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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2020‒11‒16
eleven papers chosen by |
| By: | JaeBin Ahn; Jee-Hyeong Park |
| Abstract: | An exploration of Korean MNCs¡¯ foreign affiliate-level data reveals that a significant portion of manufacturing foreign affiliates sell both to related and unrelated firms at the same time. We refer to this as hybrid vertical FDI. We rationalize the presence of hybrid vertical FDI by modifying the otherwise standard property?rights model of global sourcing with the subsidiarylevel option of supplying inputs to unrelated customers in addition to related firms. Given the positive production externality from serving additional customers?that is proportional to the MNC¡¯s productivity?and the costs of getting such benefit?that are increasing in relationship-specificity of the outsourced inputs, the model predicts a couple of testable hypotheses that are robustly confirmed by our subsequent empirical analysis. |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:snu:ioerwp:no140&r=all |
| By: | Amjadi, Golnaz (STATEC Research (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies)) |
| Abstract: | Energy inefficiency in production implies that the same level of goods and services could be produced using less energy. The potential energy inefficiency of a firm may be linked to long-term structural rigidities in the production process and/or systematic shortcomings in management (persistent inefficiency), or associated with temporary issues like misallocation of resources (transient inefficiency). Eliminating or mitigating different inefficiencies may require different policy measures. Studies measuring industrial energy inefficiency have mostly focused on overall inefficiencies and have paid little attention to distinctions between the types. The aim of this study was to assess whether energy inefficiency is transient and/or persistent in the Swedish manufacturing industry. I used a firm-level panel dataset covering fourteen industrial sectors from 1997–2008 and estimated a stochastic energy demand frontier model. The model included a four-component error term separating persistent and transient inefficiency from unobserved heterogeneity and random noise. I found that both transient and persistent energy inefficiencies exist in most sectors of the Swedish manufacturing industry. Overall, persistent energy inefficiency was larger than transient, but varied considerably in different manufacturing sectors. The results suggest that, generally, energy inefficiencies in the Swedish manufacturing industry were related to structural rigidities connected to technology and/or management practices. |
| Keywords: | Stochastic energy demand frontier model; persistent and transient energy inefficiency; energy inefficiency. |
| JEL: | D22 L60 Q40 |
| Date: | 2020–11–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:slucer:2020_015&r=all |
| By: | Rigo, Davide |
| Abstract: | International trade has long been considered a channel of technology transfer. This paper draws from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys to provide a sample of 18 developing and emerging economies to investigate whether global value chains (GVCs) are a vehicle for the transfer of technology. It focuses on one specific channel for technology transfer, namely, the licensing of foreign technology. To control for the possible endogeneity of technology licensing, propensity score matching is combined with a difference-in-differences approach. The results show a positive effect of being involved in two-way trading on the licensing of foreign technology. Firms that become two-way traders are significantly more likely to use foreign-licensed technology than firms starting to export or import. This evidence suggests that the complexity associated with the mode of internationalisation determines the licensing of foreign technology. GVC participation also appears to foster firms’ performance, reflecting my findings that the acquisition of foreign technology leads to significant productivity improvements. |
| Keywords: | developing countries; global value chains; international technology transfer; productivity; technology licensing |
| JEL: | R14 J01 L81 |
| Date: | 2020–10–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:107009&r=all |
| By: | Vincenzo D'Apice (Center for Relationship Banking and Economics (CERBE).); Franco Fiordelisi (Essex Business School.); Giovanni W. Puopolo (Università di Napoli Federico II and CSEF) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the causal relationship between the efficiency of country’s judicial system and the quality of bank lending, using the enforcing contracts reforms that have been implemented in four European countries as a quasi-natural experiment. We find that improvements of enforcing contracts determine large, significant, and persistent reductions of banks’ non-performing-loans (NPLs). These findings are robust to several difference-in-difference tests and reverse causality concerns. Our results have important policy implications especially at the light of the recent Covid-19 pandemic since they may help the banking system mitigate the virus’ negative financial effects. |
| Keywords: | Judicial Systems, Non-Performing Loans, Banking Stability. |
| JEL: | G21 G28 |
| Date: | 2019–11–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:588&r=all |
| By: | Ioanna Avgeri (Athens University of Economics and Business); Yiannis Dendramis (Athens University of Economics and Business); Helen Louri (Athens University of Economics and Business and London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The scope of this paper is to examine if and how the establishment of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) influenced the profitability of European banks. To do so, we employ the returns on assets and equity as alternative indicators for profitability. Using data for 344 European banks in 2011-2017 we apply the difference-in-differences methodology combined with matching techniques. Our main findings indicate a statistically significant and positive effect on profitability for the directly supervised banks, especially banks located in the periphery of the euro area, implying that institutional improvements introduced by the SSM were beneficial not only for strengthening stability and increasing credibility but also for improving performance and enhancing integration. |
| Keywords: | European Banking Union; SSM; Bank profitability; policy evaluation |
| JEL: | C23 C51 G21 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bog:wpaper:284&r=all |
| By: | Marie Boltz (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne & BETA - Université de Strasbourg); Bart Cockx (Ghent University, IZA - Bonn, CESifo - Munich, IRES - Université catholique de Louvain, ROA - Maastricht University; Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Departmento de Economia); Luz Magdalena Salas (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Departmento de Economia) |
| Abstract: | We conducted an experiment in which we hired workers under different types of contracts to evaluate how flexible working time affects on-the-job productivity in a routine job. Our approach breaks down the global impact on productivity into sorting and behavioral effects. We find that all forms of working-time flexibility reduce the length of workers' breaks. For part-time work, these positive effects are globally counterbalanced. Yet arrangements that allow workers to decide when to start and stop working increase global productivity by as much as 50 percent, 40 percent of which is induced by sorting |
| Keywords: | Flexible work arrangements; part-time work, productivity; labor market flexibility; work-life balance |
| JEL: | J21 J22 J23 J24 J33 |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:20025&r=all |
| By: | Ivan Petrov; L. (Lisa B.) Ryan |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to test for the persistence of the landlord-tenant energy e fficiency problem in the residential rental property market in the presence of information on property energy performance. To do this, we compare the efficiency of rental and non-rental properties using a combination of Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM) and parametric regression. We use a sample of 585,578 residential properties in the Republic of Ireland - a region that legally requires rental properties to display energy performance certificates when advertised. The findings suggest that the landlord-tenant problem is present in the Irish rental market but that it is not uniform across locations, indicating the influence of other factors. To explore this further, we exploit the regional variation in rental property prices. We find a larger difference between rental and non-rental properties' energy efficiency in markets with scarcity in rental property supply. |
| Keywords: | Energy efficiency; Market failures; Energy performance certificate (EPC); Coarsened exact matching (CEM); Residential properties; Information asymmetry; Split incentives |
| JEL: | Q40 R20 D12 |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucn:wpaper:202028&r=all |
| By: | Boltz, Marie; Cockx, Bart; Diaz, Ana Maria; Salas, Luz Magdalena |
| Abstract: | We conducted an experiment in which we hired workers under different types of contracts to evaluate how flexible working time affects on-the-job productivity in a routine job. Our approach breaks down the global impact on productivity into sorting and behavioral effects. We find that all forms of working-time flexibility reduce the length of workers’ breaks. For part-time work, these positive effects are globally counterbalanced. Yet arrangements that allow workers to decide when to start and stop working increase global productivity by as much as 50 percent, 40 percent of which is induced by sorting. |
| JEL: | J21 J22 J23 J24 J33 |
| Date: | 2020–11–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umagsb:2020030&r=all |
| By: | Burkhart-Kriesel, Cheryl A. |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2019–05–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nbaece:307093&r=all |
| By: | Stockton, Matt |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2019–09–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nbaece:307111&r=all |
| By: | Tchinda Kamdem Eric Joel; Kamdem Cyrille Bergaly (University of Dschang ,Cameroon) |
| Abstract: | Cameroonian farmers face two tenure systems: a modern regime and a customary regime. These two regimes are perpetually confronting each other, putting farmers in a total uncertainty as to the regime to adopt to ensure the sustainability of their ventures. This study aims to assess the influence of land tenure security on agricultural productivity through credit access. To achieve this goal, a two-stage sampling technique was applied to data from the third Cameroon Household Survey (ECAM 3). The number of farmers selected for the analysis was 602. These data were analysed using descriptive and three-step recursive regression models. The results of the analysis reveal that land tenure security improves agricultural productivity through the credit access it allows. A proof of the robustness of this result has been provided through discussion of the effects of land tenure security in different agro-ecological zones and through a distinction between cash crops and food crops. The overall results confirm that land tenure security positively and significantly influences agricultural productivity. The regression has also shown that the size of the farm defined in one way or another, the perception of farmers on their level of land tenure security and therefore indicates the intensity with which land tenure security influences agricultural productivity. The recorded productivity differential indicates that smallholder farmers, because they keep small farms, feel safer and produce more than those who keep medium-sized farms. The results also show that land tenure security significantly improves the value of production per hectare of food products that are globally imported into Cameroon. Therefore, we recommend that the public authorities promote land tenure security by reinforcing the unassailable and irrevocable nature of land title, but also by easing the conditions of access to it. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aer:wpaper:395&r=all |