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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2016‒06‒04
25 papers chosen by |
| By: | Zhiyang Shen (IESEG School of Management (LEM 9221-CNRS)); Jean-Philippe Boussemart (University of Lille 3 and IESEG School of Management (LEM 9221-CNRS); CNRS-LEM 9221 and IESEG School of Management) |
| Abstract: | Most of previous research about Total Factor Productivity (TFP) at the macro level only emphasizes technical effect and technological progress at the country level, but it ignores structural effect for a group of countries at the aggregate level. This paper attempts to measure the green productivity evolution incorporating carbon dioxide emissions based on the Luenberger TFP indicator for a group of 30 OECD countries over the period of 1971-2011. We propose a novel decomposition for green productivity growth at the aggregate level which separates TFP changes into three components: technological progress, technical efficiency change, and structural efficiency change. The structural effect captures the heterogeneity in the combination of input and output mixes among countries that can impact TFP growth at a more aggregate level. In the literature, this effect has not been quantified for a group of nations such as the OECD countries. Our results indicate that the traditional TFP index underestimates green growth which is motivated by the effective and efficient environmental policies of the OECD. The green productivity growth is mainly driven by technology progress which has become a dominant force in the 21st century. |
| Keywords: | Undesirable Output; Carbon Dioxide Emissions; Total Factor Productivity; Weak Disposability |
| JEL: | O44 O47 Q50 D24 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ies:wpaper:e201603&r=eff |
| By: | Nehring, Richard; erickson, kenneth; harris, michael; Hallahan, Charlie; katchova, ani |
| Abstract: | This study uses stochastic production frontier (SPF) methods to estimate the impact of urban influence on the cost of production for traditional corn/soybeans farms in the Heartland (excepting Missouri), the Southern Seaboard (excepting Virginia and Alabama) and the Prairie Gateway. We hypothesize that urban influence decreases the technical efficiency of these farms. Although these regions are not entirely subject to urban influence, some parts of these areas are. We find that farmers in urban-influenced locations are less technically efficient than farmers in rural locations in all three regions examined. During 2002-2014, stochastic production frontier procedures indicate that increasing urban influence leads to a significant decrease in technical efficiency. Our statistical analysis clearly bears out the refrain in popular literature that urban proximity raises the cost for, and decreases the viability of, traditional farms. |
| Keywords: | input distance function, scale efficiency, stochastic production frontier, technical efficiency, urban-influence., Consumer/Household Economics, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235920&r=eff |
| By: | Mugabe, Douglas; Etienne, Xiaoli L. |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we estimate the efficiency of resource use for maize production among smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. We collect a total of 176 questionnaires from Mazowe South district, consisting of both A1 (less than 10 hectares of land) and A2 (greater than 10 hectares of land) farms. Findings based on parametric Stochastic Frontier models show that smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe are not efficiently utilizing their available agricultural resources when producing maize. The average technical efficiencies are only 36.75% and 38.6% for A1 and A2 farms, respectively. About 60% of A1 and all A2 farmers have technical efficiency scores between 0.3 and 0.5. In the non-parametric analysis, however, we find a much higher technical efficiency for both types of farms, over 60% and 75% for A1 and A2 farms, respectively. Still, these numbers are lower than those found in other countries. Among other factors examined, attaining tertiary education and access to extension services by the head of the household can significantly improve production efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Resource Use Efficiency, Technical Efficiency, A1 and A2 smallholder farmer, Stochastic Frontier model, Inefficiency, Data Envelopment Analysis, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235938&r=eff |
| By: | Kurtzman, Robert J.; Zeke, David |
| Abstract: | This paper presents accounting decompositions of changes in aggregate labor and capital productivity. Our simplest decomposition breaks changes in an aggregate productivity ratio into two components: A mean component, which captures common changes to firm factor productivity ratios, and a dispersion component, which captures changes in the variance and higher order moments of their distribution. In standard models with heterogeneous firms and frictions to firm input decisions, the dispersion component is a function of changes in the second and higher moments of the log of marginal revenue factor productivities and reflects changes in the extent of distortions to firm factor input allocations across firms. We apply our decomposition to public firm data from the United States and Japan. We find that the mean component is responsible for most of the variation in aggregate productivity over the business cycle, while the dispersion component plays a modest role. |
| Keywords: | Accounting Decomposition ; Business Cycles ; Misallocation ; Productivity |
| JEL: | D24 E32 L11 |
| Date: | 2016–05–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2016-45&r=eff |
| By: | Vrachioli, Maria; Stefanou, Spiro; Grogan, Kelly |
| Abstract: | With the demand for agricultural water expecting to be increased because of the expanding population growth and with water use efficiency in agricultural sector tending to be low, policy recommendations are needed to encourage farmers to increase agricultural water productivity. The main objective of this paper is to develop a spatial model that determines optimal water allocation and to generate measures of agricultural water productivity along a canal, taking into account the head versus tail disparities in water allocation along a canal. The second objective is to analyze agricultural water productivity change into its components, change in variable inputs and change in water usage, and examine the effect of efficient water usage effort on agricultural water productivity. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural water productivity, Spatial model, Quantity and quality of agricultural water, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, D24, Q15, Q25, R32, |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235834&r=eff |
| By: | Rodriguez, Divina Gracia P. |
| Abstract: | Site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) provides guidelines for effective nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium management to help farmers make better decisions on fertilizer input and output levels in rice production. I evaluated the assumptions underlying the SSNM strategy for rice in the top rice producing countries in the world: India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Using a generalized quadratic production function, I explored whether major nutrients are substitutes as inputs, and if there are complementarities between inorganic fertilizer and soil organic matter (SOM). I also used non-nested hypothesis framework to contrast the quadratic model against the linear von Liebig model. Results showed that the relationships among major nutrients vary across sites – some inputs are complements, some are substitutes, and some are independent. In addition, I found that the SOM significantly affects the economic returns to nitrogen fertilizer inputs. Accounting for these relationships in the fertilizer recommendation algorithm can make the SSNM strategy more adaptive to farmer’s fields. In areas where soils have limiting organic matter content, fertilizer subsidy or distribution might not be appropriate means to support rice production. Increased rice productivity can be achieved through integrated soil fertility management and adoption of soil conservation technologies. |
| Keywords: | rice, fertilizer recommendations, nitrogen, soil carbon content, organic matter, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, International Development, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q10, Q12, Q16, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235506&r=eff |
| By: | Manuel García-Santana; Enrique Moral-Benito; Josep Pijoan-Mas; Roberto Ramos |
| Abstract: | Spanish GDP grew at an average rate of 3.5% per year during the expansion of 1995-2007, well above the EU average of 2.2%. However, this growth was based on factor accumulation rather than productivity gains as TFP fell at an annual rate of 0.7%. Using firm-level administrative data for all sectors we show that deterioration in the allocative efficiency of productive factors across firms was at the root of the low TFP growth in Spain, while misallocation across sectors played only a minor role. Cross-industry variation reveals that the increase in misallocation was more severe in sectors where government in fluence is more important for business success, which represents novel evidence on the potential macroeconomic costs of crony capitalism. In contrast, sectoral differences in financial dependence, skill intensity, innovative content, tradability, or capital structures intensity appear to be unrelated to changes in allocative efficiency. All in all, the observed high output growth together with increasing firm-level misallocation in all sectors is consistent with an expansion driven by a demand boom rather than by structural reforms. |
| Keywords: | TFP, Misallocation, Spain. |
| JEL: | D24 O11 O47 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1517&r=eff |
| By: | Delis, Manthos D.; Gaganis, Chrysovalantis; Hasan, Iftekhar; Pasiouras, Fotios |
| Abstract: | We link genetic diversity in the country of origin of the firms’ board members with corporate performance via board members’ nationality. We hypothesize that our approach captures deep-rooted differences in cultural, institutional, social, psychological, physiological, and other traits that cannot be captured by other recently measured indices of diversity. Using a panel of firms listed in the North American and U.K. stock markets, we find that adding board directors from countries with different levels of genetic diversity (either higher or lower) increases firm performance. This effect prevails when we control for a number of cultural, institutional, firm-level, and board member characteristics, as well as for the nationality of the board of directors. To identify the relationship, we use as instrumental variables for our diversity indices the migratory distance from East Africa and the level of ultraviolet exposure in the directors’ country of nationality. |
| Keywords: | genetic diversity, corporate performance, nationality of board members |
| Date: | 2015–08–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bof:bofrdp:2015_014&r=eff |
| By: | Ito, Seiro; Ohira, Satoshi; Tsukada, Kazunari |
| Abstract: | We estimate the economic impacts of irrigation using the panel data set from rural Thailand. We employed difference-in-differences estimation and showed that tertiary irrigation has unexpected impacts. Contrary to the local experts predicitions that it should have substantial productivity impacts as it allows better water controls for farmers, we found largely zero profitability impacts. Another unexpected finding is that, while profitability is not affected, we see an increase in cultivation probability with the construction of tertiary canals. This is observed in both wet and dry seasons. This finding suggests that Thai farmers are willing to expand operation scale once they get water. |
| Keywords: | Canals, Infrastructure, Agriculture, Impact evaluation of infrastructure, Tertiary canals, Cultivation |
| JEL: | Q12 Q15 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper596&r=eff |
| By: | Fan, Yubing; Wang, Chenggang; Nan, Zhibiao |
| Abstract: | A great challenge for agricultural production is to produce more food with less water, which can be possibly achieved by increasing crop water use efficiency (WUE). We systematically reviewed 51 cases from 48 empirical studies with field experimental results on wheat and cotton. We estimated the yield-water use relations under both furrow and micro irrigation systems, compared crop water use to achieve maximum WUE and maximum yield, and evaluated the effects of many influential factors using meta-regression analysis. Our results showed significant effects of micro irrigation adoption, farm management practices focusing on crop, soil and water, and some moderator variables related with the empirical studies on crop WUE. Assessments of the publication selection bias and genuine effects illustrated the application of weighted least squares in conducting meta-regression analysis. |
| Keywords: | Water use efficiency, micro-irrigation, farm management practices, wheat, cotton, meta-analysis, publication bias, Farm Management, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Q15, Q25, Q55, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236059&r=eff |
| By: | Alia, Didier; Yoko, Kusunose; Veronique, Theriault3 |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Land Economics/Use, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236169&r=eff |
| By: | Cui, Jingbo; Li, Xiaogang |
| Keywords: | Productivity, Backward Citations, Innovation, Knowledge Stock, Industrial Organization, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, d22, O31, |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235603&r=eff |
| By: | Jin, Yanhong; Hu, Yahong; Pray, Carl; Hu, Ruifa |
| Abstract: | Employing the count data analysis based on survey data of 1355 firms in China’s 29 provinces collected in 2007, this study analyzes the impact of public and private agricultural R&D investments on research productivity measured by the number of patents granted to agricultural firms. We find that private R&D investments and having an own R&D research center increase the number of patents granted. However, the public R&D investments do not have a statistically significant effects on the number of patents granted. We also find that the number of research staff, especially of doctoral research staff, has a positive and statistically significant effect on the number of patents granted. Multi-national firms and firms located in central China have fewer patents than their counterparts. The main findings suggest that it is more efficient for Chinese government to improve research productivity if it encourages private agricultural R&D investments and helps agricultural firms to build their own R&D centers. Chinese government may also need to strengthen the legal framework and institutional resources for the protection and enforcement of intellectual properties to encourage domestic and international firms patent their new technologies. |
| Keywords: | Research and Development Investment, Agricultural Research Productivity, Public R&D, Private R&D, International Development, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236125&r=eff |
| By: | Castellani, Davide (University of Reading); Piva, Mariacristina (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Schubert, Torben (Lund University); Vivarelli, Marco (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) |
| Abstract: | Using data on the US and EU top R&D spenders from 2004 until 2012, this paper investigates the sources of the US/EU productivity gap. We find robust evidence that US firms have a higher capacity to translate R&D into productivity gains (especially in the high-tech industries), and this contributes to explaining the higher productivity of US firms. Conversely, EU firms are more likely to achieve productivity gains through capital-embodied technological change at least in medium and low-tech sectors. Our results also show that the US/EU productivity gap has worsened during the crisis period, as the EU companies have been more affected by the economic crisis in their capacity to translate R&D investments into productivity. Based on these findings, we make a case for a learning-based and selective R&D funding, which – instead of purely aiming at stimulating higher R&D expenditures – works on improving the firms' capabilities to transform R&D into productivity gains. |
| Keywords: | R&D, productivity, economic crisis, US, EU |
| JEL: | O33 O51 O52 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9937&r=eff |
| By: | Frieling, Julius (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)); Madlener, Reinhard (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)) |
| Abstract: | The elasticity of substitution between production factors is one of the main determinants of factor shares and their reaction to technical change. We show how using a system of simultaneously estimated equations can help to identify parameters in a nested CES production function. We evaluate how the system approach can be applied to a nested CES production function using energy as a third production factor in addition to capital and labor. We demonstrate how fixing the elasticity of the nested process substantially improves the identification of the model parameters. Using data for Germany, we find that the elasticity of substitution between energy and the capital-labor composite is only around 0.3, which implies a very low substitutability of energy in the production process. This indicates that energy availability could be a strong limiting factor for growth. |
| Keywords: | elasticity of substitution; factor productivity; multifactor production; econometric estimation; impossibility theorem |
| JEL: | C15 C30 E23 O33 O41 O47 Q43 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:fcnwpa:2016_001&r=eff |
| By: | Grashuis, Jasper; Cook, Michael |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a unique descriptive and empirical study of governance and performance in the U.S. agri-food industry with specific emphasis on the boards of directors of firms and cooperatives. Per the summary statistics, the average firm has more assets, more sales, and more profits, yet efficiency and profitability ratios indicate the average cooperative is superior. Using seven board and management characteristics, a three-stage least squares model is specified for two samples of 128 firms and 456 cooperatives in order to address the hypothesized endogenous nature of the governance-performance relationship. For the cooperative sample, the impact of board size on performance is estimated to be negative, while female directorship, director independence, and director ownership have a positive and significant causal relationship to various proxies of performance. Overall, in relation to financial performance, governance as proxied by board and management characteristics is concluded to be more impactful for the cooperative sample, which implies a significant difference between corporate and cooperative governance. |
| Keywords: | Governance, Agricultural Cooperative, Three Stage Least Squares, Comparative Study, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization, Q13, Q14, Q15, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235676&r=eff |
| By: | Avila-Santamaria, Jorge; Useche, Pilar |
| Abstract: | This study examines the intra-household bargaining its impact on the productivity of coffee and other crops functions and on the gender productivity gap, using household-level data from 615 farmers in Colombia and Ecuador. The OLS estimates and the Oaxaca-Blinder (O-B) decomposition method corroborate the hypothesis that given a gain bargaining power through the distribution factor “female participation in the intra-household decision-making” would exacerbate household productivity and the gender gap as long this bargaining is not balanced and wives do not obtain fair benefits from agricultural activities. The results also confirm that differences in observed factors between female and male-headed households are the main reason for the gender gap. |
| Keywords: | Gender Productivity Gap, Bargaining Power, Coffee Production, Collective Model., Consumer/Household Economics, Productivity Analysis, D13, J16, Q12, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236156&r=eff |
| By: | Julien, Jacques C.; Bravo-Ureta, Boris E. |
| Keywords: | International Development, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2016–07–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235660&r=eff |
| By: | Pokharel, Krishna P; Featherstone, Allen M |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this research is to estimate product-specific and multiproduct economies of scale and economies of scope using a nonparametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. Product-specific economies of scale exist for other product sales, but not for grain and farm inputs sales. Overall, multiproduct economies of scale and economies of scope exist. However, the median value of multiproduct scale economies are higher and greater than one for small cooperatives, which imply that cooperatives mergers likely to continue to exhaust the benefits from economies of scale. |
| Keywords: | Multiproduct, Product-specific, Scale, Scope, Economies, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236182&r=eff |
| By: | Delis, Manthos D.; Hasan, Iftekhar; Tsionas, Efthymios G. |
| Abstract: | Use of variability of profits and other accounting-based ratios in order to estimate a firm's risk of insolvency is a well-established concept in management and economics. This paper argues that these measures fail to approximate the true level of risk accurately because managers consider other strategic choices and goals when making risky decisions. Instead, we propose an econometric model that incorporates current and past strategic choices to estimate risk from the profit function. Specifically, we extend the well-established multiplicative error model to allow for the endogeneity of the uncertainty component. We demonstrate the power of the model using a large sample of U.S. banks, and show that our estimates predict the accelerated bank risk that led to the subprime crisis in 2007. Our measure of risk also predicts the probability of bank default both in the period of the default, but also well in advance of this default and before conventional measures of bank risk. |
| Keywords: | risk, strategic management, endogenous, profit function |
| Date: | 2015–08–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bof:bofrdp:2015_016&r=eff |
| By: | John (Jianqiu) Bai; Daniel Carvalho; Gordon Phillips* |
| Abstract: | Using a difference-in-difference methodology, we find that the state-level deregulation of local U.S. banking markets leads to significant increases in the reallocation of labor within local industries towards small firms with higher marginal products of labor. Using plant-level data, we propose and examine an approach that quantifies the industry productivity gains from labor reallocation and find that these gains are economically important. Our analysis suggests that labor reallocation is a significant channel through which local banking markets affect the aggregate productivity and performance of local industries. |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:16-26&r=eff |
| By: | Guglielmo Maria Caporale; Suman Lodh; Monomita Nandy |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of the global financial crisis on the banking sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, as well as the main determinants of the profitability of both domestic and foreign banks. The empirical findings suggest that during the crisis the former outperformed the latter in that region. As for the determinants of profitability, size does not appear to play a role, whilst the liquidity ratio and net interest revenues seem to have a negative and positive effect respectively; GDP has a positive effect in the case of domestic banks. |
| Keywords: | MENA region, banking sector, profitability, global financial crisis |
| JEL: | G21 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1580&r=eff |
| By: | Mekonnen, Dawit; Hira, Channa; Claudia, Ringler |
| Abstract: | Irrigated agriculture accounts for about 80% of total agricultural production in Pakistan, an arid country home to the sixth largest population globally. Almost all irrigated production takes place in the Indus Basin Irrigation System, the world's largest contiguous irrigated area. The extensive system of canals transfers water from the river system to distributaries and from there to watercourses, farms, and eventually to individual farm plots. Given growing water shortages and the resulting increased variability in water flows in the system, it will be important to improve system efficiency to ensure continued increase in agricultural production. A key question remains, however, where to intervene in the system. This paper uses multilevel modeling to explore the relative importance of plots, farms, watercourses, and distributaries on the levels and variance of wheat yield, and identify entry points to improve agricultural water management in a way that can guide prioritization of investments across the different levels of the irrigation network. Our findings suggest that out of the total variation in wheat yield that is not explained by plot specific characteristics, 28% is explained by distributary level effects, 3% by watercourse level effects, and 7% by farm (household) characteristics. These findings suggest that investments that improve irrigation water delivery at the distributary level provide the highest impact per unit of dollar invested in terms of reducing yield gaps among farmers. |
| Keywords: | IMT, Irrigation, Multilevel models, Productivity, Pakistan, Crop Production/Industries, International Development, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, D24, Q12, Q15, Q25, |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235977&r=eff |
| By: | Njuki, Eric; Bravo-Ureta, Boris E. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:235555&r=eff |
| By: | Bart van Ark, The Conference Board and University of Groningen |
| Abstract: | This paper looks at the growth stagnation in Europe since the beginning of the crisis, and places it in the light of the longer-term growth slowdown since the 1990s, as well as the projections forward for the remainder of the decade. Using a growth accounting approach, we compare the sources of the growth gap before and since the crisis. We observe a particularly rapid decline in the contributions of employment and total factor productivity to output growth. The projections to 2020 show that there is a continued large negative growth contribution from total factor productivity, which appears unsustainable. Looking at the growth gap relative to the United States, we find that while ICT capital intensity in Europe has largely converged on the US, the productivity effects were severely impacted by the crisis, especially because of a drop in the returns-to-scale from ICT use in non-ICT producing sectors. In the final part of the paper we focus on one key area to narrow (or even close) the TFP growth gap, by focusing on a shift in investment towards intangible (or knowledge) assets, such as ICT, innovative property and economic competencies. We find that at present the intensity of intangible investment in Europe is still much lower than in the United States. In the final section of the paper we draw conclusions with regard to the policy setting to revive long-term productivity growth through supporting the shift in its asset composition towards knowledge assets, notably the need to complete the single market in services, especially in the digital economy. |
| JEL: | O47 E22 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:euf:dispap:006&r=eff |