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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2014‒08‒16
eleven papers chosen by |
| By: | Sarah Ben Yahmed (IEP Aix-en-Provence - Sciences Po Aix - Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence - Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP] - Aix-en-Provence - Aix Marseille Université - Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques [FNSP], GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - Université de la Méditerranée - Aix-Marseille II - Université Paul Cézanne - Aix-Marseille III - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - CNRS : UMR7316); Sean Dougherty (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, OCDE - Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques - OCDE) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how import penetration affects firms' productivity growth taking into account the heterogeneity in firms' distance to the efficiency frontier and country differences in product market regulation. |
| Keywords: | Firm productivity growth ; Behind-the-border regulatory barriers ; Product market regulation ; Import competition, international trade |
| Date: | 2014–03–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:gmonwp:hal-00959389&r=eff |
| By: | Jungsoo Park (Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI)); Yung Chul Park |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the effects of financial liberalization on the lending behavior of banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) before and after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, using panel regressions on Republic of Korea firm-level and industry-level data of the period 1991–2007. It also develops a financial liberalization index to incorporate the multifaceted nature of financial reform. Findings show that financial liberalization has led banks and NBFIs to allocate more of their loans to small and medium-sized firms with good performance histories, thereby helping these entities to improve their total factor productivity growth. This paper does not find similar effects of financial liberalization on efficiency at large firms or at the industry level. Heavier reliance on direct financing after the crisis has not improved the productivity of large firms. |
| Keywords: | Financial Liberalization, non-bank financial institutions, Lending Behavior, firm-level and industry-level data, Financial Reform, small and medium-sized firm, Total Factor Productivity Growth |
| JEL: | G20 O40 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:financ:24163&r=eff |
| By: | Michel Dumont (Federal Planning Bureau; Department of general economics, Ghent University); Bruno Merlevede (CERISE, Ghent University; Department of general economics, Ghent University); Glenn Rayp (SHERPPA, Ghent University; Department of general economics, Ghent University); Marijn Verschelde (SHERPPA, Ghent University; Department of general economics, Ghent University; Faculty of Economics and Business, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) |
| Abstract: | In this paper a semiparametric stochastic metafrontier approach is used to obtain insight into firmlevel competitiveness in Europe. We differ from standard TFP studies at the firm level as we simultaneously allow for inefficiency, noise and do not impose a functional form on the input-output relation. Using AMADEUS firm-level data covering 10 manufacturing sectors from seven EU15 countries, (i) we document substantial, persistent differences in competitiveness (with Belgium and Germany as benchmark countries and Spain lagging behind) and a wide technology gap, (ii) we confirm the absence of convergence in TFP between the seven selected countries, (iii) we confirm that the technology gap is more pronounced for smaller firms, (iv) we highlight the role of post-entry growth for competitiveness. |
| Keywords: | competitiveness, cross-country analysis, firm heterogeneity, total factor productivity, post-entry growth |
| JEL: | C14 D24 L25 M13 O33 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:201407-261&r=eff |
| By: | Petrick, Martin; Kloss, Mathias |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the drivers of productivity in EU agriculture from a factor markets perspective. Using econometrically estimated production elasticities and shadow prices of factors for a set of eight EU member states, we focus on field crop farms represented in the FADN database for the years 2002-08. As it turned out that output reacts most elastically to materials input, we investigate this factor further and find different rationing regimes represented in different member states. Marginal return on materials is low in Denmark and West Germany, but significantly above typical market interest rates in East Germany, Italy and Spain. In the latter countries and in Denmark it also increased towards the end of the observed period. This finding is consistent with a perception of tightening funding access, possibly induced or reinforced by the unfolding financial crisis. Marginal returns to land, labour and fixed capital are generally low. We conclude that the functioning of factor markets plays a crucial role for productivity growth, but that factor market operations display considerable heterogeneity across EU member states. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, |
| Date: | 2013–08–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:famawp:157116&r=eff |
| By: | Joao Ricardo Faria (University of Texas at El Paso); Peter McAdam (University of Surrey) |
| Abstract: | Many studies suggest that research productivity falls after tenure is granted. We have however limited choice-theoretic understanding of why this should occur. With some simplifying assumptions, we rationalize this as follows. Scholars are assumed to be “specialistsâ€: their research productivity consists in transforming Ph.D. chapters into publishable papers. We show how a department that hired such a scholar provides incentives to maximize research productivity. We show his research productivity and publication paths are then characterized by a “bang-bang†solution, i.e., either he works with maximum or minimum effort. The department sets the scholar’s wages proportional to the department’s impatience to spur his productivity, and only succeeds if he turns out to be more impatient than the department. The paper provides a novel perspective on academic productivity and the tenure system. |
| JEL: | D29 A29 M51 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sur:surrec:0514&r=eff |
| By: | Ayesha Ashraf; Dierk Herzer; Peter Nunnenkamp |
| Abstract: | Based on original survey data, this paper analyses and compares the role of personal traits and social capital in determining entrepreneurial intentions of students in Hong Kong and in Guangzhou (mainland China). The two cities are culturally closely related but differ strongly with respect to their formal institutions and the maturity of their business environment. Our findings suggest that the determinants of entrepreneurial intentions among students in Hong Kong very much resemble those found in Western economies, whereas the entrepreneurial mindsets of students in Guangzhou differ substantially from previous findings |
| Keywords: | greenfield FDI; cross-border mergers and acquisitions; total factor productivity |
| JEL: | F21 F23 O47 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1941&r=eff |
| By: | Berberoglu, Giray (Middle East Technical University); Tansel, Aysit (Middle East Technical University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effectiveness of private tutoring in Turkey. The authors introduce their study by providing some background information on the two major national examinations and three different kinds of tutoring. They then describe how they aimed to analyse whether attending private tutoring centres (PTCs) enhances Turkish students' academic performance. By way of multiple linear regression analysis, their study sought to evaluate whether the impact of private tutoring varies in different subject areas, taking into account several student-related characteristics such as family and academic backgrounds as well as interest in and perception of academic success. In terms of subject areas, the results indicate that while private tutoring does have a positive impact on academic performance in mathematics and Turkish language, this is not the case in natural sciences. However, as evidenced by the effect sizes, these impacts are rather small compared to the impacts of other variables such as interest in and perception of academic success, high school graduation fields of study, high school cumulative grade point average (CGPA), parental education and students' sociocultural background. While the authors point out that more research on the impact of further important variables needs to be done, their view is that school seems to be an important factor for determining students' academic performance. |
| Keywords: | private tutoring, academic performance, regression analysis, Turkey |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8343&r=eff |
| By: | Chiara Piccardo (Università di Genova); Anna Bottasso (Università di Genova); Luigi Benfratello (Università di Napoli Federico II and CSEF) |
| Abstract: | This paper sheds additional light on the relationship between firm level innovative capacity and export intensity. By drawing from the recent literature on exporters' heterogeneity, we apply quantile regression techniques to a sample of Italian firms in order to verify whether the effect of innovative capacity – measured by R&D expenditures – varies along the conditional distribution of the export intensity, after controlling for censoring and potential endogeneity of the innovation variable. We confirm that R&D expenditures positively affect export intensity and we find that such effect has a bell shaped pattern along its conditional distribution: firms characterized by export intensity of about 60% can take highest advantage from investing in R&D activity. Overall results prove to be robust to several specification checks and suggest not only that firms innovative capacity helps to explain heterogeneity in export intensity performance, but also that its positive effect differs across the export to sales ratio distribution. |
| Keywords: | Exports, R&D, quantile regression, endogeneity, distance to the frontier |
| JEL: | F14 O32 D22 C31 C36 |
| Date: | 2014–08–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:371&r=eff |
| By: | Francesco Amodio (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Michele Di Maio (University of Naples) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of conflict on firms' output value and input misallocation in the context of Palestine during the Second Intifada. Using a unique establishment-level dataset, we compare firms' outcomes and input usage over time across districts experiencing differential changes in conflict intensity. We show how conflict diminishes the total and per-worker value of firms' output through the distortions it generates in firms' access to input markets. In particular, lack of access to the market for imported material inputs leads firms to adjust input usage accordingly, substituting domestically produced materials for imported ones. We also empirically identify the relative amount of conflict-induced input distortions. Furthermore, we find that conflict affects disproportionally more those sectors which were more intensive in imported materials and had higher average output value in pre-conflict years. Conflict is thus shown to be particularly harmful for the most productive sectors of the economy. |
| Keywords: | conflict, firms, misallocation, Palestine, Second Intifada |
| JEL: | D22 D24 N45 O12 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:179&r=eff |
| By: | Mahathanaseth, Itthipong; Tauer, Loren W. |
| Keywords: | Financial Economics, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudawp:180174&r=eff |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); (East Asia Department, ADB); ; |
| Abstract: | The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have been actively exploring knowledge partnerships to expand mutual learning with other developing member countries (DMCs) in key sectors such as agriculture, natural resources, transport, and urbanization. This publication documents the knowledge and experiences on agricultural development and rural livelihood improvement shared during the Knowledge Sharing Platform (KSP) held in Beijing and Henan Province in November 2011. Participants from the PRC and 12 other DMCs discussed topics that included policies and institutional mechanisms to promote modern agriculture, agricultural value chain and logistics system development, bridging of agricultural research with practices, rural infrastructure and green development, and financial development in rural areas. |
| Keywords: | china, prc, knowledge partnerships, agriculture, agricultural development, rural livelihood, agricultural value chain, agricultural logistics system, rural development, agricultural research, circular economy, rural finance |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt125229&r=eff |