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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2012‒01‒03
twenty papers chosen by |
| By: | Halkos, George; Tzeremes, Nickolaos |
| Abstract: | This paper applies a probabilistic approach in order to develop conditional and unconditional Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models for the measurement of sectors’ input oriented technical and scale efficiency levels for a sample of 23 Greek manufacturing sectors. In order to capture the Averch and Johnson effect (A-J effect), we measure sectors’ efficiency levels conditioned on the number of companies competing within the sectors. Particularly, various DEA models have been applied alongside with bootstrap techniques in order to determine the effect of competition conditions on sectors’ inefficiency levels. Additionally, this study illustrates how the recent developments in efficiency analysis and statistical inference can be applied when evaluating the effect of regulations in an industry. The results reveal that sectors with fewer numbers of companies appear to have greater scale and technical inefficiencies due to the existence of the A-J effect. |
| Keywords: | Averch-Johnson effect; Industry regulations; Manufacturing sectors; Nonparametric analysis |
| JEL: | L25 C14 L10 L59 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35491&r=eff |
| By: | Philippe K. Widmer; Peter Zweifel; Mehdi Farsi |
| Abstract: | With prospective payment of hospitals becoming more common, measuring their performance is gaining in importance. However, the standard cost frontier model yields biased efficiency scores because it ignores technological heterogeneity between hospitals. In this paper, efficiency scores are derived from a random intercept and an extended random parameter frontier model, designed to overcome the problem of unobserved heterogeneity in stochastic frontier analysis. Using a sample of 100 Swiss hospitals covering the years 2004 to 2007 and applying Bayesian inference, significant heterogeneity is found, suggesting rejection of the standard cost frontier model. Estimated inefficiency decreases even below the 14 percent reported by Hollingsworth (2008) for European countries. Accounting for unobserved heterogeneity would make hospitals rated below 85 percent efficiency according to the standard model gain up to 12 percentage points, serving to highlight the importance of heterogeneity correction in the estimation of hospital performance. |
| Keywords: | Hospital efficiency, unobserved heterogeneity, Bayesian inference, Switzerland, stochastic frontier analysis |
| JEL: | C11 C33 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:econwp:052&r=eff |
| By: | Maria Olivares (University of Zuerich, Department of Business Administration, Switzerland); Heike Wetzel (University of Cologne, Institute of Energy Economics, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Since the late 1990s, the European higher education system has had to face deep structural changes. With the public authorities seeking to create an environment of quasi-markets in the higher education sector, the increased competition induced by recent reforms has pushed all publicly financed higher education institutions to use their resources more efficiently. Higher education institutions increasingly now aim at differentiating themselves from their competitors in terms of the range of outputs they produce. Assuming that different market positioning strategies will have different effects on the performance of higher education institutions, this paper explores the existence of economies of scale and scope in the German higher education sector. Using an input-oriented distance function approach, we estimate the economies of scale and scope and the technical efficiency for 154 German higher education institutions from 2001 through 2007. Our results suggest that comprehensive universities should indeed orientate their activities to the concept of a full-university that combines teaching and research activities across a broad range of subjects. In contrast, praxis-oriented small and medium-sized universities of applied sciences should specialise in the teaching and research activities they conduct. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education Production, Economies of Scale and Scope, Technical Efficiency, Stochastic Frontier Analysis, Input Distance Function |
| JEL: | L25 I23 D24 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lue:wpaper:223&r=eff |
| By: | Arimoto, Yutaka; Nakajima, Kentaro; Okazaki, Tetsuji |
| Abstract: | We examine two sources of productivity improvement in the specialized industrial clusters. Agglomeration improves the roductivity of each plant through positive externalities, shifting plant-level productivity distribution to the right. Selection expels less productive plants through competition, truncating distribution on the left. By analyzing the data of the early twentieth century Japanese silk-reeling industry, we find no evidence confirming a right shift in the distribution in clusters or that gglomeration promotes faster productivity growth. These findings imply that the plant-selection effect was the source of higher productivity in the Japanese silk-reeling clusters. |
| Keywords: | Economic geography, Heterogeneous firms, Selection, Productivity |
| JEL: | R12 O18 L10 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hitcei:2011-10&r=eff |
| By: | Juan A. Mañez (Universidad de Valencia and ERICES); María E. Rochina-Barrachina (Universidad de Valencia and ERICES); Amparo Sanchis (Universidad de Valencia and ERICES); Juan A. Sanchis (Universidad de Valencia and ERICES) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we explore in depth the effect of process innovations on total factor productivity growth for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), taking into account the potential endogeneity problem that may be caused by self selection into these activities. First, we analyse whether the ex-ante most productive SMEs are those that start introducing process innovations; then, we test whether process innovations boost SMEs productivity growth using matching techniques to control for the possibility that selection into introducing process innovations may not be a random process. We use a sample of Spanish manufacturing SMEs for the period 1991-2002, drawn from the Encuesta sobre Estrategias Empresariales. Our results show that the introduction of process innovations yields an extra productivity growth, and that the life span of this extra productivity growth lasts for only one period. |
| Keywords: | Process innovations, TFP, stochastic dominance, matching techniques |
| JEL: | C14 C21 D24 L1 L25 O3 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:1125&r=eff |
| By: | Carlsson, Mikael (Research Department, Sveriges Riksbank); Messin, Julián (Office of the Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean,); Nordström Skans, Oskar (Uppsala Center for Labor Studies) |
| Abstract: | We study how workers’ wages respond to TFP-driven innovations in firms’labor productivity. Using unique data with highly reliable firm-level output prices and quantities in the manufacturing sector in Sweden, we are able to derive measures of physical (as opposed to revenue) TFP to instrument labor productivity in the wage equations. We find that the reaction of wages to sectoral labor productivity is almost three times larger than the response to pure idiosyncratic (firm-level) shocks, a result which crucially hinges on the use of physical TFP as an instrument. These results are all robust to a number of empirical specifications, including models accounting for selection on both the demand and supply side through worker-firm (match) fixed effects. Further results suggest that technological progress at the firm level has negligible effects on the firm-level composition of employees. |
| Keywords: | Matched employer-employee data; sorting; wage; labor productivity; TFP |
| JEL: | J23 J31 J33 |
| Date: | 2011–05–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:uulswp:2011_014&r=eff |
| By: | Péter Harasztosi (Magyar Nemzeti Bank (central bank of Hungary)) |
| Abstract: | This paper relates firm level input changes and productivity to aggregate growth of the Hungarian economy for the period 1992 to 2008. The decomposition includes manufacturing, services, agriculture and construction. Results suggest that the role of firm productivity in growth was not stable over time. It played important role in early transition and in the pre-crisis period. Inputs show an initially positive then, after 2001, decreasing contribution to growth. At the same time input reallocation shows a decreasing trend in Hungary. |
| Keywords: | growth decomposition, productivity, reallocation, firm level data |
| JEL: | O47 D24 L25 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mnb:wpaper:2011/12&r=eff |
| By: | William Latham (Department of Economics, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711, USA); Christian Le Bas (Université de Lyon, Lyon, F-69007, France ; CNRS, GATE Lyon St Etienne,F-69130 Ecully, France); Dmitry Volodin (Department of Economics, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711, USA) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to provide new insights into (1) the determinants of the value of inventions and (2) the role that mobility plays in the behavior of prolific inventors, whom we identify based on the number of patents exceeding a threshold of productivity. We examine mobility in two dimensions : from firm to firm (inter-firm) and from one technical field to another. We exploit data on patents filed by inventors from five countries (France, the UK, Germany, the US and Japan) in the US Patent and Trademark office during the period from 1975 to 2002. From our regressions we obtain a rich set of results. In particular we show that : (1) as predicted by evolutionary theory, inventor productivity is a positive determinant of invention value, (2) inter-firm mobility is a consistently positive determinant of productivity and (3) technological mobility is a negative determinant. The last implies that the more specialized an inventor is, the higher his productivity is. |
| Keywords: | prolific inventor, mobility, productivity, value of invention |
| JEL: | O31 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:1133&r=eff |
| By: | Yamamura, Eiji |
| Abstract: | We investigated whether natural disasters enhance efficiency improvement, capital accumulation, and technological progress. Furthermore, we examined whether the influence of natural disasters depends on the legal origin. By using long-term panel data, this paper decomposes productivity growth measured by the growth of output per labor unit into three components: efficiency improvement, capital accumulation, and technological progress. After controlling for countries’ specific unobservable characteristics and year-specific effects, we found that the impacts of natural disasters vary according to specifications. Natural disasters enhance capital accumulation and technological progress in non-French-civil-law countries, but have no effect in these areas in French-civil-law countries. |
| Keywords: | Institution; DEA; Natural disaster |
| JEL: | Q54 O14 B15 |
| Date: | 2011–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35537&r=eff |
| By: | Philippe K. Widmer |
| Abstract: | Several European countries have followed the United States in introducing prospective payment for hospitals with the expectation of achieving cost efficiency gains. This article examines whether theoretical expectations of cost efficiency gains can be empirically confirmed. In contrast to previous studies, the analysis of Switzerland provides a comparison of a retrospective per diem payment system with a prospective global budget and a payment per patient case system. Using a sample of approximately 90 public financed Swiss hospitals during the years 2004 to 2009 and Bayesian inference of a standard and a random parameter frontier model, cost efficiency gains are found, particularly with a payment per patient case system. Payment systems designed to put hospitals at operating risk are more effective than retrospective payment systems. However, hospitals are heterogeneous with respect to their production technologies, making a random parameter frontier model the superior specification for Switzerland. |
| Keywords: | Hospital inefficiency, prospective payment system, Bayesian inference, stochastic frontier analysis |
| JEL: | C11 C23 D24 I18 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:econwp:053&r=eff |
| By: | Sean Dougherty; Verónica C. Frisancho Robles; Kala Krishna |
| Abstract: | Using plant-level data from the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) for the fiscal years from 1998-99 through 2007-08, this study provides plant-level cross-state/time-series evidence of the impact of employment protection legislation (EPL) on total factor productivity (TFP) and labor productivity in India. Identification of the effect of EPL follows from a difference-in-differences estimator inspired by Rajan and Zingales (1998) that takes advantage of the state-level variation in labor regulation and heterogeneous industry characteristics. The fundamental identification assumption is that EPL is more likely to restrict firms operating in industries with higher labor intensity and/or higher sales volatility. Our results show that firms in labor intensive or more volatile industries benefited the most from labor reforms in their states. Our point estimates indicate that, on average, firms in labor intensive industries and in flexible labor markets have TFP residuals 14% higher than those registered for their counterparts in states with more stringent labor laws. However, no important differences are identified among plants in industries with low labor intensity when comparing states with high and low levels of EPL reform. Similarly, the TFP of plants in volatile industries and in states that experienced more pro-employer reforms is 11% higher than that of firms in volatile industries and in more restrictive states; however, the TFP residuals of plants in industries with low labor intensity are 11% lower in high EPL reform states than in states with lower levels of EPL reform. In sum, the evidence presented here suggests that the high labor costs and rigidities imposed through Indian federal labor laws are lessened by labor market reforms at the state level. |
| JEL: | D24 F16 J5 J8 K31 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17693&r=eff |
| By: | Yue Ma (Lingnan University); Heiwai Tang (Tufts University, Centro Studi Luca d\'Agliano and MIT Sloan); Yifan Zhang (Lingnan University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the causal relations between firms’ productivity, factor intensity and export participation. Using propensity score matching techniques and firm-level panel data for Chinese manufacturing firms over the 1998-2007 period, we find strong evidence of domestic firms self-selecting into export markets with higher productivity ex ante, and enhanced productivity ex post. No such pattern is observed among foreign-invested .rms. We also find that both domestic and foreign new exporters exploit China’s low labor costs and specialize in their core competence, that is, firms become less capital-intensive after exporting, relative to the matched non-exporting counterparts in the same industry. To rationalize these results that contrast with most findings in the existing literature, we develop a variant of the multi-product model of Bernard, Redding, and Schott (2010) to consider varying capital intensity across products. Using transaction-level export data, we find evidence that Chinese exporters add new products that are more labor-intensive than existing products and drop products that are less labor-intensive, supporting the model predictions. Firms with a bigger decline in capital intensity after exporting are found to have a larger increase in measured TFP. |
| Keywords: | Exporters; Productivity; Factor Intensity; Multi-product Firms |
| JEL: | F11 L16 O53 |
| Date: | 2011–12–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:324&r=eff |
| By: | Sean Dougherty; Verónica Frisancho Robles; Kala Krishna |
| Abstract: | Using plant-level data from the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) for the fiscal years from 1998-99 through 2007-08, this study provides plant-level cross-state/time-series evidence of the impact of employment protection legislation (EPL) on total factor productivity (TFP) and labour productivity in India. Identification of the effect of EPL follows from a difference-in-differences estimator inspired by Rajan and Zingales (1998) that takes advantage of the state-level variation in labour regulation and heterogeneous industry characteristics. The fundamental identification assumption is that EPL is more likely to restrict firms operating in industries with higher labour intensity and/or higher sales volatility. Our results show that firms in labour intensive or more volatile industries benefited the most from labour reforms in their states. Our point estimates indicate that, on average, firms in labour intensive industries and in flexible labour markets have TFP residuals 14% higher than those registered for their counterparts in states with more stringent labour laws. However, no important differences are identified among plants in industries with low labour intensity when comparing states with high and low levels of EPL reform. Similarly, the TFP of plants in volatile industries and in states that experienced more pro-employer reforms is 11% higher than that of firms in volatile industries and in more restrictive states; however, the TFP residuals of plants in industries with low labour intensity are 11% lower in high EPL reform states than in states with lower levels of EPL reform. In sum, the evidence presented here suggests that the high labour costs and rigidities imposed through Indian federal labour laws are lessened by labour market reforms at the state level.<P>La législation sur la protection de l'emploi et la productivité des entreprises en Inde<BR>À l’aide de données au niveau des entreprises, tirées de l’enquête annuelle sur les industries (ASI) pour l’ensemble des exercices comptables entre 1998-99 et 2007-08, cette étude présente des séries chronologiques pour des États indiens mettant en lumière l’incidence de la législation sur la protection de l’emploi (LPE) sur la productivité totale des facteurs (PTF) et la productivité du travail dans les entreprises indiennes. L’incidence de la LPE est déterminée à partir d’un estimateur de la différence des différences inspiré de Rajan et Zingales (1998), qui tire parti des différences de réglementation au niveau des États et des caractéristiques hétérogènes des secteurs d’activité. L’hypothèse de base retenue pour la détermination de l’incidence est que la LPE est plus susceptible de peser sur les entreprises exerçant leurs activités dans un secteur à forte intensité de main-d’oeuvre et/ou dont la volatilité des ventes est élevée. Nos résultats montrent que les entreprises relevant de secteurs à forte intensité de main-d’oeuvre ou plus volatils sont celles qui ont le plus tiré profit des réformes du marché du travail mises en place dans leurs États. Nos évaluations de point indiquent qu’en moyenne, les entreprises de secteurs à forte intensité de main-d’oeuvre et évoluant dans un marché du travail flexible affichent, pour la PTF, des chiffres résiduels supérieurs de 14 % à ceux de leurs homologues implantées dans des États dont la législation sur le travail est plus stricte. Toutefois, aucun écart important n’a été décelé entre les entreprises de secteurs à faible intensité de main-d’oeuvre lorsque l’on compare les États qui ont peu et beaucoup réformé leur LPE. De même, la PTF des entreprises de secteurs volatils implantées dans des États ayant imposé des réformes plus favorables aux employeurs est supérieure de 11 % à celle des entreprises de secteurs volatils implantées dans des États plus restrictifs. Cependant, les chiffres résiduels de la PTF des entreprises exerçant leurs activités dans des secteurs à faible intensité de main-d’oeuvre sont inférieurs de 11 % dans les États ayant beaucoup réformé leur LPE par rapport à ceux qui ont peu réformé leur législation dans ce domaine. En conclusion, les éléments présentés ici donnent à penser que les effets des coûts élevés du travail et des rigidités imposées par la législation fédérale indienne sur l’emploi sont atténués par les réformes du marché du travail mises en oeuvre au niveau des États. |
| Keywords: | total factor productivity, labour regulation, state-level reforms, difference-in-differences, firm heterogeneity, productivité totale des facteurs, réglementation du travail, réformes au niveau des États, différence des différences, hétérogénéité des entreprises |
| JEL: | D24 F16 J5 J8 K31 |
| Date: | 2011–12–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:917-en&r=eff |
| By: | Liwen, Chen (Renmin University of China); Zeng, Xiangquan (Renmin University of China); Yumei, Yang (Renmin University of China) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to estimate how well China’s urban areas absorb migrant workers under the interaction of urbanization and industrialization. We applied an output-oriented BCC model to evaluate provincial and regional rural labor absorption efficiency in mainland China. It appears that 4 out of 31 provinces and municipals are efficient, and 2 out of 8 economic regions are efficient in absorbing migrant workers. In the southern and eastern parts of China, urban labor absorption efficiency is higher compared with the western and northern parts of China. Different urbanization patterns and industrial development strategies should be adopted in different economic areas to enhance labor absorption ability in these areas. Urban areas in many parts of China still have potential to accommodate rural migrant workers. The inter-regional flow of production factors would affect urban labor absorption efficiency. |
| Keywords: | rural labor absorption in urban areas, urbanization, industry structure, DEA |
| JEL: | J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6189&r=eff |
| By: | Baldwin, John R.<br/> Gu, Wulong<br/> Yan, Beiling |
| Abstract: | Labour productivity growth in the Canadian business sector slowed substantially after 2000. Most of the slowdown occurred in the manufacturing sector. This paper examines how this slowdown was associated with the restructuring that occurred in manufacturing as a result of the increase in excess capacity, the dramatic increase in the Canada-U.S. exchange rate and a slowdown in export growth. |
| Keywords: | Business performance and ownership, Manufacturing, Travel and tourism, Economic accounts, International travel, Productivity accounts |
| Date: | 2011–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp5e:2011075e&r=eff |
| By: | Sun, Churen; Tian, Guoqiang; Zhang, Tao |
| Abstract: | This paper realizes the Melitz-Pareto model using firm-level data from 40 Chinese manufacturing industries from 1998 and 2007. Under the hypothesis that the productivity of firms in each industry follows a Pareto distribution, we show that the domestic sales of non-exporters and the foreign sales of exporters in each industry also follow a Pareto distribution, respectively. We then estimate industrial productivity Pareto distributions, and cut-offs of domestic sales of non-exporters and foreign sales of exporters for each industry. Together this yields all the parameters of the Melitz-Pareto model. Our result shows that the Melitz-Pareto model may not fully apply to Chinese firms. |
| Keywords: | Melitz-Pareto model; Pareto distribution; productivity heterogeneity; export |
| JEL: | D23 F12 |
| Date: | 2011–10–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35597&r=eff |
| By: | Fungacova, Zuzana (BOFIT); Herrala, Risto (BOFIT); Weill, Laurent (BOFIT) |
| Abstract: | This study examines how bank ownership influenced the credit supply during the recent financial crisis in Russia, where the banking sector consists of a mix of state-controlled banks, foreign-owned banks, and domestic private banks. To estimate credit supply changes, we employ an exhaustive dataset for Russian banks that covers the crisis period and apply an original approach based on stochastic frontier analysis. Our findings suggest bank ownership affected credit supply during the financial crisis and that the crisis led to an overall decrease in the credit supply. Relative to domestic private banks foreign-owned banks reduced their credit supply more and state-controlled banks less. This supports the hypothesis that foreign banks have a “lack of loyalty” to domestic actors during a crisis, as well as the view that an objective function of state-controlled banks leads them to support the economy during economic downturns. |
| Keywords: | bank; credit policy; foreign ownership; state ownership; stochastic frontier analysis |
| JEL: | D14 G21 |
| Date: | 2011–12–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2011_034&r=eff |
| By: | Kleinhanß, Werner; Offermann, Frank; Butault, Jean-Pierre; Surry, Yves |
| Abstract: | This study summarizes cost estimates based on the EU Farm Accountancy Data Network using the General Cost of Production Model, developed, applied and tested within the FACEPA project. Results are provided for wheat, pigs and milk for the main producer countries of the EU for the period 1999 to 2007. Estimated input-output coefficients are generally based on monetary figures, expressing cost shares referring to total output. Effects of scale, specialization and location can be derived by estimates based on respective sub-samples. Costs per unit are derived based on input-output coefficients and output values, providing costs per hectare or ton for wheat and per ton of milk. There is a considerable variation between Member States not only of production costs, but also of output, and output plus subsidies (due to the national implementations of full or partially decoupling schemes), especially for wheat and milk. -- |
| Keywords: | econometric analysis,production costs |
| JEL: | C39 Q12 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vtiaba:072011&r=eff |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lüneburg); Weche Gelübcke, John Philipp (Leuphana University Lüneburg) |
| Abstract: | This paper documents the relationship between foreign ownership and firm survival for enterprises in Germany using unique tailor-made new representative data that merge information from surveys performed by the Statistical Offices, from administrative data collected by the Tax Authorities and from a commercial data provider. It contributes to the literature by providing the first evidence on the role of foreign ownership for firm survival in Germany, one of the most important destination countries for foreign direct investments. Our micro-econometric analysis reveals a ceteris paribus higher risk of exit for foreign owned firms in West Germany but not in East Germany. |
| Keywords: | foreign ownership, firm survival, Germany |
| JEL: | F23 L60 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6207&r=eff |
| By: | Silvio Daidone (Centre for Health Economics, University of York, UK); Andrew Street (Centre for Health Economics, University of York, UK) |
| Abstract: | We were commissioned by the Department of Health’s Payment by Results (PbR) team to use 2009/10 data update the analysis we performed using 2008/9 data to estimate the marginal costs of providing specialised care (Daidone and Street, 2011). The objectives of the original work were to investigate: 1. Whether the costs associated with specialised activity are significantly different from nonspecialised activity within the same HRG; 2. Whether any differences in costs between specialised and non-specialised activity are due to differences in productive efficiency. The objective of the update is: 1. To see whether the results obtained on the 2008-09 data are robust to 2009-10 data. 2. To investigate whether there is a case for differentiating payment on the basis of marginal cost differences arising when patients transferred between providers. |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chy:respap:71cherp&r=eff |