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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2017‒08‒13
seven papers chosen by |
| By: | Albrecht Glitz; Eric Meyersson |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate the economic returns to industrial espionage by linking information from East Germany’s foreign intelligence service to sector-specific gaps in total factor productivity (TFP) between West and East Germany. Based on a dataset that comprises the entire flow of information provided by East German informants over the period 1970-1989, we document a significant narrowing of sectoral West-to-East TFP gaps as a result of East Ger- many’s industrial espionage. This central finding holds across a wide range of specifications and is robust to the inclusion of several alternative proxies for technology transfer. We further demonstrate that the economic returns to industrial espionage are primarily driven by rela- tively few high quality pieces of information and particularly strong in sectors that were closer to the West German technological frontier. Based on our findings, we estimate that the average TFP gap between West and East Germany at the end of the Cold War would have been 6.3 percentage points larger had the East not engaged in industrial espionage. |
| Keywords: | espionage, Productivity, R&D, technology diffusion |
| JEL: | D24 F52 N34 N44 O30 O47 P26 |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:982&r=eff |
| By: | Wassie, Tewodros Ayenew |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the causal effect of exporting on firms' productivity controlling for price heterogeneity. In most empirical studies that establish the export-productivity relationships, output is measured in values rather than in quantities. This makes it difficult to distinguish between productivity and within-firm changes in price that may occur following exposure to international markets. Using a detail data on quantity and prices from Ethiopian manufacturing firms in the period 1996-2005, this paper distinguishes efficiency from revenue based productivity and examines what this means for the estimated relationship between exporting and productivity. The empirical strategy implemented in the paper allows for potential endogeneity for exporting and controls for self-selection into export. The main results show that exporters are more productive than non-exporters in terms of revenue based productivity and this is explained by both self-selection and learning effects. However, when correcting for price heterogeneity using quantity-based measures of productivity, exporters appear to be similar to non-exporters either before or after export entry. Overall, the results suggest that the observed relationship between exporting and productivity mainly occurs through price mechanism. |
| Keywords: | Export; revenue productivity; physical productivity; price heterogeneity; fixed effect quantile regression |
| JEL: | D12 F14 O55 |
| Date: | 2017–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:80576&r=eff |
| By: | Christian Fons-Rosen; Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan; Bent E. Sorensen; Carolina Villegas-Sanchez; Vadym Volosovych |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on total factor productivity (TFP) of domestic firms using a new, representative firm-level data set spanning six countries. A novel finding is that firm-level spillovers from foreign firms to domestic companies can be significantly positive, non-existent, or even negative, depending on which sectors receive FDI. When foreign firms produce in the same narrow sector as domestic firms, the latter are negatively affected by increasing competition and positively affected by knowledge spillovers. We find that the positive spillovers dominate if foreign firms enter sectors where firms are “technologically close,” controlling for the endogeneity of their entry decision into such sectors. Positive technology spillovers also affect firms in other sectors, if those sectors are technologically close to the sectors receiving FDI. Increasing FDI in sectors that are technologically close to other sectors boosts TFP of domestic firms by twice as much as increasing FDI by the same amount across all sectors. |
| JEL: | E32 F15 F36 |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23643&r=eff |
| By: | Anke Weber |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the case for efficiency-driven banking sector consolidation in Italy, evaluates its potential effects on profitability, and discusses policy options to facilitate a consolidation process that is as effective as possible. A bottom-up analysis of 386 Italian banks suggests that while profitability is expected to improve as the economy gradually recovers, operational efficiency gains are nonetheless needed to restore large parts of the banking system to healthy profitability. Banking system consolidation can play a role in facilitating such efficiency gains, but its effectiveness is likely to be most as part of a comprehensive strategy that includes complementary reforms to clean up bank balance sheets. Cross-country experience indicates that efficiency gains are more likely to follow consolidations where careful viability analyses are conducted of the synergies and operational improvements that can be achieved. |
| Date: | 2017–07–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:17/175&r=eff |
| By: | Dirk Czarnitzki (KU Leuven, Belgium); Katrin Hussinger (CREA, Université du Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of public R&D subsidies on R&D input and output of German firms. We distinguish between the direct impact of subsidies on R&D investments and the indirect effect on innovation output measured by patent applications. We disentangle the productivity of purely privately financed R&D and additional R&D investment induced by the public incentive scheme. For this, a treatment effect analysis is conducted in a first step. The results are implemented into the estimation of a patent production function in a second step. It turns out that both purely privately financed R&D and publicly induced R&D show a positive effect on patent outcome. |
| Keywords: | R&D, Subsidies, Patents, Treatment Effects |
| JEL: | C14 C30 H23 O31 O38 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:luc:wpaper:17-12&r=eff |
| By: | Osbat, Chiara; Benkovskis, Konstantins; Bluhm, Benjamin; Bobeica, Elena; Zeugner, Stefan |
| Abstract: | What drives external performance of countries? This is a recurring question in academia and policy. The factors underlying export growth are receiving great attention, as countries struggle to grow out of the crisis by increasing exports and as protectionist discourses take foot again. Despite decades of debates, it is still unclear what the drivers of external performance are and, importantly, which ones policy makers can influence. We use Bayesian Model Averaging in a panel setting to investigate the drivers of export market shares of 25 EU countries, considering a wide range of traditional indicators along with novel ones developed within the CompNet Competitiveness Research Network. We find that export market share growth is linked to different factors in the old and in the new Member States, with one exception: for both groups, competitive pressures from China have strongly affected export performance since the early 2000s. In the case of old EU Member States, investment, quality of institutions and available liquidity to firms also appear to play a role. For the new EU Member States, labour and total factor productivity are particularly important, while inward FDI matters rather than domestic investment. Price competitiveness does not seem to play a very important role in either set of countries: relative export prices do show correlation with export performance for the new Member States, but only when they are adjusted for quality. Our results point to the importance of considering the “exporting stage” of a country when discussing export-enhancing policies. JEL Classification: C23, C51, C55, F14, O52 |
| Keywords: | Bayesian Model Averaging, competitiveness, export shares |
| Date: | 2017–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20172090&r=eff |
| By: | Mite Miteski (National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia); Dijana Janevska Stefanova (National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of foreign direct investment inflows in the industrial, construction and services sectors on economic growth in a panel of sixteen Central, Eastern and Southeastern European CESEE countries using data of different time spans within the 1998-2013 period. The empirical results show that total FDI contributes positively to the growth in the analyzed countries. With regards to our main focus, the analysis of the decomposition of FDI finds that FDI in the industrial and services sectors has a positive and significant effect on economic growth, whereas FDI in the construction sector does not exert statistically significant growth-promoting effects. |
| Keywords: | Foreign direct investment, economic growth, industrial sector, construction sector, services sector: |
| JEL: | F21 F43 C23 O47 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mae:wpaper:2017-01&r=eff |