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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2017‒04‒16
twenty-one papers chosen by |
| By: | Quande Qin; Xin Li; Li Li; Wei Zhen; Yi-Ming Wei (Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEP), Beijing Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | Improving energy efficiency has been recognized as the most effective way to reduce the greenhouse effect and achieve sustainable development. From the perspective of air emissions, this paper adopts data envelopment analysis approach to evaluate the energy efficiency in China's coastal areas over the period of 2000-2012. Carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are treated as undesirable outputs of energy consumptions. The proposed global Epsilon-based measure is used to estimate the static energy efficiency with an annual cross-section of data. The weights of the three undesirable outputs are determined according to their treatment costs. A global Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index based on directional distance function is employed to dynamically evaluate the energy efficiency. The results indicate the following in China's coastal areas: 1) the level of economic development is positively related to energy efficiency scores; 2) energy efficiency scores decrease when considering undesirable outputs except Beijing and Hainan; 3) the Circum-Bohai Sea Economic Region greatly improved energy efficiency and has great potential of air emission; 4) the annual growth rate of Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index change is overestimated; 5) energy efficiency improvement is mainly driven by technological improvement, and scale efficiency and management level are the main obstacles. |
| Keywords: | Energy efficiency; Data envelopment analysis; China's Coastal areas; Air emissions |
| JEL: | Q54 Q40 |
| Date: | 2017–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:biw:wpaper:98&r=eff |
| By: | Ke Wang; Yujiao Xian; Chia-Yen Lee; Yi-Ming Wei (Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEP), Beijing Institute of Technology); Zhimin Huang |
| Abstract: | Directional distance function (DDF) has been a commonly used technique for estimating efficiency and productivity over the past two decades, and the directional vector is usually predetermined in the applications of DDF. The most critical issue of using DDF remains that how to appropriately project the inefficient decision-making unit (DMU) onto the production frontier along with a justified direction. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review on the techniques for selecting directional vector of the directional distance function. It begins with a brief introduction of the existing methods around the inclusion of the exogenous direction techniques and the endogenous direction techniques. The former commonly includes arbitrary direction and conditional direction techniques, while the latter involves the techniques for seeking theoretically optimized directions (i.e., direction towards the closest benchmark or indicating the largest efficiency improvement potential) and market-oriented directions (i.e., directions towards cost minimization, profit maximization, or marginal profit maximization benchmarks). The main advantages and disadvantages of these techniques are summarized, and the limitations inherent in the exogenous direction-selecting techniques are discussed. It also analytically argues the mechanism of each endogenous direction technique. The literature review is end up with a numerical example of efficiency estimation for power plants, in which most of the reviewed directions for DDF are demonstrated and their evaluation performance are compared. |
| Keywords: | Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA); Least distance; Endogenous mechanism; Cost efficiency; Profit efficiency; Marginal profit maximization |
| JEL: | Q54 Q40 |
| Date: | 2017–01–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:biw:wpaper:99&r=eff |
| By: | Jose-Maria Da-Rocha; Marina Mendes Tavares; Diego Restuccia |
| Abstract: | What accounts for differences in output per capita and total factor productivity (TFP) across countries? Empirical evidence points to resource misallocation across heterogeneous production units as an important factor. We study resource misallocation in a model where establishment-level productivity is endogenous and responds to the same policy distortions that create misallocation. In this framework, policy distortions not only misallocate resources across a given set of productive units (static effect), but also create disincentives for productivity improvement (dynamic effect) thereby affecting the productivity distribution and further contributing to lower aggregate output and productivity. The dynamic effect is substantial quantitatively. Reducing the dispersion in revenue productivity in the model by 25 percentage points to the level of the U.S. benchmark implies an increase in aggregate output and TFP by a factor of 2.9-fold. Improved resource allocation accounts for 42 percent of the gain, whereas the change in the productivity distribution accounts for the remaining 58 percent. |
| Keywords: | distortions, misallocation, investment, endogenous productivity, establishments. |
| JEL: | O1 O4 E0 E1 |
| Date: | 2017–04–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tor:tecipa:tecipa-579&r=eff |
| By: | Ke Wang; Jieming Zhang; Yi-Ming Wei (Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEP), Beijing Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | The trend toward a more fiercely competitive and strictly environmentally regulated electricity market in several countries, including China has led to efforts by both industry and government to develop advanced performance evaluation models that adapt to new evaluation requirements. Traditional operational and environmental efficiency measures do not fully consider the influence of market competition and environmental regulations and, thus, are not sufficient for the thermal power industry to evaluate its operational performance with respect to specific marketing goals (operational effectiveness) and its environmental performance with respect to specific emissions reduction targets (environmental effectiveness). As a complement to an operational efficiency measure, an operational effectiveness measure not only reflects the capacity of an electricity production system to increase its electricity generation through the improvement of operational efficiency, but it also reflects the system¡¯s capability to adjust its electricity generation activities to match electricity demand. In addition, as a complement to an environmental efficiency measure, an environmental effectiveness measure not only reflects the capacity of an electricity production system to decrease its pollutant emissions through the improvement of environmental efficiency, but it also reflects the system¡¯s capability to adjust its emissions abatement activities to fulfill environmental regulations. Furthermore, an environmental effectiveness measure helps the government regulator to verify the rationality of its emissions reduction targets assigned to the thermal power industry. Several newly developed effectiveness measurements based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) were utilized in this study to evaluate the operational and environmental performance of the thermal power industry in China during 2006-2013. Both efficiency and effectiveness were evaluated from the three perspectives of operational, environmental, and joint adjustments to each electricity production system. The operational and environmental performance changes over time were also captured through an effectiveness measure based on the global Malmquist productivity index. Our empirical results indicated that the performance of China¡¯s thermal power industry experienced significant progress during the study period and that policies regarding the development and regulation of the thermal power industry yielded the expected effects. However, the emissions reduction targets assigned to China¡¯s thermal power industry are loose and conservative. |
| Keywords: | Efficiency; Environmental effectiveness; Joint performance; Operational effectiveness |
| JEL: | Q54 Q40 |
| Date: | 2017–01–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:biw:wpaper:100&r=eff |
| By: | Amy Hsu; Adrian Rohit Dass; Whitney Berta; Peter Coyte; Audrey Laporte |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the technical efficiency of nursing homes on Ontario, Canada. We apply Quantile Regression (QR) with a Mundlak specification to a panel dataset of 627 nursing homes, observed over 15 years. Results from the QR models found chain affiliation and urban location to be positive predictors of technical efficiency in the context of a case-mix adjusted volume based outcome measure. The effect of profit status varied across the conditional quantiles. The analysis presented in this paper aims to demonstrate a novel approach to efficiency measurement, and suggests that cost containment strategies (e.g., prospective reimbursement) and restrictions on long-term care bed supply in the market may continue to foster the expansion of nursing home chains in this sector. |
| Keywords: | long-term care, nursing homes, technical efficiency, quantile regression, panel data |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cch:wpaper:170003&r=eff |
| By: | Collewet, Marion (Research Centre for Educ and Labour Mark); Sauermann, Jan (sofi, stockholm university; international center for the study of labor (iza)) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the link between working hours and productivity using daily information on working hours and performance of a sample of call centre agents. We exploit variation in the number of hours worked by the same employee across days and weeks due to central scheduling, enabling us to estimate the effect of working hours on productivity. We find that as the number of hours worked increases, the average handling time for a call increases, meaning that agents become less productive. This result suggests that fatigue can play an important role, even in jobs with mostly part-time workers. |
| Keywords: | working hours, productivity, output, labour demand |
| JEL: | J23 J22 M12 M54 |
| Date: | 2017–04–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umagsb:2017009&r=eff |
| By: | Gosse Alserda; Jaap Bikker; Fieke van der Lecq |
| Abstract: | Pension funds' operating costs come at the cost of benefits, so it is crucial for pension funds to operate at the lowest cost possible. In practice, we observe substantial differences in costs per member for Dutch pension funds, both across and within size classes. This paper discusses scale inefficiency and X-inefficiency using various approaches and models, based on a unique supervisory data set, which distinguishes between administrative and investment costs. Our estimates show large economies of scale for pension fund administrations, but modest diseconomies of scale for investment activities. We also found that many pension funds have substantial X-inefficiencies for both administrative and investment activities. The two kinds of inefficiency differ across types of pension funds. Therefore, most pension funds should be able to improve their cost performance, and hence increase pension benefits. |
| Keywords: | Efficiency; operating costs; cost elasticity; stochastic cost frontier analysis; optimal scale |
| JEL: | G23 L1 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:547&r=eff |
| By: | Cao, Shutao; Leung, Danny |
| Abstract: | The degree to which financial constraints are binding is often not directly observable in commonly used business data sets (e.g., Compustat). In this paper, we measure and estimate the likelihood of a firm being constrained by external financing using a data set of small and medium-sized Canadian firms. Our measure separates the need for financing from the degree of being constrained, conditional on the need for financing. We find that firm size, the current debt-to-asset ratio and cash flow are robust indicators that can be used as a proxy for financial constraint. The total debt-to-asset ratio is not, however, a statistically significant indicator of financial constraint. In addition, firms with higher cash flow are less likely to need external financing and to be constrained if they do need it. We then estimate the firm-level total factor productivity by taking into account the measured likelihood of binding financial constraints. Coefficient estimates for labor and capital in the structural estimation of production function can be downward biased if financial constraints are omitted, because production inputs are negatively correlated with the likelihood of being constrained by external financing. This in turn leads to an upward bias in total factor productivity, which is about 4 percent according to our estimation. Finally, both investment and employment growth are negatively affected by the measured degree of financial constraints, pointing to the contribution of financial constraints to misallocation. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, Financial constraint, Production function, |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vuw:vuwecf:6202&r=eff |
| By: | Jan Hagemejer |
| Abstract: | The New Member States have been experiencing firm internationalization not only through inward foreign direct investment but also through exporting, importation of foreign technology in investment goods and increased use of imported intermediates. We argue that there are important productivity spillovers within the global value chains, ie. FDI alone does not tell the whole story of the reallocation processes going on in the economies of the NMS. We augment the standard TFP spillover empirical model with modern measures of GVC participation to contribute to the debate on the 'desired' country/sector/firm position in the GVC. In our study we combine firm-level data with international sectoral input-output data. Firm level data come from the Amadeus database. In order to maximize the number of observations, we combine data from multiple Amadeus waves. The resulting firm-level data sample covers the period of 1997-2011. The study has two parts. In the first part, we analyze the foreign firm producticvity premia over the domestic firms. We check if the foreign productivity premium is affected by the position of the firm in the Global Value Chain and the foreign content of sectoral exports. We do that in order to verify if there are benefits of the positition in the GVC that lead to lowering the productivity gap between foreign and domestic firms. In the second part, we augment the methodology by Smarzynska-Javorcik (2004) with measures of GVC participation to analyze the various channels of internationalization. In order to obtain a measure of total factor productivity we use the now-standard approach by Levinsohn and Petrin (2003). We focus on Poland but we also run the spillover equations on the full New Member States sample and on the individual NMS. All regressions control for country/sector specificity and the business cycles. We show that increased foreign content of exports brings additional productivity gains on top of the ones attributed to exporting and FDI spillovers that are mostly backward in nature. Moreover, we show that in selected cases, participation in the GVC leads to a smaller productivity gap between foreign and domestic firms. In Poland and Hungary the productivity gains for domestic firms are located in production of intermediate goods with high foreign value content as well as in goods located close to the final demand. In many other NMS the benefits are concentrated close to the final demand. |
| Keywords: | New EU Member States, Trade issues, Growth |
| Date: | 2016–07–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ekd:009007:9250&r=eff |
| By: | Siedschlag, Iulia; Lawless, Martina; Di Ubaldo, Mattia |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the international evidence on measuring investment in knowledge-based capital (KBC) and its impact on productivity. On this evidence basis, it provides a conceptual framework to analyse Ireland’s performance in this area on macroeconomic, industry and firm levels. The evidence reviewed in this paper indicates that investment in KBC is sizeable and has increased over time in many advanced economies, including Ireland. At the country, sectoral and firm level, the contribution of investment in KBC to productivity growth over and above other factors including investment in tangible capital is documented as important. This paper also reviews and discusses economic framework policies which could incentivise further investment in knowledge-based capital in Ireland. |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp557&r=eff |
| By: | Siedschlag, Iulia; Di Ubaldo, Mattia |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of investment in knowledge-based capital on firm productivity. The analysis is based on a dynamic econometric model estimated with micro-data from Ireland over the period 2006-2012. We use broad measures of investment in knowledge-based capital which include expenditures on R&D, and on non-R&D intangible assets such as computer software, copyrights, patents and licences, royalties and organisational capital. The results indicate that on average, over and above other factors, an increase in investment in knowledge-based capital of 10 per cent increases firm productivity by 2 per cent. The research results indicate that productivity gains linked to investment in KBC are larger for Irish-owned firms in comparison to foreign-owned firms. Further, the estimates indicate that firms’ productivity is more responsive to investment in R&D than to investment in non-R&D intangible assets. |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp556&r=eff |
| By: | Lee, Seungrae (Korea Institute for International Economic Policy); Park, Ji Hyun (Korea Institute for International Economic Policy); Kim, Hyuk-Hwang (Korea Institute for International Economic Policy); Lee, Joun Won (Korea Institute for International Economic Policy) |
| Abstract: | This report empirically analyzes the effects of firm R&D on firm performance, particularly on firm productivity, exports, and outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) by using Korean firm-level data. While this report lies in line with prior literatures that examined firm R&D effects on firm performance, we further explores the pathway connection between the two. That is, we not only examine firm R&D effects on particular firm performance, but also study the significance of firm productivity as a pathway that links firm R&D with firm exports and OFDI. Our estimation results indicate that firm R&D significantly heightens firm performance, particularly by showing stronger impact on firm performance over time. On the other hand, by using firm productivity as a mediator variable in a triangular structural equation to estimate direct R&D effects and indirect R&D effects through firm productivity, our results show that firm R&D has significant effects on export and OFDI increase directly and indirectly through firm productivity increase. Examining direct and indirect firm R&D effects across different industry sectors, we found that firm R&D is significantly effective on exports and OFDI among capital-intensive sectors, while it does not exhibit a significant influence among labor-intensive sectors. Our estimation results imply that while R&D promotion policies towards the private sector are effective for improving firm performance, these policies would yield more effective consequences if they are targeted at specific industry sectors. In particular, our results suggest that R&D promotion policies towards firms inside capital-intensive sectors would be more effective on exports and OFDI than policies towards firms inside labor-intensive sectors. |
| Keywords: | Firm R&D; Productivity; Exports; OFDI |
| Date: | 2015–10–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:kiepwe:2015_020&r=eff |
| By: | Cao, Shutao |
| Abstract: | Many economies experienced a slowdown of measured productivity in the 2000s, coinciding with the commodity price boom. We use a multisector growth model for a small open economy to quantify the contribution of sector-specific technology and relative prices of trade to productivity slowdown. We show that the effective aggregate total factor productivity consists of two components: the weighted average of sector-specific technology, and the weighted averaged of domestic-export price ratios which reflect export costs. This extends the Domar aggregation result of Hulten (1978). When calibrated to the Canadian data, the model suggests that productivity slowdown was mainly attributed to two sectors: commodity; machinery and equipment. Cross-country data show that, in two thirds of countries that experienced productivity slowdown, slower productivity growth in sectors serving domestic market was a dominant factor, while in the other one third, reduced domestic-export price ratio played a major role. |
| Keywords: | Productivity measurement, Sector-specific technological change, Input-output linkage, Relative price, |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vuw:vuwecf:6203&r=eff |
| By: | Paul, Saumik; Fukao, Kyoji |
| Abstract: | Japan’s regional convergence of productivity levels throughout the 20th century can be best described as a cumulative process of “catching up, forging ahead, and falling behind”. Using a novel dataset spanning 135 years (1874 – 2008), this study finds support for a crucial role played by structural transformation in convergence. The pace of productivity catch-up and convergence accelerated in the mid-1950s with the help of structural transformation, particularly in the period from 1955–1965. Structural transformation explains, on average, about 30% of the aggregate productivity growth, and its effect intensified in prefectures with faster movements of labor across sectors and larger sectoral productivity gaps. However, since the early 1970s, its contribution to the convergence was frequently offset by within-sector productivity growth, in turn thwarting the pace of convergence. These counter-balancing effects contributed to the diverse pathways of productivity catch-up at the prefecture level. |
| Keywords: | Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity, Japan |
| JEL: | O40 O10 |
| Date: | 2017–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hitcei:2016-12&r=eff |
| By: | Mariarosa Borroni (DISCE, Università Cattolica); Simone Rossi (DISCE, Università Cattolica) |
| Abstract: | Following a common wisdom in banking, revenue diversification is likely to produce a "portfolio-effect" in bank income statement, enhancing the creation of greater and more stable profits. We test this hypothesis on a sample of 110 large commercial, saving and cooperative banks headquartered in 8 EMU countries for the period 2005-2013. Results indicate that diversification strategies have had a role in determining banks profitability only for selected subsamples (and in particular for commercial and saving banks); on the contrary, efficiency and credit portfolio quality have been the main drivers of profits in the period under examination. We contribute to previous literature using a cross-country balanced dataset that covers both the pre-crisis and the following economically troubled periods. Topics underlying this work - and empirical results - have relevant policy implications from a managerial and regulatory point of view. |
| Keywords: | Bank performance, Revenue diversification |
| JEL: | G21 L25 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie2:dises1723&r=eff |
| By: | Gholamreza Hajargasht (Department of Economics, University of Melbourne); William E. Griffiths (Department of Economics, University of Melbourne) |
| Abstract: | We show how a wide range of stochastic frontier models can be estimated relatively easily using variational Bayes. We derive approximate posterior distributions and point estimates for parameters and inefficiency effects for (a) time invariant models with several alternative inefficiency distributions, (b) models with time varying effects, (c) models incorporating environmental effects, and (d) models with more flexible forms for the regression function and error terms. Despite the abundance of stochastic frontier models, there have been few attempts to test the various models against each other, probably due to the difficulty of performing such tests. One advantage of the variational Bayes approximation is that it facilitates the computation of marginal likelihoods that can be used to compare models. We apply this idea to test stochastic frontier models with different inefficiency distributions. Estimation and testing is illustrated using three examples. |
| Keywords: | Technical efficiency, Marginal likelihood, Time-varying panel, Environmental effects, Mixture, Semiparametric model |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mlb:wpaper:2024&r=eff |
| By: | Frietsch, Rainer; Helmich, Patricia; Neuhäusler, Peter |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:efisdi:52017&r=eff |
| By: | Gustavo Adler; Romain A Duval; Davide Furceri; Sinem Kılıç Çelik; Ksenia Koloskova; Marcos Poplawski-Ribeiro |
| Abstract: | Productivity growth—the key driver of living standards—fell sharply following the global financial crisis and has remained sluggish since, adding to a slowdown already in train before. Building on new research, this note finds that the productivity slowdown reflects both crisis legacies and structural headwinds. In advanced economies, the global financial crisis has led to “productivity hysteresis†—persistent productivity losses from a seemingly temporary shock. Behind this are balance sheet vulnerabilities, protracted weak demand and elevated uncertainty, which jointly triggered an adverse feedback loop of weak investment, weak productivity and bleak income prospects. Structural headwinds—already blowing before the crisis—include a waning ICT boom and slowing technology diffusion, partly reflecting an aging workforce, slowing global trade and weaker human capital accumulation. Reviving productivity growth requires addressing remaining crisis legacies in the short run while pressing ahead with structural reforms to tackle longer-term headwinds. |
| Date: | 2017–04–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfsdn:17/04&r=eff |
| By: | Javorcik, Beata; Lo Turco, Alessia; Maggioni, Daniela |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationship between the presence of foreign affiliates and product upgrading by Turkish manufacturing firms. The analysis suggests that Turkish firms in sectors and regions more likely to supply foreign affiliates tend to introduce more complex products, where complexity is captured using a measure developed by Hausmann and Hidalgo (2009). This finding is robust to controlling for omitted variables, sample selection and potential simultaneity bias. It is also in line with the view that inflows of foreign direct investment stimulate upgrading of indigenous production capabilities in host countries. |
| Keywords: | Backward Linkages; FDI; Product Innovation; Production Upgrading; Turkey |
| JEL: | D22 F23 L20 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11942&r=eff |
| By: | Elham Erfanian (West Virginia University, Regional Research Institute); Amir B. Ferreira Neto (West Virginia University, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Scientific research contributes to sustainable economic growth environments. Hence, policy-makers should understand how the different inputs - namely labor and capital - are related to a country's scientific output. This paper addresses this issue by estimating output elasticities for labor and capital using a panel of 31 countries in nine years. Due to the nature of scientific output, we also use spatial econometric models to take into account the spillover effects from knowledge produced as well as labor and capital. The results show that capital elasticity is closer to the labor elasticity. The results suggest a decreasing return to scale production of scientific output. The spatial model points to negative spillovers from capital expenditure and no spillovers from labor or the scientific output. |
| Keywords: | Scientific output, capital, labor, spillover effects |
| JEL: | O32 F01 O15 |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:17-04&r=eff |
| By: | Iwasaki, Ichiro; Mizobata, Satoshi |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to perform a meta-analysis of the relationship between post-privatization ownership and firm performance using a large database of the transition literature. Baseline estimation of a meta-regression model that employs a total of 2894 estimates drawn from 121 previous studies indicated the superior impact of foreign ownership on firm performance in comparison with state and domestic private entities. However, it did not go as far as to comprehensively verify the series of hypotheses concerning the interrelationship between different ownership types. The estimation of an extended meta-regression model that explicitly controls for the idiosyncrasies of transition economies and privatization policies strongly suggested that differences between countries in terms of location, privatization method, and policy implementation speed are the cause of the opaqueness seen in the empirical results of the previous literature. The definite evidence of the harmfulness of the voucher privatization for ex-post firm performance is one of the most noteworthy empirical findings obtained from the meta-analysis in this paper. |
| Keywords: | post-privatization ownership, firm performance, transition economies, meta-analysis, publication selection bias, Central and Eastern Europe, former Soviet Union |
| JEL: | D22 G32 G34 L25 P21 P31 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hitcei:2016-13&r=eff |