|
on Efficiency and Productivity |
|
Issue of 2013‒12‒20
twelve papers chosen by |
| By: | Jiang, Nan; Sharp, Basil |
| Abstract: | Historically NZ dairy farming has held a position as the lowest cost, non-subsidized producers at the farm gate. Recently, this position has been eroded as a result of increases in labor and land costs, while other emerging countries, such as Argentina and Ukraine, have adopted lower cost production systems. This indicates a need to continually build competitiveness on efficient utilization of resources, both physical and financial. Prior research on the efficiency performance of dairy farming in NZ is scant and the focus to date has been on technical efficiency, which alone only reveals how well farms utilize the physical production process. This paper contributes to the empirical literature by examining the cost efficiency of NZ dairy farms using established methods. Simplified translog stochastic cost frontiers are constructed based on an unbalanced panel of 824 farms. Average cost efficiency is estimated to be around 83% for dairy farms located in the North Island and 80% for the South Island. Analysis of the relationship between inefficiency and farm characteristics suggests significant associations exist between capital intensity, livestock quality, farm size and cost efficiency. |
| Keywords: | stochastic cost frontier, NZ dairy farming, cost efficiency, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar13:160266&r=eff |
| By: | Ogundari, Kolawole |
| Abstract: | The present study investigates the development (i.e., rise or decline) in African agricultural efficiency level and what drives the efficiency over the years. A total of 379 frontier studies resulting in 534 farm level efficiency estimates were considered using meta-regression analysis (MRA) for the empirical analysis. The results show that mean efficiency estimates from the selected case studies decrease significantly as year of survey in the primary study increases. Apparently, this implies that over the years, negative efficiency change characterized the growth of African agriculture and food production. The effect of other study attributes considered in the MRA show that studies published in Journals, with parametric and primal technology specification produced significantly higher efficiency estimates, while those published in top ranking journals and with Cobb-Douglass and Translog functional forms produced significantly lower efficiency estimates. Other results show that education, followed by experience; extension and credit are the major drivers of agricultural efficiency levels in Africa over the years. Given these findings; we suggest policies that encourage investment in human capital development associated with education and extension should be prioritized to enhance the growth of agriculture and food production in the region. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, efficiency, meta-analysis, growth, fractional regression, Africa, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Productivity Analysis, C13, Q12, Q18, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar13:160418&r=eff |
| By: | Bell, Brian |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Public Economics, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar13:160193&r=eff |
| By: | Hunt, Lesley; Rosin, Chris; Campbell, Hugh; Fairweather, John |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Financial Economics, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar13:160263&r=eff |
| By: | Oriana Bandiera; Andrea Prat; Raffaella Sadun |
| Abstract: | CEOs affect the performance of the firms they manage, and family CEOs seem to weaken it. Yet little is known about what top executives actually do, and whether it differs by firm ownership. We study CEOs in the Indian manufacturing sector, where family ownership is widespread and the productivity dispersion across firms is substantial. Time use analysis of 356 CEOs of listed firms yields three sets of findings. First, there is substantial variation in the number of hours CEOs devote to work activities, and longer working hours are associated with higher firm productivity, growth, profitability and CEO pay. Second, family CEOs record 8% fewer working hours relative to professional CEOs. The difference in hours worked is more pronounced in low-competition environments and does not seem to be explained by measurement error. Third, difference in differences estimates with respect to the cost of effort, due to weather shocks and popular sport events, reveal that the observed difference between family and professional CEOs is consistent with heterogeneous preferences for work versus leisure. Evidence from six other countries reveals similar findings in economies at different stages of development. |
| Keywords: | CEO, Time, Family firms, Competition, Productivity |
| JEL: | M12 L2 D24 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1250&r=eff |
| By: | Bigsby, Hugh; Ling, Ling |
| Abstract: | Selection logging in the tropics is increasingly moving to systems that reduce the impact of harvesting operations on forests and soils. While much of the focus has been on modifying the tractor logging system using RIL principles, alternative harvesting systems have also been introduced. One of the alternative systems is the use of helicopters, which eliminates the need for skid trails and reduces the number of roads required. WTK pioneered helicopter logging in Malaysia when it started using the helicopter logging system in Sarawak in the early 1990’s. Beginning in 2002, the company started using Sikorsky helicopters and since then has used three different models, including the Sikorsky 61F, 64E and 64F. While the use of helicopters creates a significant improvement in environmental impact of logging, the operating cost of helicopters is also significantly higher. Given the cost of using helicopters, a key element of harvest planning is understanding the factors that influence productivity. This paper provides an analysis of logging productivity in the tropics for the Sikorsky helicopters using daily production data collected by WTK on three different timber licenses between 2002 and 2009. The regression results show that average hourly volume produced is a function of the average distance flown per turn, the weighted average number of logs carried per turn, and the type of helicopter. The results also show the importance of pre-harvest inventory and planning that ensures that helicopters are used productively. |
| Keywords: | reduced impact logging, helicopter logging, productivity, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, reduced impact logging, helicopter logging, productivity, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar13:160195&r=eff |
| By: | Doole, Graeme |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar13:160196&r=eff |
| By: | Huy, Hoang; Lyne, Michael; Ratna, Nazmun; Nuthall, Peter |
| Abstract: | This research investigates the efficiency and equity impacts of the cropland rental market in rural Vietnam and attempts to identify the determinants and importance of transaction costs impeding this market. A generalised ordered logit model with shifting thresholds accounting for effects of transaction costs associated with market participation was specified and estimated using pooled data extracted from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys of 2004 and 2008. The findings show that the cropland rental market reduced imbalances in factor endowments, transferring cropland to those households more willing and able to farm. Equity advantages were also revealed as cropland transferred from relatively land-rich to relatively land-poor households, allowing young farmers to ‘scale the agricultural ladder’. However, the market is constrained by transaction costs that effect lessors and lessees differently. It is recommended that the Vietnamese government should complete its land registration programme and consider relaxing restrictions on the use of wetlands to grow crops other than rice. It should also focus on improving access to all-weather roads as this encourages participation on both sides of the rental market whereas better access to communications infrastructure was found to promote only the supply side. |
| Keywords: | Vietnam, 2003 land law, rental market, transaction costs, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar13:160264&r=eff |
| By: | Benjamin Miranda Tabak; Denise Leyi Li; João V. L. de Vasconcelos; Daniel O. Cajueiro |
| Abstract: | This paper consists of an empirical investigation of Brazilian banks' profitability determinants. The panel data is composed of quarterly information for 71 banks between the first quarter of 2002 and the second quarter of 2012. Using data from the Brazilian banking system, we study the traditional determinants of bank profitability - controlling for macroeconomic environment, bank-specific characteristics and industrial structure of the banking sector - and contribute by analyzing the effects of capital buffers on bank profitability. We find that capital buffers have a positive impact on Brazilian banks' profitability. This result reinforces the hypothesis that buffers signalize stability and safety, reducing costs of fund raising. Other findings include a negative effect of high default rates on profitability; the positive effect of higher liquid assets ratios and, finally, the higher profitability of smaller, domestic private banks. The results are important to comprehend Brazilian banking institutions and can also help formulating and conducting monetary and regulatory policies |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bcb:wpaper:333&r=eff |
| By: | Malhar Nabar; Kai Yan |
| Abstract: | This paper studies structural changes underlying China's remarkable and unprecedented growth in recent years. While patterns of structural transformation across China's provinces are broadly in line with international experience, one important difference is in labor productivity differentials between services and the rest of the economy. Specifically, the gap between labor productivity in the rest of the economy and services has widened across China's provinces as they have moved from low to middle income, which is contrary to the trend observed in cross-country experience. Evidence from a panel of China's provinces suggests that credit and labor market frictions have inhibited labor productivity growth in services relatively more than in the rest of the economy. Reducing these frictions is essential for achieving the next stage of China's development, one in which the service sector will need to play a more prominent role as an engine of growth. The evidence also suggests that improving labor productivity in services will lift the consumption share of GDP, thereby advancing the needed rebalancing of domestic demand in China. |
| Keywords: | Labor productivity;China;Services sector;Demand;Economic growth;China, structural change, service sector, productivity |
| Date: | 2013–11–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:13/240&r=eff |
| By: | Joao Paulo Pessoa; John Van Reenen |
| Abstract: | Employees in the UK are not being denied their fair share of economic growth, according to research by João Paulo Pessoa and John Van Reenen. Their investigation of claims that wage growth has become 'decoupled' from productivity growth finds that decoupling has been overstated and cannot be used to justify redressing the balance between wages and profits. They show that the share of UK income going to labour is basically the same now as it was 40 years ago. The real problem is inequality among employees: wage inequality has risen massively since the late 1970s. Improving skills in the bottom half of the education distribution will boost productivity and real wages. |
| Keywords: | Decoupling, Wages, Productivity, Compensation, Labour Income Share |
| JEL: | E24 J20 J30 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepcnp:401&r=eff |
| By: | Karmakar, Sudipto; Mok, Junghwan |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically evaluates the impact of bank capital on lending patterns of commercial banks in the United States. We construct an unbalanced quarterly panel of around seven thousand medium sized commercial banks over sixty quarters, from 1996 to 2010. Using two different measures of capital namely the capital adequacy ratio and tier 1 ratio, we find a moderate relationship between bank equity and lending. We also use an innovative instrumenting methodolgy which helps us overcome the endogeneity issues that are common in such analyses. Our results are broadly consistent with some other recent studies that have analyzed US banking data. |
| Keywords: | Bank Capital Buffers, Regulation, Risk Weighted Assets |
| JEL: | G21 G28 G32 |
| Date: | 2013–10–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:52173&r=eff |