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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2024‒02‒26
twelve papers chosen by |
| By: | Bloom, Nicholas; Bunn, Philip; Mizen, Paul; Smietanka, Pawel; Thwaites, Gregory Douglas |
| Abstract: | We analyse the impact of Covid-19 on productivity using data from an innovative monthly firm survey panel that asks for quantitative impacts of Covid on inputs and outputs. We find total factor productivity (TFP) fell by up to 5% during 2020-21. The overall impact combined large reductions in 'within-firm' productivity, with an offsetting positive 'between-firm' effects as less productive sectors, and less productive firms within them, contracted. Despite these large pandemic effects, firms' post-Covid forecasts imply surprisingly little lasting impact on aggregate TFP. We also see significant heterogeneity over firms and sectors, with the greatest impacts in those requiring extensive in-person activity. We also ask about unmeasured inflation in the form of deteriorating product quality, finding an additional 1.4% negative impact on TFP. |
| Keywords: | Covid-19; productivity; coronavirus |
| JEL: | D24 D84 E24 E32 O47 |
| Date: | 2023–06–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:121314&r=eff |
| By: | Krüger, Jens J. |
| Abstract: | This paper documents the results from a macroeconomic total factor productivity analysis with a special focus on disentangling efficiency change and technological change under variable returns to scale. A sample of 93 countries is investigated by nonparametric methods. For the measurement three variants of the Malmquist index (basic, biennial, and global) are used. Specific country groups and selected individual countries are examined. The results show that productivity development is mainly driven by the interplay of technological change and efficiency change with a reversal from a backward shifting frontier function until the mid‐1990s to an advancing frontier thereafter. |
| Date: | 2024–01–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:142626&r=eff |
| By: | Amiti, Mary; Duprez, Cedric; Konings, Jozef; Van Reenen, John |
| Abstract: | Using firm-to-firm transactions, we show that starting to supply a "superstar" firm (large domestic firms, exporters and multinationals) boosts productivity by 8% in the medium-run. Placebos on starting relationships with smaller firms and novel identification strategies support a causal interpretation of "superstar spillovers". Consistent with a model of technology transfer, we find falls in markups and bigger treatment effects from technology-intensive superstars. We also show that the increase in new buyers is particularly strong within the superstar firm's network, a "dating agency" effect. This suggests an important role for raising productivity through superstars' supply chains regardless of their multinational status. |
| Keywords: | productivity; FDI; spillovers; POID |
| JEL: | F23 O30 F21 |
| Date: | 2023–04–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:121331&r=eff |
| By: | Gökçe Manavgat (Toros university); Martine Audibert (CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International - UCA [2017-2020] - Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | The Covid-19 pandemic has raised concerns about the resilience of health systems. The aim of this study is twofold: i) to measure and compare the resilience of health system efficiency of OECD countries before and during Covid-19 and ii) to determine the healthcare efficiency drivers (e.g., socioeconomic) of health system performance. Using a dataset of 31 OECD countries for 2018 and 2020, we first estimate bias-adjusted efficiency scores, followed by a double bootstrap truncated regression procedure to study the drivers associated with health system efficiency. We find that the health system efficiency overall score decreased among OECD countries during the Covid-19 pandemic compared to before Covid-19. Estonia and Japan retained their full efficiency scoreduring Covid-19. We find a negative association between health system efficiency and unemployment rate, share of health expenditure in GDP, and share of population over 65. Conversely, high vaccination rates contribute positively to health system efficiency during the Covid-19 period. |
| Keywords: | Health system efficiency, Covid-19, DEA Bias-adjusted efficiency scores, Double bootstrap truncated regression |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04350906&r=eff |
| By: | Jelliffe, Jeremy; Santeramo, Fabio; Hoekman, Bernard |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iats22:339464&r=eff |
| By: | Arntz, Melanie (ZEW Mannheim); Genz, Sabrina (Utrecht University); Gregory, Terry (LISER); Lehmer, Florian (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg); Zierahn-Weilage, Ulrich (Utrecht University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the extent to which aggregate-level de-routinization can be attributed to firm-level technology adoption during the most recent technological expansion. We use administrative data and a novel firm survey to distinguish frontier technologies from older technologies. We find that adopters of frontier technologies contribute substantially to deroutinization. However, this is driven only by a subset of these firms: large adopters replace routine jobs and less routine-intensive adopters experience faster growth. These scale and composition effects reflect firms' readiness to adopt and implement frontier technologies. Our results suggest that an acceleration of technology adoption would be associated with faster de-routinization and an increase in between-firm heterogeneity. |
| Keywords: | technology, automation, tasks, capital-labor substitution, decomposition |
| JEL: | J21 J23 J24 O33 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16740&r=eff |
| By: | Cahuc, Pierre (Sciences Po, Paris); Palladino, Marco G. (Banque de France) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a review of the existing literature on the effects of employment protection legislation (EPL) on job allocation across industries, firms, and workers, and its implications for innovation and economic growth. We analyze empirical studies to assess how EPL influences resource allocation, firm dynamics, and labor market segmentation. The review highlights the heterogeneous effects of EPL on different firms and workers' groups. Additionally, we discuss the channels identified in the structural literature through which EPL-induced job reallocation affects productivity, innovation, and overall growth. While existing evidence demonstrates the significant influence of EPL on all these outcomes, further quantification of these effects remains a research challenge. |
| Keywords: | job protection, job allocation, economic growth, productivity, innovation |
| JEL: | J23 O47 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16747&r=eff |
| By: | Battiston, Diego Ezequiel; Blanes I Vidal, Jordi; Kirchmaier, Tom; Szemeredi, Katalin |
| Abstract: | We study the interaction between horizontal (peer) and vertical (manager) social factors in workers' motivation. In our setting, individuals work using open-plan desks. Using a natural experiment, we identify a sharp increase in workers' productivity following the occupation of adjacent desks. We link this peer pressure effect to two key aspects of the worker-manager relation. First, we find stronger peer pressure when managers monitor workers less. Second, we find stronger peer pressure among workers performance-evaluated by the same manager. In a set of counterfactual exercises, we illustrate how organisations could take advantage of these interdependencies to increase worker productivity. |
| Keywords: | social incentives; teamwork; peer pressure; monitoring; managers; peer effects; organisations; productivity |
| JEL: | D23 M11 |
| Date: | 2023–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:121319&r=eff |
| By: | F. Bolivar; M. A. Duran; A. Lozano-Vivas |
| Abstract: | To examine the relation between profitability and business models (BMs) across bank sizes, the paper proposes a research strategy based on machine learning techniques. This strategy allows for analyzing whether size and profit performance underlie BM heterogeneity, with BM identification being based on how the components of the bank portfolio contribute to profitability. The empirical exercise focuses on the European Union banking system. Our results suggest that banks with analogous levels of performance and different sizes share strategic features. Additionally, high capital ratios seem compatible with high profitability if banks, relative to their size peers, adopt a standard retail BM. |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2401.12323&r=eff |
| By: | Quick, Reiner; Münch, M.; Mayer, J. H. |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:142481&r=eff |
| By: | Bassma Azzamouri (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UR - Université de Rennes, EMINES School of Industrial Management [UM6P] - UM6P - Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique [Ben Guerir]); Vincent Hovelaque (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UR - Université de Rennes) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents and illustrates an original application of the redesign in the real context of a mining supply chain producing phosphate rock. One of the major challenges is to successfully produce the final products required by the customers, from raw materials whose chemical composition and availability depend on the extraction program and method. Redesign of the mining supply chain consists of considering the impact of extraction, processing, and blending stages in achieving target objectives. The proposed approach, based on a mixed integer linear programming model, allows moving from fixed production flows to dynamic ones by adopting a flexible and reactive management mode that fully satisfies customer requirements at minimum production costs. Numerical results obtained using real data, corresponding to the infrastructure and order books, illustrate (i) the flexibility, quality, and horizontal alignment ensured by our approach and (ii) the impact of the extraction method on the ability of the SC to fulfil the orders book with more efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Redesign proposal, Alternative Routings, Blending, Supply chain |
| Date: | 2024–01–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04418207&r=eff |
| By: | Katarina Gomoryova (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | Is female leadership the secret ingredient to financial prosperity? This question has been the subject of extensive research, yet the findings remain inconclusive. We aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of this relationship employing contemporary techniques on the up-to-date dataset comprising 1, 131 estimates gathered from 96 distinct studies. We address the pervasive issue of publication bias resulting in the mild preference for positive outcomes. After filtering out this bias, the study finds a negligible mean effect estimate, suggesting that the impact of women in leadership on financial performance is minimal. We further explore the potential factors that could account for variations in the estimated effects across different studies. Utilising Bayesian Model Averaging, weighted by the inverse number of estimates, we identify thirteen significant moderators that influence the relationship under study. Among these, the proportion of female authors, the impact factor of the journal, the duality of the CEO role, and the tenure of leaders are found to exert the most positive influence on the effect. Conversely, the age of leaders pushes effect the most in the opposite direction. Other influential factors include the publication status of the article, the number of variables used in the study, publication bias, the use of random estimation and matching approaches, the use of accounting-based financial measures, focus on the emerging market, and the representation of the leadership variable as a proportion. |
| Keywords: | meta-analysis, publication bias, Bayesian Model Averaging, female leadership, gender diversity, financial performance |
| JEL: | J23 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2024_06&r=eff |