|
on Efficiency and Productivity |
|
Issue of 2014‒05‒24
thirty-two papers chosen by |
| By: | O'Donnell, C.J. |
| Abstract: | Most productivity indexes can be exhaustively decomposed into measures of technical change and efficiency change. Estimating these components usually involves the use of data envelopment analysis (DEA) or stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) models. This paper shows how assumptions concerning technologies, markets and firm behaviour can be used to frame these models. The paper explains that the assumptions underpinning common DEA models are rarely, if ever, true. On the other hand, the assumptions underpinning basic SFA models are almost always true. The parameters of basic SFA models can be estimated using ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares methods. More complex SFA models can be estimated using maximum likelihood methods. Unfortunately, the assumptions underpinning some of these more complex models are generally not true. This has important implications for estimating the drivers of productivity change. To illustrate, the paper uses common least squares and maximum likelihood methods to estimate the drivers of productivity change in U.S. agriculture. As expected, the different estimators lead to qualitatively different estimates of the efficiency change components productivity change. |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare14:165867&r=eff |
| By: | Nmadu, Job N.; Simpa, James O. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare14:165865&r=eff |
| By: | Geraldine Henningsen (Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark); Arne Henningsen (Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen); Sascha T. Schröder (Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark); Simon Bolwig (Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark) |
| Abstract: | The Danish “Klima 2020” plan sets an ambitious target for the complete phasing-out of fossil fuels by 2050. The Danish energy sector currently accounts for 40% of national CO2 emissions. Based on an extended Farrell input distance function that accounts for CO2 as an undesirable output, we estimate the environmental productivity of individual generator units based on a panel data set for the period 1998 to 2011 that includes virtually all fuel-fired generator units in Denmark. We further decompose total productivity into technical efficiency, best practice ratio, and scale efficiency and use a global Malmquist index to calculate the yearly changes. By applying time series clustering, we can identify high, middle, and low performance groups of generator units in a dynamic setting. Our results indicate that the sectoral productivity only slightly increased over the fourteen years. Furthermore, we find that there is no overall high achiever group, but that the ranking, although time consistent, varies between the different productivity measures. However, we identify steam turbines and combustion engines for combined heat and power production as potential high performers, while combustion engines that only produce electricity are clearly low performers. |
| Keywords: | Environmental productivity, energy sector, productivity analysis, CO2 mitigation, renewable energy, transition |
| JEL: | C50 D22 D24 O30 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:foi:wpaper:2014_04&r=eff |
| By: | Andrea Bonaccorsi (Department of Energy and Systems Engineering, University of Pisa, Italy); Cinzia Daraio (Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Universita' degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"); Leopold Simar (Institute of Statistics, Biostatistics et Actuarial Sciences, Universite' Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate economies of scale and scope of European universities.The proposed approach builds on the notion that university production is a multi-input multi-output process different than standard production activity. The analyses are based on an interesting database which integrates the main European universities data on inputs and outputs with bibliometric data on publications, impact and collaborations. We pursue a cross-country perspective; we include subject mix and introduce a robust modeling of production trade-offs. Finally, we test the statistical significance of scale and scope and find that size and specialization have a statistical significant impact both jointly and separately, showing an inverted u-shape effect on efficiency. |
| Keywords: | efficiency; national academic systems; disciplinary specialization; research performance;teaching and research;nonparametric and robust frontier estimation; bootstrap |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aeg:report:2014-08&r=eff |
| By: | Javier Morales Sarriera; Tomás Serebrisky; Gonzalo Araya; Cecilia Briceño-Garmendia; Jordan Schwartz |
| Abstract: | We developed a technical efficiency analysis of container ports in Latin America and the Caribbean using an input-oriented stochastic frontier model. We employed a 10-year panel with data on container throughput, port terminal area, berth length, and number of available cranes in 63 ports. The model has three innovations with respect to the available literature: (i) we treated ship-to-shore gantry cranes and mobile cranes separately, in order to account for the higher productivity of the former; (ii) we introduced a binary variable for ports using ships¿ cranes, treated as an additional source of port productivity; and (iii) we introduced a binary variable for ports operating as transshipment hubs. Their associated parameters are highly significant in the production function. The results show an improvement in the average technical efficiency of ports in the Latin American and Caribbean region from 36% to 50% between 1999 and 2009; the best performing port in 2009 achieved a technical efficiency of 94%with respect to the frontier. The paper also studies possible determinants of port technical efficiency, such as ownership, corruption, transshipment, income per capita, and location. The results revealed positive and significant associations between technical efficiency and both transshipment activities and lower corruption levels. |
| Keywords: | Ports & Waterways, technical efficiency, ports, Latin America, benchmarking, stochastic frontier analysis |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:83755&r=eff |
| By: | Islam, Nazrul; Xayavong, Vilaphonh; Anderton, Lucy; Feldman, David |
| Abstract: | Since the mid-1970s the south-west of Australia has displayed a warming and drying trend in its climate. Using parametric and non-parametric methods this paper provides a decadal assessment of the profitability, productivity and productivity components of over 250 farms in the region. The farm panel data are detailed descriptions of the physical and financial characteristics of each farm business from 2002/3 to 2011/12, a period of challenging weather-years. This study yields insights about farm characteristics and management strategies that have weakened or strengthened farm viability over the decade. In spite of the climate challenges experienced in the region during that decade, a majority of farm businesses improved their productivity and profitability. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, Climate change, Productivity, Profitability, Farm management, Financial Economics, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare14:165842&r=eff |
| By: | Ghisetti, Claudia; Quatraro, Francesco (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides empirical investigation of the effects of environmental innovations (EIs)on environmental performances, as proxied by the environmental productivity (EP) measure. We focused on sectoral environmental productivity of Italian Regions by exploiting the Regional Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts (Regional NAMEA). Patent applications have been extracted by the Patstat Database and assigned to the environmental domain by adopting three international classifications of green technologies:the WIPO IPC green inventory, the European Patent Office climate change mitigation technologies classification (Y02) and the OECD ENV-Tech indicators. Econometric results outline that regions -sectors characterized by higher levels of green technologies (GTs) are actually those facing better environmental performance. These positive effects directlys tem from the introduction of GT in the same sector, as well as from the introduction of GT in vertically related sectors. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:labeco:201404&r=eff |
| By: | Antonio Peyrache (School of Economics, The University of Queensland) |
| Abstract: | When analyzing productivity and efficiency of firms, stochastic frontier models are very attractive because they allow, as in typical regression models, to introduce some noise in the Data Generating Process. Most of the approaches so far have been using very restrictive fully parametric specified models, both for the frontier function and for the components of the stochastic terms. Recently, local MLE approaches were introduced to relax these parametric hypotheses. However, the high computational complexity of the latter makes them difficult to use, in particular if bootstrap-based inference is needed. In this work we show that most of the benefits of the local MLE approach can be obtained with less assumptions and involving much easier, faster and numerically more robust computations, by using nonparametric least-squares methods. Our approach can also be viewed as a semi-parametric generalization of the so-called “modified OLS†that was introduced in the parametric setup. If the final evaluation of individual efficiencies requires, as in the local MLE approach, the local specification of the distributions of noise and inefficiencies, it is shown that a lot can be learned on the production process without such specifications. Even elasticities of the mean inefficiency can be analyzed with unspecified noise distribution and a general class of local one-parameter scale family for inefficiencies. This allows to discuss the variation in inefficiency levels with respect to explanatory variables with minimal assumptions on the Data Generating Process. Our method is illustrated and compared with other methods with a real data set. |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qld:uqcepa:95&r=eff |
| By: | Matousek, Roman (University of Kent, UK); Nguyen, Thao Ngoc (Nottingham Trent University, UK); Stewart, Chris (Kingston University London) |
| Abstract: | This study analyses bank efficiency in Vietnam from 1999 to 2009. We use a unique data sample that allows us to capture the development of the Vietnamese banking sector over the last decade. We apply an advanced methodological approach introduced by Simar and Wilson (2007) to examine bank efficiency in Vietnam. An integral part of the analysis is to explore the determinants of bank efficiency. The results indicate that large and very large banks are more efficient than small and medium sized banks with small banks having the lowest efficiency scores in the system. We also argue that banks with large branch networks and those that have been in existence for a long time are less efficient than other banks. |
| Keywords: | Banking; Efficiency; DEA; Two-stage double bootstrap method; Vietnam. |
| JEL: | G21 |
| Date: | 2014–04–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:kngedp:2014_001&r=eff |
| By: | Andrés Felipe SALAZAR CUELLAR |
| Abstract: | This paper appraises quantitatively the efficiency of public expenditure of 15 Latin American countries using cross-country data for averages between 2000 and 2009. For this purpose two non-parametric methods are used: Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Free Disposal Hull (FDH). Selected output indicators in primary and secondary school are evaluated respect to public spending in education per student. As a study case, Colombia's efficiency scores are compared with the most efficient peers in each of the educational levels to identify best practices and achieve better results. |
| Keywords: | Education, Efficiency, Latin America, Benchmarking |
| JEL: | H11 H52 I22 |
| Date: | 2014–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000118:011209&r=eff |
| By: | Amani Elnasri (School of Economics, Australian School of Business, the University of New South Wales) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents new evidence on the impact of public infrastructure on the Australian economy. The contribution of the paper is three-fold. First, it estimates measures of multifactor productivity for each of the states and territories. Second, it employs a new data set on public infrastructure. Third, the paper applies detailed econometric investigations in an attempt to readdress the crucial econometric shortcomings of earlier studies. The analysis presented here is designed to investigate two widely-debated questions. First, whether aggregate time-series analysis is incapable of capturing infrastructure spillovers to productivity and, consequently, results in incredibly high estimates of infrastructure elasticity. Second, whether state-specific characteristics exhibit a significant role in explaining effects on productivity. To answer the first question, the study applies time-series regressions on both a national and state-by-state basis. Results from this approach confirm the implausibly large effect of infrastructure for the whole economy and four states. To examine the second issue, the paper develops a panel cointegration model which controls for state fixed effects. In sharp contrast with findings from aggregate time-series, results from the fixed effects approach are more plausible and robust to sensitivity tests. In another piece of evidence, estimation of an error-correction model reveals that a long-run identification and modelling of the relationship (i.e. a cointegration) re ects the important positive role of infrastructure on productivity. However, short-run dynamics provide no support for a positive effect which explains why earlier studies which employed differenced data found infrastructure has no discernible effect on productivity. In addition, applying a causality test suggests a long-run unidirectional causality running from public infrastructure to productivity. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, Public Infrastructure, Cointegration, Disaggregated analysis |
| JEL: | H54 O47 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:swe:wpaper:2014-23&r=eff |
| By: | Rosina Moreno (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Jordi Suriñach (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | The idea in this paper is to provide an empirical verification of the relationship between innovation adoption and productivity growth. After a brief revision of the literature about the concept and main determinants of innovation adoption/diffusion, the paper provides empirical evidence of the above-mentioned relationship through means of descriptive statistics and subsequently, we study the impact that innovation adoption may have on productivity growth through a regression analysis. The analysis is made with the statistical information provided by the Community Innovation Survey in its third and fourth waves, which concern innovative activities carried out between 1998 and 2000 and between 2002 and 2004 respectively. The countries covered are the 25 EU Member States plus Iceland and Norway as well as Turkey. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Innovation adoption, Productivity, Europe, Community Innovation Survey. JEL classification: C8, J61, O31, O33, R0 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201408&r=eff |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lueneburg and CESIS, Stockholm) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a tailor-made newly available data set for enterprises from manufacturing industries in Germany to investigate for the first time the links between the extensive margins of imports (the number of imported goods and the number of countries imported from) and firm profitability. While both extensive margins are highly positively linked with firm productivity, profits are not higher in firms that import more goods and from more countries. This demonstrates that productivity advantages of importers are eaten up by extra costs related to buying more goods in more countries. |
| Keywords: | Imports; intensive margins; profitability; Germany |
| JEL: | F14 |
| Date: | 2014–05–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0363&r=eff |
| By: | Skirtun, Maggie |
| Abstract: | ABARES has undertaken economic surveys of key Commonwealth fisheries since the early 1990s. Financial profit and loss statements as well as detailed capital inventories have been collected in these surveys to provide a large database of primary information. The information contained in this database can be used to construct a range of economic indicators to assist Commonwealth fishery managers meet their economic objective of maximising economic returns to the Australian community from the harvest of Commonwealth fishery resources. ABARES survey data analysis has enabled financial performance (the financial position of the average boat operating in the fishery), and economic performance (net economic returns achieved in the fishery as a whole) for the Commonwealth’s key fisheries to be reported in its annual Australian fisheries surveys report. More recently productivity and profitability indexes, entitlement values and cost of management have been added to this tool kit. This paper shows how fishery surveys data have been used by ABARES to construct a range of indicators, that when taken together help managers to assess their performance against their economic objective. Results from analysis of the Commonwealth Northern Prawn Fishery are used in this paper to illustrate the use of these indicators. |
| Keywords: | Financial Economics, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare14:165875&r=eff |
| By: | Francesco Quatraro (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR7321 - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS)) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an analysis of the co-evolutionary patterns of structural change in knowledge and economics. The former is made operational through an analysis of co-occurrences of technological classes in patent documents in order to derive indicators of coherence, variety and cognitive distance. The latter, on the other hand, is made operational in a synthetic way by implementing shift share analysis which decomposes labour productivity growth into effects caused by changes in the allocation of employment, those ascribed to intra-sector productivity growth and those caused by interaction of these two components. The results of the analysis conducted on a sample of 227 European regions show that increasing variety is associated with the reallocation of workforce across sectors whereas within sector productivity is associated with high levels of both coherence and cognitive distance of the regional knowledge base. |
| Keywords: | Recombinant Knowledge, Coherence, Variety, Regional Structural Change, Shift Share Analysis |
| Date: | 2013–11–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00992080&r=eff |
| By: | Laura Carosi; Giovanna D’Inverno; Letizia Ravagli |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is the study of Tuscan municipalities public ex- penditure efficiency, with particular attention on the effect of the municipal size, through a DEA analysis. In line with the existing literature, the study includes a second stage analysis to explain municipal ineciencies through a Tobit regression. The results obtained through the DEA analysis and explained by the Tobit regression appear consistent and could represent a sound suggestion to correct the expenditure of the inefficient municipalities. The new evidences related to the efficiency analysis of local government described in the paper provide an important contribution to the current debate, being this the first study carried out on Tuscan municipalities and introducing a new indicator for the computation of the eciency scores which offer a new way of procedure. Moreover, the study addresses the long debated issue on municipal size proving that the municipal size really affects the effciency of the public expenditure (i.e. the bigger is a munici- pality, the greater is its level of public spending efficiency). |
| Keywords: | Spending efficiency, Municipalities, Data Envelopment Analysis, Tobit regression. |
| JEL: | C24 C61 D78 H11 H72 |
| Date: | 2014–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pie:dsedps:2014/175&r=eff |
| By: | Juan Jung (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Enrique López-Bazo (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a model which incorporates capital accumulation and spatial spillovers across economies, while allowing for regional differences in absorptive abilities. This model is estimated using a sample of 215 European NUTS2 regions, before and after the 2004 enlargement of the single??market area. Results confirm the relevance of local absorptive capacities, as are found to be directly linked with the process of making the most of externalities. More than that, capital accumulation externalities do not seem to take place in absence of local capabilities. The process of capital deepening which took place in the period reduced the role of capital in explaining the productivity gap among regions, but so far has not been enough to help lagging regions to equal the return to human capital investments reached by most advanced regions. |
| Keywords: | Regional Disparities, Absorptive Capacity, Technological Interdependence, Spatial Econometrics. JEL classification: C21, O10, R11 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201409&r=eff |
| By: | Songsermsawas, Tisorn; Baylis, Kathy; Chhatre, Ashwini |
| Abstract: | Using a unique dataset from a household survey containing explicit social relationships among individual farmers, this study estimate the effect of peers on the revenue from cash crop sales among small-scale farmers in Northern India. We explore the learning mechanism through which peer effect occurs through improved input use and higher degree of commercialization. The significant and positive peer effects support the evidence of social learning. We control for the reflection problem using the technique proposed by Bramoulle, Djebbari, and Fortin (2009). Additionally, the positive evidence of peer effects do not disappear when we alter the definition of peers. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, |
| Date: | 2014–04–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aajs14:166115&r=eff |
| By: | Amani Elnasri (School of Economics, Australian School of Business, the University of New South Wales) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of the provision of public transport infrastructure on the cost structure of the Australian economy within a context that recognises industry agglomeration externalities. The paper extends the symmetric generalised quadratic cost functionby incorporating public transportation capital as an external input and adapting the spatial econometric techniques to an industrial context to allow for industry spillovers in the cost analysis. Using industry level data over the period 1990-2010, the paper finds that while public transport has a productive effect in reducing the cost of production, neglecting interindustry spillovers has noticeably overestimates this effect. |
| Keywords: | Transport infrastructure, Interindustry spillovers, Flexible functional forms |
| JEL: | D24 H23 H41 H54 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:swe:wpaper:2014-24&r=eff |
| By: | Hien Thu Tran; Enrico Santarelli; Enrico Zaninotto |
| Abstract: | Considering the case of diversified firms within a transition country such as Vietnam, this paper investigates diversification relatedness taking into account both firm-specific and industry-level components. Two measures of relatedness, the survivor-based and the SIC distances approach, are used to investigate the choice of destination industry by diversifying firms. The conflicting result between these two relatedness index suggests that there has been a trend of imitation and follow-up among inexperienced firms that resemble the direction and intensity of diversification of dominating players within the industry (herd behavior). Accordingly, a higher survivor-based index does not lead to a superior entrepreneurial performance. However, diversified firms gain experience overtime and choose more efficient business combinations in subsequent entries. Consistently with our previous findings, the classical SIC-based approach affirms again that greater diversification raises profitability, but just to an optimum relatedness point beyond which the positive effect starts to fade away. To control for the endogeneity of diversification relatedness and serial correlation of error terms we adoptinstrumental-variable two-stage least-squares estimation (IV-2SLS) with GMM treatment. |
| Keywords: | Firm diversification, firm performance, bounded rationality, transition economy |
| JEL: | L25 L29 P23 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwpem:2014/04&r=eff |
| By: | van Veldhuizen, Roel; Oosterbeek, Hessel; Sonnemans, Joep |
| Abstract: | In an in influential study, Mas and Moretti (2009) found that worker effort is positively related to the productivity of workers who see him, but not workers who do not see him. They interpret this as evidence that social pressure can reduce free riding. In this paper we report an attempt to reproduce the findings of Mas and Moretti in a lab experiment. Lab experiments have the advantage of being able to shut down alternative channels through which workers can influence the productivity of colleagues whom they observe. Although the subjects in our experiment are aware of the productivity of others and although there is sufficient scope for subjects to vary their productivity, we find no evidence of the type of peer effects reported by Mas and Moretti. This suggests that their findings are less generalizable than has been assumed. -- |
| Keywords: | peer effects,experiment,laboratory experiment |
| JEL: | C91 J24 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:wzbmbh:spii2014204&r=eff |
| By: | Jose Claudio Linhares Pires; Tulio Cravo; Simon Lodato; Caio Piza |
| Abstract: | Industrial clusters, which are commonly targeted to receive financial support allocated to locally based development projects, are seen as an effective industrial policy tool for improving productivity and generating employment. Nevertheless, identifying clusters and assessing their economic performance is a challenge for policymakers. This paper aims to address this challenge by identifying the location of clusters based on neighbor relationships and specialization in Brazil and providing some insights on their effects on employment generation. The paper uses both Location Quotient and Local Indicator of Spatial Association to identify potential clusters in 27 industrial sectors in 5564 Brazilian municipalities. In addition, it uses annual municipal panel data for 2006-2009 to assess whether the presence of potential clusters is correlated with employment generation. The results show that clusters located in municipalities whose neighbors have similar industrial structures perform better than those that present industry specialization only. |
| Keywords: | Industrial clusters |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:83486&r=eff |
| By: | Rey Dang; Duc Khuong Nguyen |
| Abstract: | The under-representation of female directors in the boardroom where corporate strategic decisions are made has recently become not only an ethical business case but also a public pressure to improve this gender imbalance. While there is some practical evidence to suggest that gender-diverse corporate boards have a positive impact on performance, the results from elaborate academic research are not always conclusive and vary across samples and countries. This article examines the relationship between board gender diversity and firm performance from a dynamic perspective through using quantile regression. This method allows us to capture the potential impact of female representation at different points of the distributions of the performance measure. Using a panel of French listed companies (SBF 120) over the period 2009-2011, we uncover that the impact of board gender di- versity on firm performance is not alike over different points of the conditional distribution, and that this impact depends on the measure of performance under consideration. Typically, board gender diversity affects negatively the Tobin’s Q and positively the return on asset when these variables are high and low, respectively. Finally, we show that using traditional OLS and fixed- random-effect estimations may mask the true effect of board gender diversity. |
| Keywords: | Board of Directors; Gender; Diversity; Corporate Governance |
| JEL: | G30 G34 J16 |
| Date: | 2014–05–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2014-297&r=eff |
| By: | Mohammad Alauddin (School of Economics, The University of Queensland); Upali A. Amarasinghe (International Water Management Institute, Patancheru); Bharat R. Sharma (International Water Management Institute, New Delhi) |
| Abstract: | The bulk of the water productivity (WP) literature has focused on static cross-sectional analysis with inadequate attention given to long-term, time series analysis, either at the country level or at a lower level of aggregation (e.g., district). The present study fills this gap by analyzing WP in Bangladesh using panel data of 21 districts over 37 years (1968–2004) divided into three phases. It estimated levels of, and trends in, WPs of one irrigated rice (rabi) crop, and two mainly rain-fed (kharif ) rice crops, with occasional supplementary irrigation. Also examined were WPs for rice crops in irrigated and rain-fed ecosystems. The findings indicated that WP levels in Bangladesh were significantly lower than that by global standards. Overall, WP growth rates varied significantly among districts and between phases with no consistent pattern emerging. On the whole, WPs trended upwards while differing widely among districts and between phases, seasons, ecosystems and areas differentiated by physiographic characteristics. The 1980s represented a period of stagnation. Drought-prone areas grew faster while salinity-prone areas grew slower vis-a-vis non-drought and non-saline areas. In the Ganges-dependent area, WP grew faster than that in the non-Ganges-dependent area. Rice production in Bangladesh represented a highly groundwater-dependent and fossil fuel-using process with significant environmental implications suggesting that WP growth may be unsustainable. Sustaining WP growth required a range of market and non-market-based policy options. |
| Date: | 2014–03–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qld:uq2004:518&r=eff |
| By: | Jérémie Gignoux (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris); Karen Macours (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris); Liam Wren-Lewis (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris) |
| Abstract: | Investment in land administration projects is often considered key for agricultural productivity and rural development in developing countries. But the evidence on such interventions is remarkably mixed. This paper reviews the literature and discusses a number of challenges related to the analysis of the impacts of land administration programs, focusing on developing countries where the starting position is one of land administration systems based on the Napoleonic code, with existing individual rights that may be imperfect and insecure. We examine a set of conceptual and methodological challenges including : 1) a conceptual challenge related to the need to unbundle property rights and to establish the plausible causal chain for land administration interventions; 2) the existence of other binding constraints on productivity, implying the need to consider heterogeneities in policy impacts and the complementarity between property rights and other productive interventions; 3) the need to account for spillovers of land interventions on non-targeted households; and 4) methodological challenges related to the causal identification of the impacts of such interventions. |
| Keywords: | Land administration programs ; Property rights ; Agricultural productivity ; Rural development ; Impact evaluation methods |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00992873&r=eff |
| By: | Tsutomu Chano (Musashi University); Yoshiro Tsutsui (Konan University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of the size and composition of the board of directors of Shinkin Banks on their efficiency and risk taking. Because employees are important stakeholders in Japanese firms, we define the relative size of the board of directors as the number of directors per employee. We also consider the composition of the board; specifically, we employ a dummy variable representing whether the board includes directors who were not employees of that Shinkin Bank, and also the fraction of directors who do not have the right to represent that Shinkin Bank. We found the following. First, smaller the relative size of the board, the more efficient the Shinkin Bank is. Second, those Shinkin Banks which have ever-non-employee directors are more efficient than others. Third, the smaller the relative size of the board, the less risk the Shinkin Bank takes. On the other hand, we found that mergers and competitiveness of bank location do not affect the relationship between board size and efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Board size and performance, Risk taking, Malmquist index, Z score, Shinkin bank |
| JEL: | D2 G21 G34 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osk:wpaper:1420&r=eff |
| By: | Randy Silvers; Raul Susmel |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we are interested in the impact a Major League Baseball (MLB) manager has on a team’s outcome. Using data on manager’s contracts, team performance, and team and manager characteristics, first, we determine the variables that determine a manager's salary. Then, we use a forecasting-type analysis to study the determinants of a manager’s performance, measured by winning percentage, attendance or playoff appearances. We find that a manager's past performance affects his current salary, but his current salary does not affect the team's performance. Our results support the lack of a competitive and efficient market for MLB managers. |
| Date: | 2014–05–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dkn:econwp:eco_2014_4&r=eff |
| By: | Cristhian Seminario; Edgar Salgado; Eduardo Morón |
| Abstract: | This paper documents the relationship between regional financial development and firm growth in the Peruvian manufacturing sector. In order to control for mutual causality between credit availability and firm growth, industry differences in financial dependence on external funds are exploited. The 1994 and 2008 rounds of the National Economic Census are used, permitting analysis at the firm level as well as the activity level. Results suggest a significant and positive effect of financial deepening on surviving firms` growth. However, this effect is smaller for micro enterprises, suggesting that the cost of external funding decreases with financial development mainly for large firms. The conclusions remain unchanged when entering and exiting firms are included. The paper further finds that credit expansion have encouraged not only firm growth but also firm entry. The results are robust using an alternative measure of financial dependence. |
| Keywords: | Production & Business Cycles, Business Development, Financial Services, Firm growth, Manufacturing, Financial development |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:82162&r=eff |
| By: | Ruohong Cai (Princeton University); Shuaizhang Feng (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, , Chinese University of Hong Kong); Mariola Pytliková (VSB-Technical University Ostrava, KORA, The Danish Institute of Local Governmental Research); Michael Oppenheimer (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | While there is considerable interest in understanding the climate-migration relationship, particularly in the context of concerns about global climatic change, little is known about underlying mechanisms. We analyze a unique and extensive set of panel data characterizing annual bilateral international migration flows from 163 origin countries to 42 OECD destination countries covering the last three decades. We find a positive and statistically significant relationship between temperature and international outmigration only in the most agriculture-dependent countries, consistent with the widely-documented adverse impact of temperature on agricultural productivity. In addition, migration flows to current major destinations are especially temperature-sensitive. Policies to address issues related to climate-induced international migration would be more effective if focused on the agriculture-dependent countries and especially people in those countries whose livelihoods depend on agriculture. |
| Keywords: | International migration, Climate variability, Agricultural productivity |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1418&r=eff |
| By: | Raúl Alberto Jiménez; Jorge Enrique Mercado Díaz |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates trends in energy intensity in Latin American countries over the last 40 years. It applies the Fisher Ideal Index to decompose the energy intensity into the relative contributions of energy efficiency and the activity mix, and then analyzes the determinants of these energy indexes through panel data regression techniques. Finally, the paper compares the performance of Latin American countries to that of a similar set of countries chosen through the synthetic control method. The authors find that the energy intensity in Latin American countries has decreased about 20 percent, closing the gap with respect to its synthetic counterfactual. In both Latin American countries and its synthetic control, efficiency improvements drive these changes, while the activity mix component does not represent a clear source of change. The regression analysis shows that per capita income, petroleum prices, fuel-energy mix, and GDP growth are main determinants of energy intensity and efficiency, while there are no clear correlations with the activity component. |
| Keywords: | Energy policy, Energy efficiency, energy intensity; energy policy; synthetic control |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:82018&r=eff |
| By: | Amani Elnasri (School of Economics, Australian School of Business, the University of New South Wales) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the optimality of the provision of economic infrastructure in Australia using a system of Euler equations to represent intertemporal efficiency conditions. Employing Generalised Method of Moments, our estimation results suggest that dealing with individual types of infrastructure investments at State level is helpful for reaching realistic conclusions about infrastructure provision. In particular, the paper finds that while the efficiency conditions are satisfied at aggregate level, a disaggregate analysis which examines individual components of economic infrastructure reveals sub-optimality in the provision of some types of infrastructure across the States. In addition, contrary to other methods, our efficiency approach produces a quite sensible estimate of the infrastructure effect with an annual average rate of return of about 8 percent. |
| Keywords: | Economic infrastructure, Efficiency conditions, Disaggregate analysis |
| JEL: | H54 H42 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:swe:wpaper:2014-25&r=eff |
| By: | Edoardo Gaffeo; Ronny Mazzocchi |
| Abstract: | This paper employs panel techniques to empirically examine the link between the competitiveness of the banking sector and real economic growth, using data from a sample of OECD economies during 1997-2010. We employ a dynamic GMM model to find that an increase in the efficiency of banks driven by fiercer competition is robustly associated with higher real growth. The issue of Granger-causality is then explored by means of a panel- based testing procedure addressing heterogeneity. While there is a strong evidence of causality running from real growth to banking competitiveness, a bi-directional causality appears clearly only for lags higher than 1. |
| Keywords: | Banking competition, Financial development, Economic growth |
| JEL: | C33 G21 O16 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwpem:2014/02&r=eff |