nep-eff New Economics Papers
on Efficiency and Productivity
Issue of 2017‒10‒01
ten papers chosen by



  1. Productivity Dynamics of Chinese Manufacturing Firms By Qu FENG; Zhifeng WANG; Guiying Laura WU
  2. Stochastic Frontier Analysis: Foundations and Advances By Subal C. Kumbhakar; Christopher F. Parmeter; Valentin Zelenyuk
  3. Value Creation and Appropriation following M&A By Mahabubur Rahman; Mary Lambkin; Dildar Hussain
  4. What is the effect of wages and supervision on productivity? The perspective of Sunyani Technical University staff By Tetteh, Rebecca; Mohammed, Safura; Ahmed Azumah, Ayisha
  5. The Implications of Exhaustible Resources and Sectoral Composition for Growth Accounting: An Application to Chile By Claudia De La Huerta; Emiliano Luttini
  6. Corruption and Firm Financial Performance: New Evidence from Vietnam By Huong Vu Van; Tuyen Quang Tran; Tuan Van Nguyen; Lim Steven
  7. Agricultural Trade Reform, Reallocation and Technical Change: Evidence from the Canadian Prairies By Mark Brown; Shon M. Ferguson; Crina Viju
  8. ANALYSIS OF THE TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OF EGG PRODUCTION FARMERS IN SOUTH OF BENIN By Emile Blaise Siewe Pougoue; Innocent Adédédji Labiyi; Thiburce Bokossa
  9. Fitting entrepreneurial, firm-level and environmental contingencies for better performance By Arjen Van Witteloostuijn; Marcus Dejardin; Julie Hermans; Dendi Ramdani,; Johanna Vanderstraeten; Jacqueline Brassey; Hendrik Slabbinck
  10. The direct and indirect effects of core and peripheral social capital on organizational performance By Fabio Fonti; Massimo Maoret

  1. By: Qu FENG (Department of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637332.); Zhifeng WANG (Department of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637332.); Guiying Laura WU (Department of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637332.)
    Abstract: China has experienced high-speed catch-up growth with an average annual rate of over 8% in per capita GDP in the past four decades. Using growth accounting, Zhu (2012) nds that the growth of total factor productivity (TFP) accounts for 77% of Chinas per capita GDP growth during 1978-2007, and argues that Chinas TFP growth is mainly driven by resource reallocation due to market liberalization and institutional reforms. This paper aims to estimate Chinas aggregate productivity growth by applying three leading methods of estimating rm-level production function on Chinese manufacturing rms during 1998-2007, and quantify the contribution of resource reallocation to productivity growth. In addition, we also empirically compare the three estimation methods in this large data set.
    Keywords: Chinas economic growth, TFP growth, production function, resource reallocation
    JEL: D24 O14
    Date: 2017–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nan:wpaper:1706&r=eff
  2. By: Subal C. Kumbhakar (State University of New York at Binghamton); Christopher F. Parmeter (University of Miami); Valentin Zelenyuk (University of Queensland)
    Abstract: This chapter reviews some of the most important developments in the econometric estimation of productivity and efficiency surrounding the stochastic frontier model. We highlight endogeneity issues, recent advances in generalized panel data stochastic frontier models, nonparametric estimation of the frontier, quantile estimation and distribution free methods. An emphasis is placed on highlighting recent research and providing broad coverage, while details are left for further reading in the abundant (although not limited to) list of references provided.
    Keywords: Efficiency, Productivity, Panel Data, Endogeneity, Nonparametric, Determinants of Inefficiency, Quantile, Identification. Publication Status: Submitted
    JEL: C10 C13 C14 C50
    Date: 2017–09–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mia:wpaper:2017-10&r=eff
  3. By: Mahabubur Rahman (ESC Rennes School of Business - ESC Rennes School of Business); Mary Lambkin (UCD - University College Dublin [Dublin]); Dildar Hussain (ESC Rennes School of Business - ESC Rennes School of Business)
    Abstract: Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are typically inspired by a desire for revenue growth and/or cost efficiency leading to an improvement in financial performance. Post-merger performance has received considerable research attention from scholars in finance and accounting, but the marketing dimension has remained largely unexplored. This research focuses on marketing efficiency as a measure of post-merger performance, and this is investigated via an empirical study of 20 M&A deals within the US commercial banking industry. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is used to measure efficiency, employing two input and two output variables. The results demonstrate that M&A transactions do have a positive effect on the marketing efficiency of the combined firms, although the effect size is small.
    Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), Post-merger Marketing Performance, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Marketing Efficiency
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01477751&r=eff
  4. By: Tetteh, Rebecca; Mohammed, Safura; Ahmed Azumah, Ayisha
    Abstract: The study examines the influence of wages and supervision on employee’s productivity for Sunyani Technical University using standard Ordinary Least Square method (OLS). The findings of the study indicate that wages and supervision have influence on productivity; however, supervision is ranked higher to influence productivity than wages. The management of higher institutions should consider the findings of the study to ensure that workers are appropriately supervised, and well paid to improve productivity and performance. Further studies should replicate the current study in a comparative study using private and public institutions in a causal study using structural modelling method.
    Keywords: Performance, demographics, wages
    JEL: E24 J31 J41
    Date: 2017–07–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:81473&r=eff
  5. By: Claudia De La Huerta; Emiliano Luttini
    Abstract: Standard growth accounting overlooks the role of exhaustible resources. This omission leads to overstating physical capital shares and to misleading total factor productivity (TFP). We study an application to Chile, a country dependent on mining production. First, we quantify the sources of economic growth. Second, we study TFP gains arising from changes on the economy's sectoral composition. Our results are as follows. Mining value added grows at an average annual rate of 0.69%. Productivity, physical and human capital contribute 3.75%. The exhaustible resource (ore grade) contributes -2.96%. At the aggregate level, omitting ore grade overstates the contribution of capital, 0.55%, and understates TFP growth, 0.96%. We document a composition gain of -0.53% between the mining and non-mining sectors. We obtain a 0.68% composition gain within the nonmining sector. We show that mining countries are exposed to similar sources of sectoral productivity growth as the Chilean economy.
    Date: 2017–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chb:bcchwp:807&r=eff
  6. By: Huong Vu Van (Academy of Finance, Hanoi); Tuyen Quang Tran (University of Economics and Business, Vietnam National University, Hanoi); Tuan Van Nguyen (University of Dalat, Vietnam); Lim Steven (University of Waikato, New Zealand)
    Abstract: Using a nationwide survey of provincial institutional quality and a sample of private manufacturing small and medium scale enterprises (the SMEs), this paper is the first to examine the effects of corruption on financial performance of the Vietnamese private SMEs. Interestingly, contrary to previous findings, the study finds that corruption as measured by a dummy variable does not affect firms’ financial performance after controlling for heterogeneity, simultaneity and dynamic endogeneity. However, we find that the intensity of bribe and many types of corruption have negative impacts on firms’ financial performance. Thus, a typical approach using only a dummy variable of bribe might not adequately evaluate the impact of bribe intensity or even ignored negative impacts of some types of bribe on firms’ financial performance. Our findings imply that anti-corruption measures are necessary to the development of the Vietnamese private SMEs.
    Keywords: Corruption; financial performance; SMEs; institutional quality; Vietnam
    Date: 2017
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpc:wpaper:0117&r=eff
  7. By: Mark Brown; Shon M. Ferguson; Crina Viju
    Abstract: We decompose the impact of trade reform on technology adoption and land use to study how aggregate changes were driven by reallocation versus within-farm adaptation. Using detailed census data covering over 30,000 farms in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada we find a range of new results. We find that the reform-induced shift from producing low-value to high-value crops for export, the adoption of new seeding technologies and reduction in summerfallow observed at the aggregate level between 1991 and 2001 were driven mainly by the within-farm effect. In the longer run, however, reallocation of land from shrinking and exiting farms to growing and new farms explains more than half of the aggregate changes in technology adoption and land use between 1991 and 2011.
    JEL: F14 O13 Q16 Q17 Q18
    Date: 2017–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23857&r=eff
  8. By: Emile Blaise Siewe Pougoue (Université de Dschang (CAMEROON)); Innocent Adédédji Labiyi (Université de Parakou - Université de Parakou); Thiburce Bokossa (Université de Parakou - Université de Parakou, Université de Dschang (CAMEROON))
    Abstract: In the context of opening up borders to the massive importation of poultry products in Benin, the issue of the performance of national poultry farms remains at the heart of all debates. In order to ensure a better allocation of productive resources, socioeconomic considerations are important to analyze. In this framework, we study the level of performance of poultry farms in the South of Benin. By adopting the parametric approach, technical efficiency levels were estimated from a stochastic production boundary. The questionnaires were administered to forty-five poultry farms in order to collect data from primary sources between August and September 2016. Empirical results show Analyzes have shown that poultry farms in the South of Benin are mostly successful, although deviations effectiveness exist between them individually. Human capital, labor, and veterinary treatments are major factors in the egg production process. The regression of the production function revealed that the inefficiencies of the layers are largely due to the technical inefficiency of the producers (84%) and the inefficient distribution of the resources (16%). Efficiency gaps are explained both by socio-economic factors (endogenous and exogenous) of the farm. They were classified into three categories including primary factors (age, education, active members, competence, density, contracts, conflicts, gender ...); Secondary (credit, nature of food, membership of an association ...) and tertiary (out of stock).
    Abstract: Dans un contexte d'ouverture des frontières à l'importation massive des produits avicoles aux Bénin, la problématique relative à la performance des exploitations avicoles nationales reste au coeur de tout débat. Afin d'assurer une meilleur allocation des ressources productives, des considérations d'ordre socioéconomiques entrent en jeu. Dans ce cadre, nous étudions le niveau de performance des fermes avicoles au Sud du Bénin. En adoptant l'approche paramétrique, les niveaux d'efficacité technique ont été estimés à partir d'une frontière stochastique de production. Les questionnaires ont été administrés à quarante-cinq exploitations avicoles en vue de collecter les données de sources primaires entre août et septembre 2016. Les analyses ont montré que les exploitations avicoles au Sud du Bénin sont en majorité performantes bien que des écarts d'efficacité existent entre elles prises individuellement. Le capital humain, le travail, les traitements vétérinaires sont les principaux facteurs significatifs du processus de production d'oeufs. La régression de la fonction de production a révélé que les inefficacités des pondeuses résultent en grande partie de l'inefficacité technique des producteurs (84%) que de la répartition inefficace des ressources (16%). Les écarts d'efficacités sont expliqués à la fois par des facteurs socioéconomiques (endogènes et exogènes) de l'exploitation. Ils ont été classé en trois catégories notamment les facteurs primaires (âge, l'éducation, membres actifs, compétence, densité, contrats, conflits, sexe…) ; secondaires (crédit, nature de l'aliment, adhésion à une association…) et tertiaires (rupture de stock).
    Keywords: Bénin, compétence, production d’œufs, exploitation avicole,efficacité
    Date: 2017–11–30
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01516234&r=eff
  9. By: Arjen Van Witteloostuijn (Tilburg University [Netherlands]); Marcus Dejardin (CIRTES - Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche Travail Etat et Société - UCL - Université Catholique de Louvain, CERPE - Centre de Recherches en Economie Régionale et Politique Economique - Facultés Universitaires Notre Dame de la Paix (FUNDP) - Namur); Julie Hermans (CERPE - Centre de Recherches en Economie Régionale et Politique Economique - Facultés Universitaires Notre Dame de la Paix (FUNDP) - Namur); Dendi Ramdani, (Universiteit Antwerpen [Antwerpen]); Johanna Vanderstraeten (Universiteit Antwerpen [Antwerpen]); Jacqueline Brassey (Tilburg University [Netherlands]); Hendrik Slabbinck (Universiteit Gent [Ghent])
    Abstract: This book reports the outcomes of a BELSPO (the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office) research project. The authors develop and estimate (parts of) a comprehensive model in which the micro-performance of SMEs is determined by a complex web of factors. These are situated at the level of the entrepreneur, organization and environment. In this modeling, a fit between individual, strategy, structure and environment is key to attain better performance in terms of, for example, efficiency or profitability. Strategy is assumed to be the linking pin between the entrepreneur’s (or his or her venture’s) strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats in the environment. In line with this contingency approach, the authors utilize a multi-disciplinary theoretical lens in combination with analysis techniques that allow for the identification of fits (and misfits), such as the analysis of conditional processes or dynamic multi-level QCA fit analysis.
    Keywords: Strategy, Business Strategy, Competitive Strategy, Performance, Growth,Entrepreneurship, Small Business, SMEs
    Date: 2015–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01379907&r=eff
  10. By: Fabio Fonti (ESC Rennes School of Business - ESC Rennes School of Business); Massimo Maoret (IESE Business School - IESE Business School)
    Abstract: In this paper we adopt a core-periphery approach to specify the direct and indirect effects of social capital on organizational performance. We suggest that social capital deriving from stable task relationships between organizational members has a direct positive effect on organizational performance. Said effect depends, in both strength and functional form, on whether actors involved in stable dyads are located at the core or at the periphery of the organization. We also argue that core and peripheral social capital affect performance indirectly by moderating the organization’s ability to leverage its human capital to improve performance. Results from a 48-year study of the National Basketball Association support our arguments and bear important implications for strategic human resource practices and organizational performance in competitive settings.
    Keywords: Social capital,social networks,relational stability,core/periphery,organizational performance
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01478950&r=eff

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