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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2016‒06‒25
fourteen papers chosen by |
| By: | Elisa Gamberoni (European Central Bank); Christine Gartner (European Central Bank); Claire Giordano (Bank of Italy); Paloma Lopez-Garcia (European Central Bank) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the role of corruption in the business environment in explaining the efficiency of within-sector production factor allocation across firms in nine Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in 2003-2012. Using a conditional convergence model, we find evidence of a positive relationship between corruption growth and both labour and capital misallocation dynamics, once country framework conditions are controlled for: this link is larger the smaller the country, the lower the degree of political stability and civil liberties, and the weaker the quality of its regulations. As input misallocation is one of the determinants of productivity growth, we further show that the correlation between changes in corruption and TFP growth is indeed negative. Our results also hold when we tackle a possible omitted variable bias by instrumenting corruption with two instrumental variables (the percentage of women in Parliament and freedom of the press). In conclusion, targeted action against corruption in the CEE region would be efficiency-enhancing. |
| Keywords: | bribes, capital misallocation, labour misallocation, total factor productivity |
| JEL: | D24 D73 O47 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_331_16&r=eff |
| By: | Ang, Frederic; Jan Kerstens, Pieter |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces a nonparametric measure of coordination Luenberger productivity growth where the subprocesses are explicitly modelled in the production technology. The coordination productivity indicator is decomposed into a coordination technical inefficiency change component and a coordination technical change component. This decomposition allows to assess how reallocation impacts the different sources of productivity growth. The empirical application focusses on a large panel of English and Welsh farms over the period 2007−2013. The results show that coordination inefficiency significantly increases with the proportion of resources allocated to livestock production in economic and statistical terms. Coordination inefficient farms should generally allocate more land to crop production. Depending on the region, the average coordination Luenberger productivity growth ranges from -9.7 percent to 15.9 percent per year. It is driven by coordination technical change rather than coordination inefficiency change. |
| Keywords: | directional distance function, productivity indicator, coordination inefficiency, mixed farms, Agricultural and Food Policy, D22, D24, Q12, |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc16:236337&r=eff |
| By: | Natália P. Monteiro (Department of Economics/NIPE, University of Minho); Odd Rune Straume (Department of Economics/NIPE, University of Minho) |
| Abstract: | We analyse empirically whether cooperatives and investor-owned fims differ in terms of productive efficiency. Using rich Portuguese panel data covering a wide range of industries, we apply two different empirical approaches to estimate potential diffferences in total factor productivity between the two groups of fi rms. The results from our benchmark random-effects model show that cooperatives are signi cantly less productive, on average, than investor-owned fi rms. This conclusion is to a large extent confi rmed by the results from System-GMM estimations. The lower productivity of cooperatives applies to a wide spectrum of industries. In six out of thirteen industries, cooperatives are outperformed by investor-owned firms in all empirical speci cations considered, while there is no industry in which cooperatives are consistently found to be the more productive type of firm. |
| Keywords: | Cooperatives; investor-owned fi rms; productive effiiciency |
| JEL: | D24 J54 P12 P13 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nip:nipewp:09/2016&r=eff |
| By: | Mensah, Justice Tei |
| Abstract: | Power cuts have become a characteristic feature of many Sub-Saharan African economies. This paper attempts to estimate the firm level impact of power out- ages using panel data on firms from 15 Sub-Saharan African countries. Further, I evaluate the impact of electricity self-generation in ameliorating the effects of power outages on firm performance using a quasi-experimental approach. Results from the analysis reveal significant negative effects of electricity short- ages on firm productivity, size and labor employment. Finally, contrary to the notion that self-generation may be helpful for firms during outage periods, evidence from this paper suggest that reliance on self-generation is associated with productivity losses albeit short run revenue gains. |
| Keywords: | Power outages, Sub-Saharan Africa, Electricity, Productivity, Firms, Productivity Analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, D04, D24, L11, L94, O12, O13, Q41, |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236587&r=eff |
| By: | Julio Garín; Robert Lester; Eric Sims |
| Abstract: | The basic New Keynesian model predicts that positive supply shocks are less expansionary at the zero lower bound (ZLB) compared to periods of active monetary policy. We test this prediction empirically using Fernald's (2014) utilization-adjusted total factor productivity series, which we take as a measure of exogenous productivity. In contrast to the predictions of the model, positive productivity shocks are estimated to be more expansionary at the ZLB compared to normal times. However, in line with the predictions of the basic model, positive productivity shocks have a stronger negative effect on inflation at the ZLB. |
| JEL: | E31 E32 E43 E52 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22311&r=eff |
| By: | Alston, Julian; Andersen, Matt; Pardey, Phil |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare16:235231&r=eff |
| By: | Halkos, George; Polemis, Michael |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the efficiency of the power generation sector in the USA by using Window Data Envelopment Analysis (W-DEA). We integrate radial and non-radial efficiency measurements in DEA using the hybrid measure while we extend the proposed model by considering inputs and good and bad outputs as separable and non separable. Then in the second stage analysis we perform various econometric techniques (parametric and non-parametric) in order to model the relationship between the calculated environmental efficiencies and economic growth in attaining sustainability. Our empirical findings indicate an N-shape relationship between environmental efficiency and regional economic growth in the case of global and total pollutants but an inverted N-shape in the case of assessing local pollutants and using the appropriate dynamic specification. This implies that attention is required when considering local and global pollutants and the extracted environmental efficiencies. |
| Keywords: | Energy; Efficiency; Sustainability; Window DEA; Electricity; EKC hypothesis; USA. |
| JEL: | C23 C67 O13 Q01 Q53 Q56 |
| Date: | 2016–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:72132&r=eff |
| By: | Aradhna Aggarwal |
| Abstract: | This study assesses the impact of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) on the dynamic capabilities of implementing firms in India. While doing so, it uses three indicators of firms' dynamic capabilities: R&D expenditures to sales ratio, fuel consumption to sales ratio and total factor productivity growth. It moves away from the analysis of technology transfer claims made in either Project Development Documents or primary surveys to use actual information on firms' performance for the analysis. A difference-in-difference design is used by defining CDM-implementing firms as the treatment group and non-CDM firms as the control group for the pre- and post-CDM implementation periods. We control for unobserved fixed effects of firms and time periods and observed characteristics of firms and CDM projects. The analysis draws on the balance sheet data of 612 firms from India between 2001 and 2012 from the PROWESS database. Our results reveal that the CDM implementation does not have significant outcome effects on the dynamic capabilities of firms. Much depends on the type and size of the project, and size of the firm. |
| Keywords: | CDM, Dynamic capability, R&D, Fuel efficiency, Total factor productivity, India |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:snd:wpaper:105&r=eff |
| By: | Giovanni Dosi; Marco Grazzi; Nanditha Mathew |
| Abstract: | "Learning-by-doing" is usually identified as a process whereby performance increases with experience in production. The paper investigates different patterns of "learning by doing", studying learning curves at product level. Cost-quantity relationships differ a lot across products belonging to sectors with different "technological intensities". Moreover, such differential patterns are affected by firm spending on research and capital investments. Finally, our evidence suggests that "learning", or performance improvement over time is not a by-product of the mere repetition of the same production activities, as sometimes reported in previous studies, but rather it seems to be shaped by deliberate firm learning efforts and by the interactions among firms themselves. |
| Keywords: | Learning-by-doing, learning curves, power law, product innovation, process innovation |
| Date: | 2016–06–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2016/26&r=eff |
| By: | Patrick Wallis; Justin Colson; David Chilosi |
| Abstract: | Accounts of structural change in the pre-modern British economy vary substantially. We present the first time series of male labour sectoral shares before 1800, using a large sample of probate and apprenticeship data to produce national and county-level estimates. England experienced a rapid decline in the agricultural share between the early seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth centuries, associated with rising agricultural and especially industrial productivity; Wales saw only limited changes. Our results provide further evidence of early structural change, highlighting the significance of the mid-seventeenth century as a turning point in English economic development. |
| Keywords: | Labour force; sectoral distribution; labour productivity; Britain; Wales |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:wpaper:66816&r=eff |
| By: | Kularatne, Mohottala G.; Pascoe, Sean; Wilson, Clevo; Robinson, Tim |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare16:235372&r=eff |
| By: | Effah Nyamekye, Gabriel |
| Abstract: | The paper empirically examines the effect of globalisation on the service sector output in Ghana for the period 1961-2013 using annual time series data. The ordinary least square method of regression was employed after the unit root properties were examined. The findings of the study indicate negative effect of globalisation on the service sector output, suggesting that the Ghanaian economy has not benefited positively from globalisation. Policy makers should reconsider the use of globalisation as a policy tool in achieving growth in the service sector. The use of nonlinear models in future study is worth considering, as well as the use of other proxies of globalisation. Other regression estimation methods such as the Johansen method should be considered in future empirical studies to find out whether the current findings will be replicated. |
| Keywords: | service sector output, globalisation, economic growth |
| JEL: | F14 G21 G22 G23 G24 L80 L90 |
| Date: | 2016–05–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:71841&r=eff |
| By: | José Alberto Molina (Departamento de Análisis Económico, Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Universidad de Zaragoza; IZA); Alberto Alcolea (Kampal Data Solutions S.L.); Alfredo Ferrer (Instituto de Biocomputación y Fisica de Sistemas Complejos (BIFI), Zaragoza); Alberto Alcolea (Kampal Data Solutions S.L.); David Iñiguez (Fundación ARAID, Diputación General de Aragón, Zaragoza); Alejandro Rivero (Instituto de Biocomputación y Fisica de Sistemas Complejos (BIFI), Zaragoza); Gonzalo Ruiz (Instituto de Biocomputación y Fisica de Sistemas Complejos (BIFI), Zaragoza); Alfonso Tarancón (Departamento de Física Teórica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza) |
| Abstract: | We explore the relationship between collaborations in writing papers and the academic productivity of economists and, particularly, we describe the magnitude and intensity of co-authorship among economists. To that end, we employ interaction maps from Complex Systems methods to study the global properties of specific networks. We use 8,253 JCR papers from ISI-WOK, published by 5,188 economists from Spanish institutions, and their co-authors, up to 8,202 researchers, from 2002 to 2014, to identify and determine the collaborative structure of economics research in Spain, with its primary communities and figures of influence. Our results indicate that centrality and productivity are correlated, particularly with respect to a local estimator of centrality (page rank), and we provide certain recommendations, such as promoting interactions among highly productive authors who have few co-authors with other researchers in their environment, or recommending that authors who may be well-positioned but minimally productive strive to improve their productivity. |
| Keywords: | Co-authorship, Academic productivity, Economists, Interaction maps, Complex networks |
| JEL: | A11 C45 C63 D85 I23 Y91 |
| Date: | 2016–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boc:bocoec:914&r=eff |
| By: | Legg, Wilfrid |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc16:236371&r=eff |