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on Efficiency and Productivity |
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Issue of 2019‒07‒29
fourteen papers chosen by |
| By: | Newman Carol; Rand John; Tsebe Mpho |
| Abstract: | Misallocation of labour and capital can greatly reduce aggregate productivity. In this study, we use tax administrative data to examine the extent of resource misallocation in the South African context.In addition, we zoom in on how different government incentives affect the allocation (or misallocation) of capital and labour across firms, and we quantify the extent to which alleviating these policy-induced distortions would improve productivity for the manufacturing sector in South Africa.We also analyse heterogeneity in the extent of misallocation along the firm size distribution and identify firm size categories where these policy distortions are having the biggest impact on productivity. |
| Keywords: | resource misallocation,Productivity |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2019-46&r=all |
| By: | Crafts, Nicholas (University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | This paper updates the classic growth accounting research of the early 1980s taking account of improved data that has subsequently become available. The picture of long-run growth which results from incorporating many revisions is considerably different. The long-run path of productivity growth is now that of a roller-coaster with twin peaks in the third quarters of the 19th and 20th centuries rather than a U-shape. Productivity growth appears to have been very slow to accelerate in the Industrial Revolution, the notion of an Edwardian climacteric is not persuasive and the current productivity slowdown stands out as unprecedented. |
| Keywords: | Climacteric; Golden Age; Growth Accounting; Industrial Revolution; Productivity Growth; Productivity Puzzle JEL Classification: N13; N14: O47: O52 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:430&r=all |
| By: | Crafts, Nicholas (University of Warwick); Mills, Terence C. (Loughborough University) |
| Abstract: | We estimate trend UK labour productivity growth using a Hodrick-Prescott filter method. We use the results to compare downturns where the economy fell below its pre-existing trend. We find that the current productivity slowdown has resulted in productivity being 19.7% below the pre-2008 trend path in 2018. This is nearly double the previous worst productivity shortfall ten years after the start of a downturn. On this criterion the slowdown is unprecedented in the last 250 years. We conjecture that this reflects a combination of adverse circumstances, namely, a financial crisis, a weakening impact of ICT and impending Brexit. |
| Keywords: | Brexit; financial crisis; Hodrick-Prescott filter; ICT; productivity slowdown JEL Classification: C22; N13; N14; O47 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:429&r=all |
| By: | Victor von Loessl (University of Kassel); Heike Wetzel (University of Kassel) |
| Abstract: | Energy efficiency provides a substantial opportunity to tackle increasing greenhouse gas emissions. However, in traditionally regulated energy markets, energy providers maximize their profits by selling electricity or heat as long as their marginal revenue exceeds their marginal costs of production. This so called ’throughput incentive’ fundamentally restricts the motivation of utilities to invest in energy efficiency. This paper therefore investigates the relation between the regulatory policy revenue decoupling, that separates utilities’ revenue from sales fluctuations, and electricity customers’ energy demand and efficiency in the U.S. To address the research question at hand, we follow recent developments in energy demand function modeling and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) estimation techniques that allow to account for persistent as well as transient efficiency. The estimation results show a significant negative correlation between revenue decoupling and electricity consumption patterns.Furthermore, we find electricity customers have small transient inefficiency. However, results indicate an underlying persistent inefficiency across the entire electric sector. |
| Keywords: | Revenue decoupling, energy efficiency, stochastic frontier analysis, demand frontier function, transient and persistent efficiency |
| JEL: | C23 L51 L94 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201918&r=all |
| By: | Daniel A. Dias; Carlos Robalo Marques; Carlos Robalo Marques |
| Keywords: | Productivity, firm-level data, entry, exit, survival |
| JEL: | D24 E32 L25 O47 |
| Date: | 2019–06–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgif:1250&r=all |
| By: | Francesco Lamperti; Franco Malerba; Roberto Mavilia; Giorgio Tripodi |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically investigates how the inter-sectoral knowledge flows affect the international competitiveness of industries, once controlling for both cost and other technological factors. Using patent data on 14 manufacturing industries in 16 OECD countries over the period 1995-2009, we apply a network-based approach to capture the effect of industries' position in the flows of technological knowledge across industries, which we label inter-sectoral knowledge space. We find that (i) centrality and local clustering in the inter-sectoral knowledge space positively affect the export market shares of an industry, (ii) such two effects are rather redundant and, (iii) national-level knowledge flows' impacts on international competitiveness are way stronger than international ones. Network measures of position in the knowledge space are found to be more relevant than standard technological indicators such as patent counts. Our results point to the importance of industries being well located in the stream of knowledge flows, rather than being innovative per-se, and offers an novel yet robust proxy to measure technological factors affecting trade performances. In addition, we find evidence of geographical boundaries of knowledge flows. |
| Keywords: | international trade; industry competitiveness; knowledge flows; patent data. |
| Date: | 2019–07–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2019/23&r=all |
| By: | Chen, Chen-Ti; Lade, Gabriel; Crespi, John M.; Keiser, David A. |
| Keywords: | Resource/ Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291262&r=all |
| By: | Ayinde, Opeyemi E.; Abdoulaye, Tahirou; Miranda, Mario J.; Sam, Abdoul G.; Olaoye, Gbadebo |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291191&r=all |
| By: | Jan Stede |
| Abstract: | In energy efficiency networks, groups of firms exchange experiences on energy conservation in regular meetings over several years. The companies implement energy efficiency measures in order to reach commonly agreed energy savings and CO2 reduction goals. Energy efficiency networks exist in several countries, such as Germany, Sweden and China. Existing evaluations of such voluntary regional networks in Germany claim that participants improved energy efficiency at twice the speed of the industry average. Based on comprehensive data from the German manufacturing census, this paper examines whether participation in energy efficiency networks has a causal impact on energy conservation and CO2 emissions. I employ both a difference-in-differences estimator, using companies that joined energy efficiency networks at a later point in time as a control group, as well as a semiparametric matching estimator. I demonstrate that for the average participant there is no evidence of a statistically significant effect on energy productivity or CO2 emissions due to the network activities. However, there is some indication that exporters may have benefitted from the networks by reducing their CO2 emissions. |
| Keywords: | Business networks, voluntary agreements, energy conservation, policy evaluation |
| JEL: | D22 Q40 Q51 C50 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1813&r=all |
| By: | Gori Maia, Alexandre; Fonseca, Camila Veneo Campos; Silveira, Rodrigo Lanna F.; Burney, Jennifer; Cesano, Daniele |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291202&r=all |
| By: | Haque, Samiul; Abedin, Naveen; Fakir, Adnan M. S.; Hannan, Rafe; Alam, Rafa |
| Keywords: | Production Economics |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291149&r=all |
| By: | Pena, Jorge; Guasch, J. Luis; Escribano, Álvaro |
| Abstract: | Developing countries are increasingly concerned about improving country competitiveness and productivity. Investment Climate surveys (ICs) at the firm level, are becoming the standard way for the World Bank to identify key obstacles to country competitiveness. This paper develops a general to specific econometric methodology, based on firm level observable fixed effects that generate robust investment climate effects (elasticities) on total factor productivity (TFP). By robust IC elasticities on TFP we mean elasticity estimates with equal signs and of similar magnitudes for several competing TFP measures. We apply this econometric methodology to the IC survey of Costa Rica showing how robust the investment climate effects are for several measures of TFP when conditioning on relevant plant-level information that is usually unobserved. For the economic evaluation we estimate the marginal effects of each IC variable on TFP as well as their IC impacts on average TFP obtaining important economic differences. These IC estimates are obtained from five blocks of IC variables, (i) infrastructure, (ii) red tape, corruption and crime, (iii) finance and corporate governance, (iv) quality, innovation and labor skills and (v) other control variables, could be used as benchmarks to assess cross-country IC assessments of TFP. |
| Keywords: | Demeaned Tfp; Impact Evaluation On Average Tfp; Input-Output Elasticities; Estimates; Robust; Observable Fixed Effects; Investment Climate; Total Factor Productivity |
| JEL: | C51 F14 L11 L25 C18 C23 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:werepe:28639&r=all |
| By: | Ogunleye, A.S.; Akinola, A.A.; Bamire, A.S.; Alia, D.; Adeyeye, O.; Abdoulaye, T.; Reed, H. |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the farm size and productivity relationship using data from Nigeria. The household data used has been drawn from a baseline survey conducted in Nigeria and financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations (BMGF).The relationship between farm size and productivity has long been a topic of debate in development economics. Using a cross sectional baseline data, we aimed at examining the relationship between maize yield and farm size across the selected agro-ecological zones. Specifically, it aimed at investigating the farm size–productivity relationship and its underlying determinants for maize producers in Nigeria. Findings from this study indicate that productivity measures are consistently highest among farms small farms, next highest among medium, and lowest among large farms. Gross profit per hectare and net profit per hectare on small farms are over 15% higher and 40% respectively higher than medium and large farms. The study further reveal a strong negative relationship between the value of output per hectare and own cultivated area with a doubling in cultivated area associated with a 35% or 98% decrease in the value of crop output per unit of cultivated land at the holding- or plot-level, respectively. We therefore recommended that farm size– productivity relationship and its determinants in developing countries like Nigeria should continue to be of interest to policy makers seeking to resolve the small-sized farm issue. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291798&r=all |
| By: | Adeyeye O.; Ogunleye, A.S.; Akinola, A.A.; Reed, H.; Didier, A.; Wineman, A.; Bamire, A.S.; Abdoulaye, T. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Farm Management, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:291799&r=all |