|
on Efficiency and Productivity |
|
Issue of 2016‒02‒04
twelve papers chosen by |
| By: | Jara-Rojas, Roberto; Bravo-Ureta, Boris; Solis, Daniel; Martinez, Daniela |
| Abstract: | Raspberry production has become a significant cash crop that supports the livelihood of many small-scale growers in Central Chile. Almost 100% of raspberry production is exported, and the cultivation of this crop has put pressure on smallholder farmers to integrate into the modern agri-food chain system. The goal of this article is to analyze technical efficiency (TE) levels for a sample of 139 small-scale raspberry farmers in the Maule region of Chile, the main production area for this crop in the country. One focus of this study is to evaluate the association between TE -understood as an indicator of managerial performance- and farmers’ decisions to sell their production directly to the agri-industry or indirectly through an informal middleman. Using a stochastic production frontier model we find that the commercialization decision plays an important role in the productivity and revenue of small-scale raspberry producers. The analysis also reveals a positive relationship between TE levels and income among experienced and trained farmers. The role of implementing food quality and safety standards on farm income is also discussed. |
| Keywords: | Commercialization, stochastic production frontiers, technical efficiency, small-scale farmers., International Development, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, D24, O13, Q1, |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea16:229330&r=eff |
| By: | Alice Issanchou |
| Abstract: | Agriculture is facing an expected increase in food production demand, caused by an increased global population of 9 billion people by the middle of this century. At national scale, competitiveness and economic growth issues are at stake. To insure this increase in production, there are two solutions: extend the proportion of agricultural lands at the expense of natural ecosystems; and increase agricultural productivity. Through a review of agronomic and economic articles, we show the importance of considering soil quality in the productivity and sustainability of farms. However, farming practices preserving soil quality are not widely adopted, particularly in France. An economic analysis of these issues provide an understanding of farmers' decision making process, and indicate what the optimal strategies can be to cope with these challenges. We propose an optimal control model that illustrates the links between farming practices and soil quality when soil quality is considered as an endogenous production factor. The interest and originality of this article is to associate different disciplines to investigate the role of soil quality in the sustainability and profitability of farms. |
| Keywords: | soil quality, sustainability, competitiveness, endogenous production factor |
| JEL: | Q10 Q24 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rae:wpaper:201601&r=eff |
| By: | Michael C. Burda; Battista Severgnini; ; |
| Abstract: | A quarter-century after reunication, labor productivity in eastern Germany continues to lag systematically behind the West. Denison-Hall-Jones point-in-time estimates point to large gaps in total factor productivity as the proximate cause, and auxiliary measurements which do not rely on capital stock data conrm a slowdown in TFP growth after 2000. Strikingly, capital intensity in eastern Germany, especially in industry, has overshot values in the West, casting doubt on the embodied technology hypothesis. Indeed, TFP growth is negatively associated with rates of expenditures on both total investment and plant and equipment. The best candidates for explaining the stubborn East-West TFP gap are the low concentration of managers in the East and the insucient R&D expenditure, rather than the concentration of rm headquarters and R&D personnel. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, regional convergence, German reunication |
| JEL: | D24 E01 E22 O33 O47 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2015-054&r=eff |
| By: | Ostapchuk, Igor; Balmann, Alfons; Curtiss, Jarmila |
| Keywords: | total factor productivity (TFP), technical efficiency, profit, costs, agriculture, agroholdings, independent enterprises, Agribusiness, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2015–09–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaml15:212745&r=eff |
| By: | Getahun, Tigabu Degu |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically analyzes the productivity, profitability, innovation and network effects of a public policy promoting micro and small scale industrial clusters in Ethiopia. To this end, firm-level survey data was collected from randomly selected clustered leather shoe manufacturers that have directly benefited from the policy and those that do not, both before and after the cluster policy intervention. The results from econometric analysis suggests that the industrial cluster policy adversely impacts the productivity, profitability, growth, and innovation performance of the small and micro leather shoe manufacturing enterprises that moved to the government created clusters . The analysis of the transmission mechanism further reveals that the relocated cluster policy hampers the treated firms’ collaborative business and knowledge network and aggravates their growth impediments which includes lack of trust, high customer and supplier search and reach cost, lack of market information, imperfect contract enforcement, delays in the supply of raw materials and the lack of skilled labor. The time lag between policy implementation and its impacts may conceal the long-term impact of the cluster policy. The overwhelming majority of the representatives of treatment group firms also continue to believe that their buisness performance will improve over time as a result of their participation in the MSE cluster development program. This study is a pioneer to quantitatively evaluate the productivity, profitability, innovation and network effect of industrial cluster policy in Ethiopia. |
| Keywords: | Cluster Policy, Productivity, Profitability, Networks, Small and Micro Enterprises, Ethiopia, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Risk and Uncertainty, D02, D04, D25, D85, L11, L52, L67, O14, |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:229713&r=eff |
| By: | Simplice Asongu (Yaoundé/Cameroun); John Anyanwu (African Development Bank, Côte d\\\'Ivoire); Vanessa Tchamyou (Yaoundé/Cameroon) |
| Abstract: | This study examines conditional financial development from information sharing in 53 African countries for the period 2004-2011, using contemporary and non-contemporary quantile regressions (QR) which enable the assessment of the effect of information sharing throughout the conditional distributions of financial development dynamics. The policy relevance of the QR approach builds on the motivation that blanket policies on the role of information sharing in financial development may not be effective unless they are contingent on initial levels of financial development and tailored differently across countries with low, intermediate and high levels of financial development. Information sharing is measured with private credit bureaus (PCB) and public credit registries (PCR) while financial development is proxied with dynamics of depth, efficiency, activity and size. The following findings are established. First, for financial depth, while there is a positive threshold effect from PCR in money supply and liquid liabilities, the effect from PCB is mixed. Second, for financial efficiency, there is a: (i) contemporary positive threshold from PCR and mixed effect from PCB in banking system efficiency and (ii) U-shape and positive threshold from PCR and PCB respectively in financial system efficiency. Third, for financial activity, there are consistent positive thresholds from PCR and PCB in banking system activity and financial system activity. Fourth, there are negative thresholds from PCR and PCB in financial size. Positive thresholds are consistent incremental financial development rewards from PCR and/or PCB with increasing financial development and vice-versa for negative thresholds. Mixed effects are characterised by S-shaped, Kuznets or wave-like patterns. As a main policy implication, initial conditions in financial development are essential to materialise incremental benefits from PCR and PCB. Other policy implications are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Information Sharing; Financial Development; Quantile regression |
| JEL: | G20 G29 O16 O55 C52 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:16/001&r=eff |
| By: | Biener, Christian; Eling, Martin; Jia, Ruo |
| Abstract: | A central matter of dispute in the internationalization literature is the existence and shape of a systematic relationship between the degree of internationalization and firm performance (I-P relationship). Considering the global insurance industry, we show that the I-P relationship depends on the industry’s idiosyncrasies and on the geographical scope of internationalization. The life insurance industry’s idiosyncrasies lead to relatively high liability of foreignness that compromise cost efficiency, and relatively low risk reduction benefits of globalization. Therefore, we observe an overall negative impact of globalization on life insurers’ performance. However, the nonlife insurance industry’s idiosyncrasies render this relationship insignificant. |
| Keywords: | Industry Dependency, Liability of Foreignness, Risk Reduction, Data Envelopment Analysis, Financial Services |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:sfwpfi:2016:02&r=eff |
| By: | Asian Development Bank (ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Southeast Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Southeast Asia Department, ADB); Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| Abstract: | This report was produced under the technical assistance project Promoting Renewable Energy, Clean Fuels, and Energy Efficiency in the Greater Mekong Subregion (TA 7679). It reports on energy efficiency targets and developments in five countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS): Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The GMS countries envisage substantial energy efficiency savings over the next 15 to 20 years, with overall energy efficiency savings amounting to almost 60 million tons of oil equivalent annually by 2030. Most GMS governments have established plans for reaching these targets and have implemented policy, regulatory, and program measures to lower energy intensity and achieve energy efficiency. GMS countries project that their energy needs will double or triple over the next 15 years and greater energy efficiency offers a win–win public–private sector partnership for reducing unsustainable reliance on high-carbon (coal and oil) fuels. |
| Keywords: | energy efficiency developments in the gms, energy efficiency, energy savings, greater mekong subregion, gms, asian development bank, cambodia, lao pdr, myanmar, thailand, viet nam, 3rd asean energy outlook, eria, targets and projected energy savings, energy efficiency policy frameworks in the gms, energy elasticity, energy intensity, food-energy-water nexus, energy efficiency performance targets, energy efficiency program, energy efficiency initiatives, cambodia ministry of mines and energy, lao pdr ministry of energy and mines, myanmar ministry of energy, thailand department of alternative energy development and efficiency, electricity regulatory authority of viet nam lahmeyer internationa gmbh, climate change, energy demand forecast, energy efficiency by industry, business as usual vs energy efficiency |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asd:wpaper:rpt146840-2&r=eff |
| By: | Marton, Tibor |
| Abstract: | This paper sets up several random effects spatial autoregressive panel data models with nested Translog production function with non-constant and non-neutral technological change to explain the variation of milk quantity with given stocks of capital, labor (hired and family) and feed production area as other limited productive resource. The aim of the paper is to discover the spatial spillovers in Norwegian milk production as a result of changing quota systems by introducing a spatially lagged variable of milk output. The paper examines three distinctive 5-year balanced panel data sets to account for the evolving milk quota system, such as: no quota, restrictive quota and transferable quota system. The paper also derives joint and conditional Lagrange Multiplier (LM) tests for detecting spatial error correlation (ρ), serial correlation (ψ) and random individual effects (µ) in panel models as well as Moran's I test for testing spatial dependence on panel variables. The tests help to avoid misspecifications of the spatial models. The outcome of the SAREM2SRRE model verified our hypothesis of increasing quota flows within the counties, since the spatial spillover parameters (λ) showed increasing trend under the distinguished dataframes. As a conclusion, the quota system gave rise to positive structural changes because it increased the spatial interdependence and spatial relations between Norwegian dairy farmers. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa150:212657&r=eff |
| By: | Juan Antolin-Diaz (Department of Macroeconomic Research, Fulcrum Asset Management); Thomas Drechsel (Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM); Economics Department London School of Economics (LSE)); Ivan Petrella (Bank of England; Department of Economics, Mathematics and Statistics Birkbeck College; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)) |
| Abstract: | Using a dynamic factor model that allows for changes in both the long-run growth rate of output and the volatility of business cycles, we document a significant decline in long-run output growth in the United States. Our evidence supports the view that most of this slowdown occurred prior to the Great Recession. We show how to use the model to decompose changes in long-run growth into its underlying drivers. At low frequencies, a decline in the growth rate of labor productivity appears to be behind the recent slowdown in GDP growth for both the US and other advanced economies. When applied to real-time data, the proposed model is capable of detecting shifts in long-run growth in a timely and reliable manner. |
| Keywords: | Long-run growth, Business cycles, Productivity, Dynamic factor models, Real-time data |
| JEL: | C32 E01 E23 E32 O47 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfm:wpaper:1604&r=eff |
| By: | John Buckell (School of Public Health, Yale University); Andrew Smith (Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds); Claire Hulme (Leeds Institute for Health Sciences, University of Leeds); John Young (Leeds Institute for Health Sciences, University of Leeds) |
| Abstract: | Community hospitals provide intermediate care, which is rising up the political agenda as issues of population ageing and the integration of health and social care gain prominence. Currently, services in community hospitals are modestly provided, but funding could be channelled to aid their expansion, if supported by evidence. The clinical benefits of community care relative to hospital-based treatment are well documented for elderly patients. However, economic evidence of intermediate care is scant. In this study, we look to provide some insights the costs of service provision in intermediate care. Specifically, we consider the provision of intermediate care in community hospitals, and apply econometric techniques for the first time. We make use of a unique data set to explore the cost structure of intermediate care in the community hospital setting and assess the relative efficiency thereof. We further consider the drivers of costs and economies of scale. We find efficiency of around 83% and evidence of economies of scale in community hospitals. |
| Keywords: | Efficiency; Community Hospitals; Intermediate Care; Benchmarking |
| JEL: | I11 I18 K23 L32 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lee:wpaper:1601&r=eff |
| By: | Mauro Napoletano (OFCE); Francesco Vona (OFCE); Jean-Luc Gaffard (OFCE) |
| Abstract: | L’étude empirique comparative montre que la composition de l’ investissemet compte bien davantage que son niveau global. C’est moins le tauxd ’investissement que la nature des investissements effectués et leur degré de complémentarité qui affectent naturellement la performance des entreprises et de l’économie. |
| Keywords: | competitivite; investissement; productivite |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/477dlt1f5092db39gapm7q6b18&r=eff |