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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2013‒05‒05
ten papers chosen by |
| By: | Qazi, Ahmar Qasim; Zhao, Yulin |
| Abstract: | The study employs the panel data of 15 hi-tech industries over the period of 2000-2010 in order to examine the effectiveness of R&D with respect to productivity change and indentify the significant contributing factors with intensity in the Chinese hi-tech sector. The Malmquist Productivity Indexes are calculated by using the non-parametric programming technique and censored regression model is applied to conduct the empirical investigation. We find that on average, the sector is confronting productivity deterioration which is mainly due to the technical inefficiency. The Office Equipments industry has the highest productivity gain in our sample at the rate of, on average, 3.7% per year and all of which is caused by technical change. Furthermore, the electronic components industry is found to be the most efficient industry in the sector that drives an industry to have productivity progress on average, of 1.7% per year over the study period. At last, Tobit results indicate that spillovers through FDI and technology import are having significant and positive effect on the productivity progress. |
| Keywords: | Productivity Growth;DEA;Tobit Model |
| JEL: | C34 C61 D24 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:46589&r=eff |
| By: | Holden, Stein (Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences) |
| Abstract: | The paper uses three years of household farm plot panel data (2006-2009), covering six districts in central and southern Malawi to assess factor productivity and farming system development under the input subsidy program. All farm plots of the households were measured with GPS. Maize production intensified in this period as maize area shares of the total farm size were reduced while input use intensity and yields increased. Yields of improved maize were significantly (+323 kg/ha) higher than for local maize. Improved maize seeds were used on only half of the maize plots that received subsidized fertilizer causing fertilizer use inefficiency. |
| Keywords: | Maize; Malawi; improved varieties; input subsidies; fertilizer use efficiency; land productivity; farming system changes |
| JEL: | Q16 Q18 |
| Date: | 2013–04–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nlsclt:2013_004&r=eff |
| By: | Filomena Pietrovito (University of Molise); Alberto Franco Pozzolo (University of Molise, Centro Studi Luca d’Agliano, MoFiR and CASMEF); Luca Salvatici (Roma Tre University) |
| Abstract: | Trade theory traces back different patterns of internationalization to heterogeneity between firms, measured both through differences in productivity levels and size. In this paper we analyze the link-between heterogeneity within sectors and internationalization choices, namely trade and foreign di-rect investments (FDI) for a large sample of countries and industries between 1994 and 2004. The focus of our paper is on the role played by average productivity level and the distribution of firms by size in explaining differences across sectors and countries in the extensive margin of internatio-nalization (i.e., the number of foreign nations where firms from a given sector and country have ex-panded abroad). By performing an ordered probit analysis, and controlling for other factors affect-ing the patterns of internationalization, we confirm that industries with higher productivity levels and with a distribution of firms shifted toward large firms are more prone to internationalize in for-eign markets through both trade and FDI. Moreover, the relative impact of average productivity and firm size on FDI is larger than that on trade. These results are robust to different measures of prod-uctivity and the distribution of firms. |
| Keywords: | exports, FDI, mergers and acquisitions, productivity, distribution of firms, ordered probit |
| JEL: | D24 F10 F14 F20 F23 |
| Date: | 2013–04–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:349&r=eff |
| By: | Antonio Accetturo (Bank of Italy); Valter Di Giacinto (Bank of Italy); Giacinto Micucci (Bank of Italy); Marcello Pagnini (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | Two main hypotheses are usually put forward to explain the productivity advantages of larger cities: agglomeration economies and firm selection. Combes et al. (2012) propose an empirical approach to disentangle these two effects and fail to find any impact of selection on local productivity differences. We theoretically show that selection effects do emerge when asymmetric trade and entry costs and different spatial scale at which agglomeration and selection may work are properly taken into account. The empirical findings confirm that agglomeration effects play a major role. However, they also show a substantial increase in the importance of the selection effect when asymmetric trade costs and a different spatial scale are taken into account. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration economies, firm selection, market size, entry costs, openness to trade |
| JEL: | C52 R12 D24 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_910_13&r=eff |
| By: | Raquel Ortega-Argilés (IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research, Instituto Superior Técnico); Mariacristina Piva (DISCE, Università Cattolica); Marco Vivarelli (DISCE, Università Cattolica) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between a firm's R&D expenditures considered as an investment in knowledge, and its productivity, looking at sectoral peculiarities which may emerge; to this end, we use a large unique longitudinal database consisting of 1,809 US and European manufacturing and service firms over the period 1990-2008, for a total of 16,079 observations. Our main findings can be summarised as follows: knowledge stock has a significant positive impact on a firm's productivity, with an overall elasticity of about 0.10; this general result is largely consistent with findings presented in previous literature in terms of the sign, the significance and the estimated magnitude of the relevant coefficient. More interestingly, the coefficient turns out to be significantly larger in the service and high-tech sectors than in the non-high-tech manufacturing sectors. These outcomes suggest that firms in high-tech sectors are still ahead in terms of the impact on productivity of their R&D investments; moreover, a shift in favour of the service sectors seems to emerge. |
| Keywords: | R&D; Productivity; Knowledge stock; Panel data |
| JEL: | O33 L25 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie2:dises1390&r=eff |
| By: | Lundgren, Tommy (CERE, Centre for Environmental and Resource Economics); Marklund, Per-Olov (CERUM, Centre for Regional Science); Samakovlis, Eva (National Institute of Economic Research); Zhou, Wenchao (CERUM, Centre for Regional Science) |
| Abstract: | How to significantly decrease carbon dioxide emissions has become one of the largest challenges faced by modern society. The standard recipe prescribed by most economists is to put a price on carbon, either through a tax or through emissions trading. Such measures can reduce emissions cost-effectively and create incentives for technological development. There is, however, a growing concern that the carbon prices generated through the European Union emission trading system (EU ETS) have been too low to create the incentives necessary to stimulate technological development. This paper empirically analyzes how the Swedish carbon dioxide tax and the EU ETS have affected productivity development in the Swedish pulp and paper industry 1998-2008. A Luenberger total factor productivity (TFP) indicator is computed using data envelopment analysis. How the policy measures affect TFP is assessed using a system generalized method of moments estimator. The results show that climate policy had a modest impact on technological development in the pulp and paper industry, and if significant it has been negative. The price on fossil fuels, on the contrary, seems to have created important incentives for technological development. Hence, results suggest that the carbon prices faced by the industry through EU ETS and the carbon dioxide tax have been too low. |
| Keywords: | CO2 tax; EU ETS; Luenberger productivity indicator; GMM |
| JEL: | D22 D24 Q54 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2013–05–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:slucer:2013_004&r=eff |
| By: | Dall'Olio, Andrea; Iootty, Mariana; Kaneira, Naoto; Saliola, Federica |
| Abstract: | This paper tests whether structural or firm-specific characteristics contributed more to (labor) productivity growth in the European Union between 2003 and 2008. It combines the Amadeus firm-level data on productivity and firm characteristics with country-level data describing regulatory environments from the World Bank's Doing Business surveys, foreign direct investment data from Eurostat, infrastructure quality assessments from the Global Competitiveness Report, and credit availability from the World Development Indicators. It finds that among the 12 newest members of the European Union, country characteristics are most important for firm productivity growth, particularly the stock of inward foreign direct investment and the availability of credit. By contrast, among the more developed 15 elder European Union member countries, firm-level characteristics, such as industry, size, and international affiliation, are most important for growth. The quality of the regulatory environment, measured by Doing Business indicators, is importantly correlated with productivity growth in all cases. This finding suggests that European Union nations can realize significant benefits from improving regulations and encouraging inward and outward foreign direct investment. |
| Keywords: | E-Business,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Microfinance |
| Date: | 2013–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6425&r=eff |
| By: | Tomasz Czekaj (Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen); Arne Henningsen (Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | We discuss nonparametric regression models for panel data. A fully nonparametric panel data specification that uses the time variable and the individual identifier as additional (categorical) explanatory variables is considered to be the most suitable. We use this estimator and conventional parametric panel data estimators to analyse the production technology of Polish crop farms. The results of our nonparametric kernel regressions generally differ from the estimates of the parametric models but they only slightly depend on the choice of the kernel functions. Based on economic reasoning, we found the estimates of the fully nonparametric panel data model to be more reliable. |
| Keywords: | nonparametric kernel regression, panel data, choice of the kernel, kernels for categorical variables, production function |
| JEL: | C14 C23 D24 Q12 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:foi:wpaper:2013_5&r=eff |
| By: | Clément Bosquet; Pierre-Philippe Combes |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of a large set of department characteristics on individual publication records. We control for many individual time-varying characteristics, individual fixed-effects and reverse causality. Department characteristics have an explanatory power that can be as high as that of individual characteristics. The departments that generate most externalities are those where academics are homogeneous in terms of publication performance and have diverse research fields, and, to a lesser extent, large departments, with more women, older academics, star academics and foreign co-authors. Department specialisation in a field also favours publication in that field. More students per academic does not penalise publication. At the individual level, women and older academics publish less, while the average publication quality increases with average number of authors per paper, individual field diversity, number of published papers and foreign co-authors. |
| Keywords: | productivity determinants, economic geography, networks, economics of science, selection and endogeneity |
| JEL: | R12 J24 I3 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:0133&r=eff |
| By: | Joëlle Noailly (CIES, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland and CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, The Hague, The Netherlands); Roger Smeets (Rutgers Business School, Newark, USA) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the determinants of directed technical change in the electricity generation sector. We use firm-level data on patents led in renewable (REN) and fossil fuel (FF) technologies by about 7,000 European firms over the period 1978-2006. We separately study specialized firms that innovate in only one type of technology during the sample period, and mixed firms that innovate in both technologies. We find that for specialized firms the main drivers of innovation are fossil-fuel prices, market size, and firms' past knowledge stocks. Also, prices and market size drive the entry of new REN firms into innovation. By contrast, we find that innovation by mixed firms is mainly driven by strong path-dependencies since for these firms past knowledge stock is the major driver of the direction of innovation. These results imply that generic environmental policies that affect prices and energy demand are mainly effective in directing innovation by small specialized firms. In order to direct innovation e orts of large mixed corporations with a long history of FF innovation, targeted R&D policies are likely to be more effective. |
| Keywords: | Directed Technical Change, Energy, Patents, Firms' Dynamics |
| JEL: | Q4 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.34&r=eff |