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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2014‒02‒02
28 papers chosen by |
| By: | Kittelsen, Sverre A.C. (Frisch Centre); Persson, Benny Adam (Frisch Centre); Rehnberg, Clas (Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm); Anthun, Kjartan S. (SINTEF); Goude, Fanny (Karolinska Institutet); Rättö, Hanna (National Institute for Health and Welfare – THL, Helsinki); Hope, Øyvind (SINTEF); Häkkinen, Unto (National Institute for Health and Welfare – THL, Helsinki); Medin, Emma (Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm); Kalseth, Birgitte (SINTEF); Kilsmark, Jannie (Danish Institute of health research, Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | Previous studies indicate that Finnish hospitals have significantly higher productivity than in the other Nordic countries. We decompose the productivity levels into technical efficiency, scale efficiency and country specific possibility sets (technical frontiers). Data have been collected on operating costs and patient discharges in each DRG group for all hospitals in the Nordic countries. We find that there are small differences in scale and technical efficiency between countries, but large differences in production possibilities (frontier position). The results are robust to the choice of bootstrapped Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) or Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) as frontier estimation methodology. |
| Keywords: | Productivity; Hospitals; Efficiency; DEA; SFA |
| JEL: | C14 I12 |
| Date: | 2014–01–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:oslohe:2013_004&r=eff |
| By: | Okuda, Hidenobu; Poleng, Chea; Aiba, Daiju |
| Abstract: | This study examines the technical efficiency and productivity of 18 major domestic and foreign financial institutions in Cambodia during the period of 2006 to 2011. Data envelopment analysis was employed to estimate the efficiency of business operations and the Malmquist productivity index was used to identify the reasons for their productivity changes. Empirical results reveal that during the research period, the efficiency scores were high, while they were higher in large institutions than in small ones. When measured using a value-added approach that focused on the fund mobilization capability of financial institutions, the efficiency of domestic institutions was found to be better than that of their foreign counterparts; when measured using an operational approach that focused on the income earning capacity of institutions, there was no significant difference in technical efficiency between domestic and foreign institutions. It was also observed that Cambodian financial institutions suffered a slight drop in total factor productivity during the research period. These observations suggest that further improvement of Cambodian financial institutions’ technical efficiency requires an increase in the operational capacity of individual institutions and the introduction of advanced banking technologies and skills. |
| Keywords: | Cambodia, DEA, Commercial Banks, Specialized Banks, Microfinance Institutions |
| JEL: | G21 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:econdp:2014-02&r=eff |
| By: | Kaiji Chen (Emory University) |
| Abstract: | The Chilean economy experienced a decade of sustained growth in aggregate output and productivity after the 1982 financial crisis. This paper analyzes the role of resource allocative efficiency on total factor productivity (TFP) of the manufacturing sector by applying the methodology of Hsieh and Klenow (2009) to the establishment data from the Chilean manufacturing census. We find that a reduction in resource misallocation accounts for about 46 percent of the growth in manufacturing TFP between 1983 and 1996. The improvement in allocative efficiency, moreover, is essentially driven by a reduction in the cross-sectional dispersion of output distortion. In particular, a reduction in the least productive plants' output subsidies is the most important reason for the reduction in resource misallocation during this period. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed013:886&r=eff |
| By: | Roberto Gómez-Calvet (Business Department, European University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain); David Conesa (Statistics and Operational Research Department, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain); Ana Rosa Gómez-Calvet (Business Finance Department, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain); Emili Tortosa-Ausina (IVIE and Department of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain) |
| Abstract: | Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models have been intensively used for measuring efficiency in a variety of contexts. More recently, the inclusion of undesirable outputs has extended their use to analyze relevant fields such as environmental efficiency. In this context, Slacks-Based Measure (SBM) models offer a remarkable alternative, largely due to their ability to deal with undesirable outputs. Additionally, super-efficiency evaluation in DEA is a useful complementary analysis for ranking the performance of efficient DMUs. Although the literature has already considered a pioneering proposal for dealing with super-efficiency in SBM models, which may be referred to as Super-SBM, we extend this approach to the presence of undesirable outputs. We illustrate this contribution in three scenarios where super-efficiency SBM models with undesirable outputs may be of interest: (i) the analysis of productivity change; (ii) the provision of a full ranking of efficiency (also including efficient units); and (iii) the detection of influential units. Finally, we present and discuss an empirical application dealing with environmental efficiency in electricity and derived heat generation in the European Union. |
| Keywords: | efficiency, energy, slacks-based measure, super-efficiency, undesirable outputs |
| JEL: | Q4 Q43 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2014/03&r=eff |
| By: | Bos J.W.B.; Santen P.C. van; Schilp P. (GSBE) |
| Abstract: | This paper quantifies the effect of reallocation dynamics on aggregate productivity developments in the banking sectors of Europe and the United States. We document an increase in productivity over the period 1995-2009, on the order of 11 in the US and 19 in Europe. At an annual frequency, under-performing banks capture market share, while more productive banks lose market share, in particular in the US. The pattern of reallocation is markedly different between the geographical regions European productivity has grown by reallocating inputs through the first half of the sample, at the same time when reallocation diminished growth in the US. Within-firm growth has been rising steadily in both areas, largely due to technical change. The long- run positive effects of creative destruction are especially apparent in the US, where reallocation is an important driver of increases in aggregate productivity. |
| Keywords: | Single Equation Models; Single Variables: Truncated and Censored Models; Switching Regression Models; Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity; Technological Change; Research and Development; Intellectual Property Rights: General; Measurement of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence; |
| JEL: | O47 O30 D24 C24 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umagsb:2013056&r=eff |
| By: | Fernando Rios-Avila |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the economic impact of unions on productivity in the manufacturing sector across six Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Using an augmented Cobb-Douglas production function, the paper finds that unions have positive, but mostly small, effects on productivity, with the exception of Argentina, with a large negative effect, and Bolivia, with no effect. An analysis on profitability shows that, in most cases, the positive productivity effects barely offset higher union compensation, and that unions are negatively related to investment in capital and R and D. Different explanations for these effects are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Unions; Productivity; Profitability; Investment; Latin America; Developing Countries |
| JEL: | J50 L1 O54 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_787&r=eff |
| By: | Hela Miniaoui; Anissa Chaibi |
| Abstract: | The present study empirically investigates the technical efficiency of takaful industry operations in Malaysia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was employed to estimate the technical efficiency of using Constant Returns to Scale (CRS) and Variable Return to Scale (VRS) during the period 2006- 2009. The study reveals that takaful companies operating in GCC countries are more efficient than Malaysian operators that are encouraged to have aggressive marketing and wider distribution channels to capture more demand. |
| Keywords: | Takaful Industry, DEA, Efficiency, Malaysia, GCC |
| JEL: | C7 D8 |
| Date: | 2014–01–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2014-14&r=eff |
| By: | Brian Piper (Department of Economics and International Business, Sam Houston State University) |
| Abstract: | Economists examine two types of variables when studying aggregate production and economic growth. Some of these variables are directly productive factors (physical capital, labor and human capital), while other variables aren’t productive themselves, but affect production indirectly. I introduce an approach for studying indirect inputs by allowing them to affect output in three ways: by changing TFP, by changing the productivity of individual productive factors (Factor-Specific Productivity), and by changing the rates at which productive factors are accumulated. My model finds that indirect inputs have strong effects on the productivity of specific productive factors. My model outperforms a model which includes the same indirect inputs only as determinants of TFP. Increases in indirect inputs are found to lead to future growth in the supply of direct inputs. Additionally, my model has more empirically realistic implications for returns to scale and convergence than traditional neo-classical models. |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shs:wpaper:1401&r=eff |
| By: | Weiss M.; B?rsch-Supan A. (GSBE) |
| Abstract: | We study the relation between workers age and their productivity in work teams, based on a new and unique data set that combines data on errors occurring in the production process of a large car manufacturer with detailed information on the personal characteristics of workers related to the errors. We correct for non-random sample selection and the potential endogeneity of the age-composition in work teams. Our results suggest that productivity in this plant which is typical for large-scale manufacturing does not decline at least up to age 60. |
| Keywords: | Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity; Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-labor Market Discrimination; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity; |
| JEL: | J24 J14 D24 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umagsb:2013029&r=eff |
| By: | Andor, Mark; Hesse, Frederik |
| Abstract: | Based on the seminal paper of Farrell (1957), researchers have developed several methods for measuring e fficiency. Nowadays, the most prominent representatives are nonparametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) and parametric stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), both introduced in the late 1970s. Researchers have been attempting to develop a method which combines the virtues -- both nonparametric and stochastic -- of these "oldies". The recently introduced stochastic non-smooth envelopment of data (StoNED) by Kuosmanen and Kortelainen (2010) is such a promising method. This paper compares the StoNED method with the two "oldies" DEA and SFA and extends the initial Monte Carlo simulation of Kuosmanen and Kortelainen (2010) in several directions. We show, among others, that, in scenarios without noise, the rivalry is still between the "oldies", while in noisy scenarios, the nonparametric StoNED PL now constitutes a promising alternative to the SFA ML. -- |
| JEL: | C14 D24 L51 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc13:79849&r=eff |
| By: | Brändle, Tobias; Baumann, Florian |
| Abstract: | This paper indicates that the extent of collective bargaining coverage in an industry may depend on the differences in firms productivity levels within the industry. Less pronounced differences in productivity levels make it easier to design collective wage contracts that are accepted by a wider range of firms within an industry. Higher dispersion in productivity levels gives rise to the use of firm-level wage agreements reached by unions, while coverage by industry-wide contracts is likely to decrease. We measure correlations between productivity variation and collective bargaining coverage in various industries using German linked-employer-employee data from 2000-2008 and find that the share of industry-wide collective bargaining agreements may indeed be negatively correlated with the dispersion of plant productivity within an industry, while the opposite might hold true for firm-level contracts. -- |
| JEL: | J51 D22 L16 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc13:79852&r=eff |
| By: | Hottenrott, Hanna; Lawson, Cornelia (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically investigates complementarities between different sources of research funding with regard to academic publishing. We find for a sample of UK engineering academics that competitive funding is associated with an increase in ex-post publications but that industry funding decreases the marginal utility of public funding by lowering the publication and citation rate increases associated with public grants. However, when holding all other explanatory variables at their mean, the negative effect of the interaction does not translate into an effective decrease in publication and citation numbers. The paper also shows that the positive effect of public funding is driven by UK research council and charity grants and that EU funding has no significant effect on publication outcomes. |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:201354&r=eff |
| By: | Massimiliano Mazzanti; Susanna Mancinelli; Marianna Gilli |
| Abstract: | Innovation is a key element behind the achievement of desired environmental and economic performances. Regarding CO2, mitigation strategies would require cuts in emissions of around 80-90% with respect to 1990 by 2050 in the EU. We investigate whether complementarity, namely integration, between the adoption of environmental innovation measures and other technological and organizational innovations is a factor that has supported reduction in CO2 emissions per value added, that is environmental productivity. We merge new EU innovation and WIOD data to assess the innovation effects on sector CO2 performances at a wide EU level. We find that jointly adopting different innovations is not a widespread factor behind increases in environmental productivity. Nevertheless, even though complementarity is not a low hanging fruit, a case where ‘innovation complementarity’ arises is for manufacturing sectors, that integrate eco innovations with product innovations. One example of this integrated action is a strategy that pursue energy efficiency with product value enhancement. We believe that the lack of integrated innovation adoption behind environmental productivity performance is a signal of the current weaknesses economies face in tackling climate change and green economy challenges. Incremental rather than more radical strategies have predominated so far. The latter have been confined to industrial ‘niches’, in terms of number of involved firms. This is probably insufficient when we look at long-term economic and environmental goals. |
| Keywords: | Complementarity; Innovation; Climate Change; Sector Performance |
| JEL: | L6 O3 Q55 |
| Date: | 2014–01–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:udf:wpaper:2014043&r=eff |
| By: | Castro Campos M. de; Kool C.J.M.; Muysken J. (GSBE) |
| Abstract: | Motivated by the dominant role of cross-country heterogeneity in private saving in the creation of Eurozone imbalances over the past decade, we empirically investigate the determinants of private saving for a sample of 30 OECD countries over the period 1990-2010. In addition to standard macroeconomic variables, we include three country-specific cultural indicators, derived from the World and European Value Surveys. We find these three variables - thrift, trust and religiosity - to significantly contribute to the explanation of cross-country saving heterogeneity both for the OECD group at large and for the Eurozone countries seperately. |
| Keywords: | Single Equation Models; Single Variables: Truncated and Censored Models; Switching Regression Models; Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity; Technological Change; Research and Development; Intellectual Property Rights: General; Measurement of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence; |
| JEL: | O47 O30 D24 C24 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umagsb:2013013&r=eff |
| By: | Grigorii V. Teplykh (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Innovations and related knowledge are important drivers of corporate success in modern economies. However the crisis of 2008 strongly influenced investment decisions including R&D expenditure. This may be explained by the fact that the crisis has changed a transformation of corporate resources into economic benefit. Innovation activity is found to be a survival factor during the downturn. The aim of this study is to investigate how the crisis has changed relations between innovation and firm performance in western Europe. We apply a structural framework of the CDM model which takes into account endogeneity and selection bias. The study is based on new balanced panel data of 429 western European manufacturing firms. |
| Keywords: | innovations, economic crisis, CDM model |
| JEL: | O31 O32 D22 D24 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:23sti2014&r=eff |
| By: | Hampf, Benjamin; Krüger, Jens J. |
| Abstract: | This study explores the reduction potential of greenhouse gases for major pollution emitting countries of the world using nonparametric productivity measurement methods and directional distance functions. In contrast to the existing literature we apply optimization methods to endogenously determine optimal directions for the e ciency analysis. These directions represent the compromise of output enhancement and emissions reduction. The results show that for reasonable directions the adoption of best-practices would lead to sizable emission reductions in a range of about 20 percent compared to current levels. -- |
| JEL: | C14 D24 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc13:79699&r=eff |
| By: | Goodall, Amanda H. (Cass Business School); McDowell, John M. (Arizona State University); Singell, Larry D. (University of Indiana Bloomington) |
| Abstract: | Much of human knowledge is produced in the world's university departments. There is little scientific evidence, however, about how those hundreds of thousands of departments are best organized and led. This study hand-collects longitudinal data on departmental chairpersons in 58 US universities over a 15-year period. There is one robust predictor of a department's future research output. After adjustment for a range of personal and institutional characteristics, departmental research productivity improves when the incoming department Chair's publications are highly cited. A one SD increase in citations is associated with a 0.5 SD later rise in departmental productivity. By contrast, the quality-weighted publication record per se of the incoming Chair has no predictive power. |
| Keywords: | scientific productivity, department chairs, expert leaders |
| JEL: | I12 I23 M51 M54 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7903&r=eff |
| By: | Millone M.M.; Bos J.W.B. (GSBE) |
| Abstract: | The microfinance sector is an example of a sector in which firms with different business models coexist. Next to pure for-profit microfinance institutions MFIs, the sector has room for non-profit organizations, and includes social for-profit firms that aim to maximize a double bot- tom line and do well while doing good. We introduce a benchmarking approach that accommodates these three business models and allows us to estimate the efficiency of MFIs when they operate true to their busi- ness model, but also when they drift away from their original design. Using a simple model, we hypothesize that it is more difficult to operate efficiently when pursuing a double bottom line. Our empirical results for a large sample of MFIs are in line with this hypothesis pure for-profit and non-profit FMIs are more efficient than social for-profit MFIs. In addition, efficiency decreases for all MFIs when they move away from their original business model. Increasing the risk of the loan portfolio reduces efficiency and lending to woman increases efficiency. Finally, our finding that multiple lending to borrowers is efficiency-enhancing may help explain the mission drift in microfinance. |
| Keywords: | Econometrics; Banks; Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages; Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development; Economic Development: Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance; |
| JEL: | G21 O12 O16 C01 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umagsb:2013067&r=eff |
| By: | Vuong, Van Anh; Peters, Bettina; Roberts, Mark J.; Fryges, Helmut |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates empirically rm investment behavior in research and development (R&D). Firms make investments in R&D in order to produce innovations. These innovations in turn improve the rm s future productivity level, pro tability and incentives to invest in R&D. Using German rm-level data from the manufacturing sector, we estimate a dynamic, structural model of the rm s choice to invest in R&D and quantify the bene t and cost of engaging in R&D. We nd that among rms that engage in R&D, process and product innovations create a signi cant improvement in their productivity. The cost for performing R&D differs across rms based on their size and R&D history. We compute the bene ts of R&D investment to the rm and nd that by taking the dynamic nature of the investment into account the real return to R&D is several times higher than the one time gain in rm productivity. -- |
| JEL: | L60 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc13:79760&r=eff |
| By: | Sliwka, Dirk; Manthei, Kathrin |
| Abstract: | We examine the benefits of objective performance measurement in a field experiment conducted in a retail bank. At the outset objective performance measures of pro fits in each branch were only available on the branch level and managers allocated bonuses to their employees based on subjective assessments. In a subset of the branches, managers then obtained access to individual performance measures. We find a significant positive impact of objective performance measurement on effort and financial performance. This productivity increase is mainly driven by larger branches and higher sales for non-core products which is well in line with a formal economic model on the optimal allocation of monitoring efforts under subjective evaluations in multitask environments. -- |
| JEL: | C93 J33 D23 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc13:79968&r=eff |
| By: | Schiersch, Alexander; Gornig, Martin; Belitz, Heike |
| Abstract: | Previous research shows that technical progress at the industry level, measured by sectoral TFP growth, is more localized in continental European countries than in Anglo-Saxon coun-tries. We use EU KLEMS data sets to decompose sectoral TFP for nine European countries by means of a Malmquist approach, in order to separate technical change. Applying Harberger diagrams, we describe the sectoral patterns of technical progress. The analysis reveals that in most European countries technological progress is much more evenly distributed across sectors than TFP. -- |
| JEL: | O14 O47 E23 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc13:79725&r=eff |
| By: | Balleer, Almut; Enders, Zeno |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of expansionary technology shocks (shocks that increase labor productivity and factor inputs) as opposed to contractionary technology shocks (shocks that increase labor productivity, but decrease factor inputs). We estimate these two shocks jointly based on a minimum set of identifying restrictions in a structural VAR. We show that most of the business cycle variation of key macroeconomic variables such as output and consumption is driven by expansionary technology shocks. However, contractionary technology shocks are important to understand the variation in labor productivity and production inputs. In addition, these shocks trigger different reactions of certain variables, which can help explain why existing evidence on technology shocks does not deliver clear results. In a simple DSGE model with managerial technology, which is consistent with our identifying restrictions, we interpret contractionary technology shocks as process innovations and motivate the difference to expansionary technology shocks. -- |
| JEL: | E32 E24 E25 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc13:80046&r=eff |
| By: | Daron Acemoglu; David Autor; David Dorn; Gordon H. Hanson; Brendan Price |
| Abstract: | An increasingly influential “technological-discontinuity” paradigm suggests that IT-induced technological changes are rapidly raising productivity while making workers redundant. This paper explores the evidence for this view among the IT-using U.S. manufacturing industries. There is some limited support for more rapid productivity growth in IT-intensive industries depending on the exact measures, though not since the late 1990s. Most challenging to this paradigm, and our expectations, is that output contracts in IT-intensive industries relative to the rest of manufacturing. Productivity increases, when detectable, result from the even faster declines in employment. |
| JEL: | J2 L60 O3 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19837&r=eff |
| By: | Hakobyan, Lilit (Department of Economics, Umeå School of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether and under which conditions democracy renders economic performance more efficient. Efficiency, measured by the ratio of (mean)/ (standard deviation) of output growth, becomes an important indicator of the relative goodness of economic performance when countries face a trade-off between development scenarios with high-mean and low-volatility of output growth. This seems to be a case when economies approach the efficient frontier. However, when countries are far away from the frontier economic efficiency may be improved by simultaneously increasing the mean and decreasing the volatility of growth. This study differs from others on the topic in three basic ways: (i) asymmetric (G)ARCH models are employed to simultaneously estimate the mean and volatility of output growth conditional on the factors of interest; (ii) variations in within-country effects of democratisation on the mean, variance and efficiency of economic growth conditional on cross-country variations of income inequality are analysed; (iii) the asymmetry of deviations from the mean is investigated. The results suggest (do not suggest) that in countries with no (with) military dictatorship history democratisation moves economies towards the efficient frontier. The positive effect of democratisation on the efficiency of economic performance seems to be systematically stronger in countries with lower (higher) income inequality in the countries with (without) consolidated civil governments. |
| Keywords: | Mean and volatility of output growth; efficient frontier; political system competitiveness; income inequality; weak institutions; asymmetric GARCH model |
| JEL: | E02 E32 O43 P16 |
| Date: | 2014–01–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:umnees:0872&r=eff |
| By: | Beerli, Andreas; Weiss, Franziska; Zilibotti, Fabrizio; Zweimüller, Josef |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of market size on innovation activities across different durable good industries in the Chinese manufacturing sector. We use a potential market size measure driven only by changes in the Chinese income distribution which is exogenous to changes in prices and qualities of durable goods to instrument for actual future market size. Results indicate that an increase in market size by one percentage point leads to an increase of 4.4% in R&D inputs, an increase in labour productivity by 6.5% and an increase in the likelihood of a successful product innovation by about 1.1 percentage points. These findings are robust controlling for export behaviour of firms and supply side drivers of R&D. -- |
| JEL: | L16 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc13:79980&r=eff |
| By: | Böing, Philipp; Müller, Elisabeth |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the influence of in-house R&D and external knowledge acquisition on the total factor productivity (TFP) of listed Chinese firms for the time period 2001-2010. We find a quantitatively important positive effect of in-house R&D. The achieved level of technological sophistication of Chinese firms is sufficient to benefit from R&D collaboration with domestic partners. We do not find a significant effect for employing inventors with access to international knowledge or for collaborating with international partners. International knowledge acquisition is only effective if conducted via joint ventures, i.e. if it is supported by a deep organizational relationship. -- |
| JEL: | O32 O33 O39 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc13:80037&r=eff |
| By: | Juan Carlos Matallín-Sáez (Department of Finance and Accounting, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Amparo Soler-Domínguez (Department of Finance and Accounting, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Emili Tortosa-Ausina (IVIE and Department of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes persistence in US equity mutual fund performance over the period 2001-2011 for both net and gross returns. We apply commonly-used measures of persistence, which we test using a set of simulated passive funds. In the first stage we apply contingency tables and transition matrices in accordance with previous literature. Results show how these methodologies are biased towards finding evidence of persistence too easily. In the second stage, we take a recursive portfolio approach, which assesses the performance of investing by following recommendations based on past performance. Results show the importance of both estimating persistence by distinguishing among fund style groups, and considering the cross-sectional significance of recursive portfolios. In general, our results do not support evidence of persistence in mutual fund performance. Only very scarce evidence is found in some particular cases, but this is partly conditioned by whether net or gross returns are considered. We also find evidence supporting the relatively worse performance of non-survivor funds compared with that of survivor funds. |
| Keywords: | mutual fund, performance, persistence, robustness |
| JEL: | G23 G11 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2014/01&r=eff |
| By: | Takatoshi Tabuchi (Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo); Jacques-Fran�ois Thisse (CORE, Universit� catholique de Louvain, NRU-Higher School of Economics and CEPR); Xiwei Zhu (Center for Research of Private Economy and School of Economics, Zhejiang University) |
| Abstract: | 　　 New economic geography focuses on the impact of falling transport costs on the spatial distribution of activities. However, it disregards the role of technological innovations, which are central to modern economic growth, as well as the role of migration costs, which are a strong impediment to moving. We show that this neglect is unwarranted. Regardless of the level of transport costs, rising labor productivity fosters the agglomeration of activities, whereas falling transport costs do not affect the location of activities. When labor is heterogeneous, the number of workers residing in the more productive region increases by decreasing order of productive e¢ ciency when labor productivity rises. |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tky:fseres:2014cf915&r=eff |