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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2019‒03‒11
eleven papers chosen by |
| By: | Oosthuizen, M.; Conradie, B. |
| Abstract: | Western Cape agriculture's strong TFP growth over the second half of the twentieth century is explained by access to irrigation water. Drier conditions are predicted for the western escarpment, a region severely affected by the current drought. The SA wine industry is not flourishing for many reasons that potentially include climate change. This study examines longitudinal data for twenty West Coast farms to establish if there has been an invisible drying trend prior to the current drought which could explain these farms' performance. The two models fitted agree on falling productivity over the period 2005-2015. Battese and Coelli's (1992) error components model cannot distinguish between general Hicks neutral technical collapse and specific farms falling behind. Battese and Coelli's (1995) technical efficiency effects model confirms technical collapse and the contribution of water to productivity. Dryland production is most vulnerable and although regions differ, there is no evidence of specific farms falling behind. The dataset is limited in scope and the frontier preliminary, but this study demonstrates how easily climate change effects can be monitored. One of the most important responses to the current drought will be to systematically evaluate study group data to quantify its impact on productivity. Keywords: Wine industry, climate change mitigation, stochastic production frontier, convergence |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–09–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aeas18:284735&r=all |
| By: | Sowunmi, F.; Famuyiwa, T.; Oluyole, K.; Aroyeun, S.; Obasoro, O. |
| Abstract: | The use of copper based fungicide in the control of black pod disease caused by Phytophthora megakarya is a common practice among cocoa farmers. Copper based fungicide has detrimental effect on the environment as well as the output of cocoa production in Ondo State, Nigeria. Deviation from the recommended quantity of fungicides by cocoa farmers is not uncommon. Several studies on cocoa production often ignore these externalities. The objective of the study was to determine the environmental efficiency of cocoa farmers using detrimental variable (deviation from the recommended quantity of fungicide on cocoa farm) and traditional inputs within the framework of stochastic frontier approach. The averages of fungicide used per cropping season per hectare were 2,230 grams, 5,820 grams 10,555 grams for respondents that used below, actual and above the recommended doses respectively while average cocoa outputs were 0.92, 3.35 and 1.32 metric tons for farmers that used below, actual and above recommended doses of fungicide respectively. The low environmental efficiency did not only raise the cost of production but also affirmed that the wrong use of fungicide in cocoa farm constitutes environmental burden and make the environmental unsustainable. The study recommended that farmers should be educated on the significance and mode of application of recommended dose of fungicide on cocoa plantation. |
| Keywords: | Environmental efficiency, detrimental input, stochastic frontier, cocoa production.; Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–09–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aeas18:284747&r=all |
| By: | Maria Garrone; Dorien Emmers; Alessandro Olper; Johan Swinnen |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between EU agricultural subsidies and agricultural labour productivity by estimating a conditional growth equation. We use more representative subsidy indicators and a wider coverage (panel data from 213 EU regions over the period 2004- 2014) than have been used before. We find that, on average, CAP subsidies increase agricultural labour productivity, and the effect is almost entirely due to decoupled Pillar I payments. Coupled Pillar I payments have no impact. The impact of Pillar II is mixed. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lic:licosd:40918&r=all |
| By: | MORIKAWA Masayuki |
| Abstract: | This study presents evidence on the quantitative relationship between employer-provided training and productivity among Japanese firms. The important contributions of this study are its construction of a panel of training stock at the firm-level, its distinction between manufacturing and service firms, and its comparison of the relative contribution of training to productivity and wages. The results indicate, first, that training significantly contributes to the labor productivity of the firm. Second, the estimated elasticity of productivity with respect to training stock is greater for service firms than for manufacturing firms. Third, the elasticities of productivity and wages to training stock are similar in size, meaning that the returns to firms' training investments are shared by their workers in proportion to the wage share of the value-added. These results suggest that policies to promote firms' training investments have the potential to improve productivity and wages, particularly for firms in service sector. |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:19005&r=all |
| By: | Kozo Kiyota (Keio Economic Observatory, Keio University); Toshiyuki Matsuura (Keio Economic Observatory, Keio University); Lionel Nesta (Université Côte d'Azur; GREDEG CNRS; OFCE Sciences Po.; SKEMA Business School) |
| Abstract: | This paper formally shows that the magnitude of the export premium, the fact that exporters are more productive than non-exporters, conveys little economic information on the underlying selection mechanism into export markets for two major reasons. First, variations in export premia may reflect differences in product and factor market imperfections. Second, under the assumption that the true productivity of firms follows a log-normal distribution, we show that a large export premium does not necessarily entail high export costs. This is due to the non-monotonic relationship between the export productivity cutoff point and the corresponding export premium. |
| Keywords: | Export premium, Productivity, Normal distribution, Firm heterogeneity |
| JEL: | D2 D3 F1 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2019-10&r=all |
| By: | Yobe, C.; Ferrer, S.; Mudhara, M. |
| Abstract: | The SA government has favored cooperatives over other types of corporate entities in its programmes for rural development. This study examines financial efficiency and its determinants for 387 agricultural cooperatives in SA using a two-stage double bootstrap approach. Bias-corrected Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) efficiency estimates are obtained in the first-stage for the agricultural cooperatives. Next, a Double Bootstrapped Truncated Regression model was estimated to obtain bias-corrected scores. The model was designed to obtain DEA scores for financial efficiency. First-stage results indicate that many agricultural cooperatives are relatively inefficient. Results of the second-stage analysis identified significant determinants of efficiency as age of cooperatives, size, gender of management, governance indicators and training. Governance indicators negatively influencing efficiency indicate institutions that prioritize non-financial goals and consequently compromise on governance quality. The deviation from institutional control mechanisms most likely emerges in a weak institutional environment. Various types of training influenced financial efficiency meaning that an understanding of training needs across institutions is crucial for equipping and empowering cooperatives towards financial efficiency. The study shows that the design and implementation of suitable training programs are prerequisites for addressing financial efficiency of agricultural cooperatives. Key words: Agricultural cooperatives, Data envelopment analysis, Financial efficiency, Two-stage double bootstrap method, South Africa JEL codes: Q10, Q12, Q13 |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–09–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aeas18:284757&r=all |
| By: | Joël Cariolle; Maelan Le Goff; Olicier Santoni |
| Abstract: | Almost all coastal economies are now connected to the global Internet through over 300 telecommunications submarine cables (SMCs), so digital vulnerability is now shaped by two structural factors, independent from policy: exposure to broadband infrastructure outages and physical distance to these infrastructures, which increases exposure to network failures. We estimate the impact of Internet penetration on local firm performance by adopting an instrumental variable approach reflecting these two sources of digital vulnerability. Multilevel estimations are conducted over a sample of around 44,000 firms from about 250 locations in some 60 developing and transition countries. Results stress large impacts of higher Internet penetration rates at the location level, induced by lower digital vulnerability, on firms’ average revenue and labour productivity, and to a lesser extent, on temporary employment. This evidence is, amongst others, robust to the exclusion of exporters, big firms, foreign firms, and firms created after SMC arrival. |
| Keywords: | NICT, submarine cables, firm performance, developing countries |
| JEL: | F02 O11 O33 O18 L25 L96 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfr:banfra:709&r=all |
| By: | SAKAI Koji; UESUGI Iichiro |
| Abstract: | We examine the characteristics of credit reallocation and its relationship with productivity by employing a comprehensive dataset of Japanese firms of all sizes covering the period 1980-2014. We find the following: (1) Credit reallocation across firms is not only substantially larger than the net change in credit but also larger than the reallocation of labor and physical capital. (2) Credit destruction fluctuates more than credit creation. (3) Credit reallocation and net credit changes are procyclical for large firms but they are not significantly correlated with the business cycle for SMEs. (4) Credit reallocation is efficiency-enhancing in general in that the interest-bearing debt of more productive firms increased, while that of less productive firms decreased; however, credit reallocation turned efficiency-reducing during the 1990s, when the Japanese economy and financial markets experienced a series of adverse shocks. |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:19004&r=all |
| By: | Halit Yanikkaya (Department of Economics, Gebze Technical University); Pinar Tat (Department of Economics, Gebze Technical University) |
| Abstract: | This article explores educational mismatch for twenty-three different Turkish industrial sectors using all available household surveys from 2004 to 2015. Our aim is to first evaluate the educational mismatch level in the Turkish industrial sectors and then analyze its effects on the sectoral total factor productivity, labor productivity, and wages. For the sectoral total factor productivity, our dynamic panel data estimations suggest that the modal value of education increases the growth rate of total factor productivity. Therefore, the widespread existence of educational mismatch implies the efficiency loss in Turkish manufacturing sector for the period of 2004-2015. For the sectoral labor productivity, the modal value of education and the mean value of over-education increases labor productivity whereas the mean value of under-education decreases it. These results clearly imply that the human capital theory overcomes the job satisfaction theory for the Turkish industrial industry because the mean years of over-education increases the sectoral labor productivity. For the sectoral wages, the mean value of over-education raises wages. |
| Keywords: | educational mismatch, total factor productivity, labor productivity, wages, Turkey, industrial sectors |
| JEL: | E24 I25 J24 |
| Date: | 2019–03–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:geb:wpaper:2019-02&r=all |
| By: | Acs, Zoltan J.; Estrin, Saul; Mickiewicz, Tomasz; Szerb, László |
| Abstract: | We analyze conceptually and in an empirical counterpart the relationship between economic growth, factor inputs, institutions, and entrepreneurship. In particular, we investigate whether entrepreneurship and institutions, in combination in an ecosystem, can be viewed as a “missing link” in an aggregate production function analysis of cross-country differences in economic growth. To do this, we build on the concept of National Systems of Entrepreneurship (NSE) as resource allocation systems that combine institutions and human agency into an interdependent system of complementarities. We explore the empirical relevance of these ideas using data from a representative global survey and institutional sources for 46 countries over the period 2002–2011. We find support for the role of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in economic growth |
| Keywords: | economic growth; entrepreneurship; ecosystem; efficiency; technology; Solow residual; GEM; GEI |
| JEL: | D02 O38 P11 |
| Date: | 2018–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:87350&r=all |
| By: | Greer Gosnell; John List; Robert Metcalfe |
| Abstract: | Increasing evidence indicates the importance of management in determining firms' productivity. Yet, causal evidence regarding the effectiveness of management practices is scarce, especially for high-skilled workers in the developed world. In an eight-month field experiment measuring the productivity of captains in the commercial aviation sector, we test four distinct management practices: (i) performance monitoring; (ii) performance feedback; (iii) target setting; and (iv) prosocial incentives. We find that these management practices -particularly performance monitoring and target setting- significantly increase captains' productivity with respect to the targeted fuel-saving dimensions. We identify positive spillovers of the tested management practices on job satisfaction and carbon dioxide emissions, and captains overwhelmingly express desire for deeper managerial engagement. Both the implementation and the results of the study reveal an uncharted opportunity for management researchers to delve into the black box of firms and rigorously examine the determinants of productivity amongst skilled labor. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feb:framed:00666&r=all |