit industries, covering agriculture, manufacturing, construction, trade and services, using AMADEUS data over the period 1997-2006. We analyse the productivity differentials across urbanization categories by decomposing them into industry productivity effect and industry composition effect. Our analysis indicates that there is non-linear, inverted U-shape effect of agglomeration on productivity growth but in levels agglomeration is associated with higher productivity. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p231&r=eff |
| By: | Mercedes Teruel; Agustà Segarra |
| Abstract: | This paper draws on a sample of innovative Catalan firms to identify the effects of the two main sources of innovation —internal R&D and external R&D acquisition— on productivity in the manufacturing and service industries. The sample comprises a 3,267 firms from the CIS-4 for the years 2002-2004. We compare empirical results when applying usual OLS and quantile regression techniques. Our results suggest the different patterns attributable to the two sources of innovation as we move up from lower to higher conditional quantiles. First, the effect of the marginal effect of internal R&D on productivity in both sectors decreased as we moved up to higher productivity levels. Second, the marginal effect of external R&D acquisition increased as we moved up to higher productivity levels, especially in high-tech manufacturing industries. Our empirical results suggest that the link between internal and external R&D is complex, varying between firms’ productivity levels and between industries. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1860&r=eff |
| By: | Soushi Suzuki; Peter Nijkamp |
| Abstract: | In the spirit of the deregulation movement, Japan is also faced with an ÂgAsia Open SkyÂh agreement which favours aviation liberalization in international services. This means an end to Japan's aviation policy of isolation. In association with this policy change, also environmental concerns grew increasingly severe for small and local regional airports. Consequently, there is a need for an objective analysis of the efficiency of airport operations in Japan. A standard tool to judge the efficiency of such activities is Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). In the past years, much progress has been made to extend this approach in various directions. Interesting examples are the Distance Friction Minimization (DFM) model and the Context-Dependent (CD) model. The DFM model is based on a generalized distance friction function and serves to improve the performance of a Decision Making Unit (DMU) by identifying the most appropriate movement towards the efficiency frontier surface. Standard DEA models use a uniform input reduction in the improvement projections, but the DFM approach aims to enhance efficiency strategies by introducing a weighted projection function. This approach may address both input reduction and output increase as a strategy of a DMU. Likewise, the CD model yields efficient frontiers at different levels, while it is based on a level-by-level improvement projection. The Stepwise DFM model is an integration of the DFM and the CD model in order to design a stepwise efficiency-improving projection model for a conventional DEA. In general, a DEA model – and neither the mix of the DFM-CD model – doesnÂft take into account a fixed factor. Such a non-controllable of fixed factor may refer to a production factor that cannot be flexibly adjusted in the short run. In our study the newly integrated Stepwise DFM-CD model will be extended with a fixed factor model in order to adapt the DEA model to realistic circumstances in an efficiency improvement projection. The above-mentioned stepwise fixed factor projection model is illustrated on the basis of an application to the efficiency analysis of airport operations in Japan in light of the above mentioned contextual changes in aviation policy. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1065&r=eff |
| By: | Sofia Wixe |
| Abstract: | Increased productivity is one of the main drivers of economic growth. Considering the increasing importance of the service sector in many economies studies of productivity in service firms are essential, but still rare. Questions concerning the underlying reasons for productivity differences in service firms are therefore important. Why is the productivity in certain firms higher than in others and what are the possibilities for less-productive firms to increase their productivity levels? This paper aims to examine these issues with a particular focus on the importance of externalities. Externalities are defined as region-specific economic effects influencing firm efficiency. These externalities can be broadly divided in the following categories: i) urbanization economies which relate to diversity and density (Jacobs externalities), ii) localization economies which concern specialization and concentration (MAR externalities), iii) competition (Porter externalities), and iv) labor market externalities. The purpose of the paper is to explain the productivity levels of Swedish service firms using measures of these externalities. However, also firm specific characteristics, including characteristics of the workforce, are included. These are used both as control variables and to capture potential spillover effects that indirectly affect productivity through the employees. The characteristics of the workforce are essential to include since the employees have the potential to affect the way different firms absorb and use possible spillover effects. They are therefore a crucial component to channel externalities to the firm as a whole. This is the case especially for service firms since these are generally very labor intensive. The results of this study should be of interest to policy makers since they have the possibility to make decisions that contribute to more productive regional environments. This is also of interest to company leaders since they have the possibility to decide where to locate and how to structure their firms in order to take advantage of productivity enhancing externalities. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p754&r=eff |
| By: | Hans Lööf |
| Abstract: | Firms display persistent differences as regards both internal and external characteristics, and these differences correspond to asymmetries in the performance of firms with regard to productivity level and growth as well as innovativeness. This paper focuses on one internal characteristic and one external factor by distinguishing between firms with persistent R&D efforts and other firms and firms located in a metropolitan region versus firms with other locations. Applying Swedish data on individual firms and their location, the paper shows that firms that follow a strategy with persistent R&D efforts have a distinctly higher level of productivity across all types of location. In addition, the productivity level of firms with persistent R&D is augmented in a significant way when such firms have a metropolitan location and, in particular, a location in a metropolitan city |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1396&r=eff |
| By: | Dimitris Skuras; Kostas Tsekouras; Efthalia Dimara |
| Abstract: | The present work assess the effects of MAR and Jacob’s type agglomeration economies on a sample of firms in the machineries and textiles industries in Greece for the periods 1989-91 and 1999-01. The analysis employs a stochastic production frontier function and allows agglomeration economies to enter as inputs and/or as factors reducing inefficiency. Results re-confirm that the effects of agglomeration economies are industry specific. In our study, the machineries industry benefits from MAR type agglomeration economies and the textiles industry benefits from Jacob’s type agglomeration economies. Agglomeration economies may exercise a twin effect on firms’ productive efficiency. First, as in the case of the machineries industry in our study, MAR agglomeration economies may act as a new input and affect the kernel of the production frontier. Second, agglomeration economies may act as a factor reducing technical inefficiency with non-neutral effects with labour and capital as in the case of both the machineries and the textiles industries in our study. Finally, it is indicated that agglomeration economies establish a type of “path dependence†for firms. Firms that make significant use of agglomeration economies survive to the next period at higher percentages in comparison to other firms in the same industry. At the same time, entrants are favoured by MAR type agglomeration economies while incumbents are favoured by Jacob’s type agglomeration economies. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p696&r=eff |
| By: | Lycia M. G. Araujo; Guilherme M. R. Gomes; Solange M. Guerra; Benjamin M. Tabak |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this research is to evaluate the banking structure of the four major emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China - BRIC), and Latin American countries. We employ a stochastic frontier model to estimate the values of cost efficiency and compare these efficiency measures among these countries. Additionally, we assess the changes in efficiency due to the inclusion of non-traditional activities (non-interest income). The results show that the efficiency of these countries has increased in the recent period and that the inclusion of variable non-traditional activities increases average bank efficiency, with the exception of the banking system of Russia. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bcb:wpaper:252&r=eff |
| By: | Yolanda Pena-Boquete; Melchor Fernandez |
| Abstract: | Human capital and productive structure could account for an important part of the differences in productivity between Spanish regions; nevertheless we consider that gender wage discrimination could also have effects on it. The existence of a degree of discrimination means that there is a wage differential in which employer prefer to hire less productive workers instead of discriminated workers. Thus, the cost of producing a unit of product would be higher than the cost of producing without discrimination, i.e. discrimination could has effects on productivity. Based on Becker (1957) we develop a maximization problem with discrimination using an aggregate production function with constant elasticity of substitution (CES). As a result, we get a productivity function depending on discrimination and other traditional factors such as wages or production. Our results show that the discrimination growth hast a negative and significant effect on productivity for the Spanish regions. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1272&r=eff |
| By: | Raffaele Paci; Emanuela Marrocu; Stefano Usai |
| Abstract: | The recent history of Europe is characterized by a dual picture showing the Old and New countries in sharp contrast with respect to their industrial specialisation and economic performance. We aim at analyzing the intertwined performance of regions and industries in New and Old European economies by investigating the effects of local agglomeration externalities (mainly specialisation and diversity externalities) on total factor productivity dynamics. We also analyse the potential influence of regional intangible assets such as human and technological capital. The econometric analysis makes use of spatial econometric techniques to take into account the possibility of cross-border externalities. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p200&r=eff |
| By: | Broadberry, Stephen (London School of Economics; CAGE); Giordano, Claire (Banca d'Italia); Zollino, Francesco (Banca d'Italia) |
| Abstract: | Italy’s economic growth over its 150 years of unified history did not occur at a steady pace nor was it balanced across sectors. Relying on an entirely new input (labour and capital) database by us built and presented in the Appendix, together with new Banca d’Italia estimates of GDP by sector, this paper evaluates the different labour productivity growth trends within the Italian economy’s sectors, as well as the contribution of structural change to productivity growth. Italy’s performance is then set in an international context: a comparison of sectoral labour productivity growth rates and levels within a selected sample of countries (UK, US, Germany, Japan, India) allows us to better time, quantify and gauge the causes of Italy’s catching-up process and subsequent more recent slowdown. Finally, the paper analyses the proximate sources of Italy’s growth, relative to the other countries, in a standard growth accounting framework, in an attempt also to disentangle the contribution of both total factor productivity growth and capital deepening to the country’s labour productivity dynamics |
| Keywords: | Labour, productivity, sectoral disaagregation, international comparison growth,accounting |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:warwcg:61&r=eff |
| By: | Bienvenido Ortega |
| Abstract: | The first aim of this paper is to analyse the main tendencies in employment and regional labour productivity in the Spanish hospitality sector in the period 1987-2004. A second purpose is to analyse the main determinants of sectoral labour productivity. The estimation of an augmented production function is used to this end. This function includes, in addition to the main determinants of labour productivity, some variables linked with the evolution of technical progress in the sector, such as: the mean degree of tourism intensity, average size of establishments, number of hotels and its distribution by category. Besides this, in the empirical model are included a set of variables related to productive capacity utilisation, such as: average length of stay, number of overnight stays per regional bed capacity, and an indicator of regional demand seasonality. This study might allow assessing to what extent the surge of new hotels from 1995 contributed to explain the tendencies in aggregate productivity growth. Moreover, this paper would be useful to determine the main determinants of labour productivity as well as to design policy measures to increase productivity in the sector. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p151&r=eff |
| By: | Fernando Barreiro-Pereira |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT. The productivity generated by capital goods is not uniform along the time. When there exist conventional physical capital goods the productivity obtained is minor that the one generated by quality capital goods. To obtain a correct measure of growth in presence of this embodied technical progress there exist three schools: first, the traditional growth accounting school appears due to limitations existing in the measures in efficiency units of the quality of the real investment, because of the investment is not really comparable along the time. The analysis is based in to adjust the quality or productivity of the investment goods constructing hedonic prices indices. This school is represented among others by Hulten (1992), Jovanovic and Nyarko (1996), Bartelsman and Dhrymes (1998), and Gordon (1999). The second school analyzes the productivity using longitudinal micro-level data sets. The most important contributions of this school are Griliches and Ringstad (1971), Olley and Pakes (1996), Caves (1998), McGuckin and Stiroh (1999), and Tybout (2000). The third school is the equilibrium growth accounting school, which measures the balance growth by means of vintage capital models, being represented by Greenwood, Hercowitz and Krusell (1997), Campbell (1998), Hobijn (2000), and Comin (2002). The main aim of this paper is to analyze which are the effects of the two form of technical progress, neutral and directly embodied while capital is accumulated, on the economic growth and the labour productivity. The application has been made to compare the responsibility of the embodied technical progress on the economic growth and productivity during the period (1993-2009) in the most representative economies of the Commonwealth of Nations. The vintage capital model has been made taking quarterly and annual data to each country, coming from the OECD Statistics. We use multivariate time series and cointegration techniques, in special autoregressive integrated moving average and vector autoregressive models (VAR), and autoregressive distributed lags models (ARDL). Keywords: Endogenous technical progress, Vintage capital, Investment-specific technological change. JEL Class: O47, O57. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1677&r=eff |
| By: | Manfred M. Fischer; James P. LeSage |
| Abstract: | We develop an empirical approach to examine static and dynamic knowledge externalities in the context of a regional total factor productivity relationship. Static externalities refer to current period scale or industry-size effects which have been labeled localization externalities or region-size effects known as agglomeration externalities. Dynamic externalities refer to the relationship between accumulated or prior period knowledge and current levels of innovation, where past learning-by-doing makes innovation positively related to cumulative production over time. Our empirical specification allows for the presence of both static and dynamic externalities, and provides a way to assess the relative magnitude of spillovers associated with spillovers from these two types of knowledge externalities. The magnitude of own-region impacts and other-region (spillovers) can be assessed using scalar summary measures of the own- and cross-partial derivatives from the model. We find evidence supporting the presence of dynamic externalities as well as static, and our estimates suggest that dynamic externalities may have a larger magnitude of impact than static externalities. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p31&r=eff |
| By: | Michaela Fuchs |
| Abstract: | The question whether agglomeration effects are of importance for regional development has a long tradition in regional science. This paper asks if regional characteristics and specifically ag-glomeration effects influence the performance of plants in Germany and, if so, in which direction. Hence, we aim at contributing to the still sparse empirical studies in this field of research by adding three aspects to the existing evidence. First, we provide the first plant-level evidence on regional agglomeration effects for Germany. Second, while earlier papers looked only at few sectors of the economy or only at manufacturing, we extend our analysis to the services sector. Finally, we are among the first who identify agglomeration effects while controlling for the internal structure of the establishments using a rich set of plant characteristics that are likely to influence productivity. To this end we estimate plant-level production functions augmented by regional characteristics and controlling in detail for plant-specific features. The analysis is conducted both within a static and a dynamic panel framework. We use the IAB Establishment Panel, a large-scale German establishment survey covering around 16,000 estab-lishments each year. In the static framework we find support for the positive impact of localization economies and market size, while urbanization seems to have a negative influence. Results for the dynamic models are rather inconclusive. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p912&r=eff |
| By: | Christian Sommeregger; Christoph Hammer; Daniel Bekesi; Matthias Koch |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to analyze the impact of knowledge and knowledge spillovers on regional total factor productivity (TFP) in Europe. Regional patent stocks are used as a proxy for knowledge, and TFP is measured in terms of a superlative index. We follow Fischer et. al (2008) by using a spatial-spillover model and a data set covering 203 regions for six time periods. In order to estimate the impact of knowledge stocks we use a spatial autoregressive model with random effects, which allows for three kinds of spatial dependence: Spatial correlation in the innovations, the exogenous and the endogenous variables. The results suggest that there is a significant positive impact of knowledge on regional TFP levels, and that knowledge spills over to neighboring regions. These spillovers decay exponentially with distance at a rate of 8%. Using Monte Carlo simulations we calculate the distribution of direct and indirect effects. The average elasticity of a region's TFP with respect to its own knowledge stock is 0.2 and highly significant. The average effect of all other regions' TFP is about 50% higher, which confirms that the cross-country externalities are important in the measuring of the impact. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p727&r=eff |
| By: | Marcello Pagnini; Valter Di Giacinto; Giacinto Micucci; Matteo Gomellini |
| Abstract: | In this paper we compare the magnitude of local productivity advantages associated to two different spatial concentration patterns in Italy, i.e. urban areas (UA) and industrial districts (ID). UA typically display a huge concentration of population and host a wide range of economic activities, while ID are located outside UA and exhibit a strong concentration of small firms producing relatively homogenous goods. We use a very large sample of Italian manufacturing firms observed over the 1995-2006 period and resort to a wide set of econometric techniques in order to test the robustness of main empirical findings. We detect local productivity advantages for both UA and ID. However, firms located in UA attain a larger Total Factor Productivity (TFP) premium than those operating within ID. Besides, it turns out that the advantages of ID have declined over time, while those of UA remained stable. Differences in the white-blue collars composition of the local labor force appear to explain only a minor fraction of the estimated spatial TFP differentials. Production workers (blue collars) turn out to be more productive in ID, while non-production workers (white collars) are more efficiently employed in UA. By analyzing the quantiles of the sample TFP distribution, we document how higher average TFP levels within UA do not seem to be mainly driven by a selection effect pushing less efficient firms out of the market. Rather, a firm sorting effect appears to stand out, suggesting that more productive firms gain strong benefits from locating in UA. On the whole, our analysis raises the question whether Italian ID are less fit than UA to prosper in a changing world, characterized by increased globalization and by the growing use of information technologies. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1806&r=eff |
| By: | Benjamin M. Tabak; Giovana L. Craveiro; Daniel O. Cajueiro |
| Abstract: | Periods of Financial Stability are associated to low bank efficiency and high non-performing loans in credit portfolios. Therefore, this paper studies the relationship between bank efficiency and non-performing loans. To evaluate the bank efficiency, we employ a Data Envelopment Analysis. We employ the Arelano-Bond dynamic panel approach and a panel-VAR to test whether non-performing loans Granger cause bank efficiency (bad luck hypothesis) or whether bank efficiency affects loan quality (management with risk aversion). Empirical results for the Brazilian case corroborate the second hypothesis. |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bcb:wpaper:253&r=eff |
| By: | Dariusz Wozniak; Piotr Czarnecki; Robert Szarota |
| Abstract: | Since 1999 – when the new administrative division in Poland was introduced – it has been possible to measure and compare standard of living between Polish and other European regions (NUTS II). In 2004 Poland has joined the European Union. Since that year voivodships have become main beneficiaries of the EU funds. The essential part of that aid is related to the EU cohesion policy (convergence objective). According to the fifth cohesion report “cohesion policy has made a significant contribution to spreading growth and prosperity across the Union, while reducing economic, social and territorial disparitiesâ€. However, the differences in standard of living still remains significant between countries as well as between regions within one country. In many researches the level of welfare is measured using “classic†indicators (GDP per capita, GNI per capita, unemployment rate, etc.). In this paper the authors focus on the regional economies’ efficiency. The efficiency will be measured using the Data Envelopment Analysis. Due to the method used, the efficiency will be measured as relative in nature, i.e. will be compared between voivodships within the period of research. The goal of the paper is to analyze variety of relative voivodships’ efficiency in order to answer the question if the dispersion in efficiency is increasing or decreasing over time. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p925&r=eff |
| By: | Yeung, Luciana; Azevedo, Paulo Furquim |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ibm:ibmecp:wpe_251&r=eff |
| By: | Raphaël Chiappini (Larefi - Laboratoire d'analyse et de recherche en économie et finance internationales - Université Montesquieu - Bordeaux IV : EA2954) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of offshoring on export performances of French, German and Italian automotive firms. We argue that the different offshoring strategies run by the main European automakers are responsible for the discrepancies in export performances of France, Germany and Italy on the world automotive market. We use an export equation and a panel data analysis and show that offshoring strongly affect exports of automotive firms. Focussing on the French and German export performances, we show that the relatively low export performance of France in the automotive industry since the end of the 1990s is mainly the result of an increase in offshoring lead by Renault and PSA. |
| Keywords: | Offshoring, export performance, automotive industry |
| Date: | 2011–06–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00637603&r=eff |
| By: | Charlie Weir (Aberdeen Business School); Oleksandr Talavera (Durham Business School); Alexander Muravyev (IZA and St. Petersburg University GSOM) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the relationship between directors’ human capital and the company’s performance. In particular, we focus on the effect on performance of non-executive directors who are also executive directors in other firms. We find a positive relationship between the presence of these non-executive directors and the accounting performance of the appointing company. The effect is stronger if these directors are also executive directors at companies that are performing well. Additionally, the similarity of industry plays a role. The results support the view that appointing firms benefit from the human capital of the appointee. |
| Keywords: | human capital, executive directors, non-executive directors, company performance |
| JEL: | G34 G39 |
| Date: | 2011–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dur:durham:2011_12&r=eff |