Monetary policy and noise traders: A welfare analysis

This paper studies the choice of monetary policy regime in a small open economy with noise traders in forex markets. We focus on two simple rules: fixed exchange rates and inflation targeting. We contrast the above two rules against optimal policy with commitment under productivity shocks. In general, the presence of noise traders increases the desirability of a fixed exchange rate regime. We also evaluate the welfare impact of Tobin taxes in this milieu. These taxes help unambiguously in the absence of productivity shocks; their welfare impact under productivity shocks depends on the monetary regime in place and trade elasticity between domestic and foreign goods.     

Depression's surprising toll on worker productivity

Employers need to adopt a broad set of measures to combat depression, which has a serious impact on health care costs and productivity. They should start by conducting an assessment of the various ways depression surfaces and prepare carefully designed responses, involving HR, the EAP, line managers/supervisors, health plan vendors, managed behavioral firms, disability program managers and PBMs, among others. With such an approach, ultimately employers should realize improved medical plan costs, reduced disability expenditures, lower absence rates and enhanced productivity.     

提高环境规制能促进高端制造业“绿色蜕变”吗

促进高端制造业绿色发展是新时期推动国内工业转型升级的关键。基于环境规制作用机理研究视角,通过分析其对高端制造业绿色全要素生产率的理论影响机制,引入松弛因子的方向性距离函数测度2006—2017年高端制造业绿色全要素生产率,分别就命令-控制型、市场激励型和公众参与型环境规制对高端制造业绿色全要素生产率的作用进行检验。结果表明,在高端制造业绿色全要素生产率整体上呈现稳定提升趋势的背景下,环境规制对其直接效应存在一定的差异性。其中,命令-控制型环境规制为非显著正向促进作用,而市场激励型与公众参与型环境规制则分别表现为“U”型和倒“U”型显著性直接影响;间接效应检验中,环境规制能够引发技术创新、产业集聚和外商直接投资对高端制造业绿色全要素生产率的正向效应。其中,市场激励型和公众参与型环境规制的创新补偿效应更为显著。     

Efficiency and productivity in the Indian unorganized manufacturing sector: did reforms matter?

This paper analyzes total factor productivity growth of the unorganized manufacturing sector in India using several rounds of the large scale national sample survey state level data for 15 major Indian states for the period 1978–1979 to 2000–2001. Data envelopment analysis is used to compute Malmquist total factor productivity index and its components. The impact of economic reforms on efficiency and productivity is examined. Evidence suggests that total factor productivity registered a positive growth during the period in the country as a whole. Most states in the country witnessed higher total factor productivity growth in the post 1990s reforms period than in the pre-reforms period. Decomposition of the Malmquist productivity index shows that improvement in technical efficiency rather than technical progress had contributed to the observed acceleration in the growth rate. Econometric analysis of the determinants of total factor productivity growth demonstrates that ownership, literacy, farm growth and infrastructure availability significantly influence total factor productivity growth in the sector.

房价对城市全要素生产率的影响机制研究——基于Tobit模型实证分析

基于2008—2016年全国35个大中型城市的面板数据,利用Tobit模型和投入导向型的数据包络分析(DEA)方法探究城市房屋销售价格对城市全要素生产率的影响。研究发现：在整体维度城市房价与城市生产率呈现先增加后减少的倒U型曲线,且城市的房价水平超过了“房住不炒”的最高临界值,房价上升的抑制效应显著。房价对于不同人口规模城市的生产率影响具有异质性,在人口规模达到特大城市时,房价与城市生产率呈现倒U型特征,人口规模达到超大城市后,房价与城市生产率倒U型特征消失。不同类型城市房价与城市生产率之间的倒U型关系和城市的异质性特征表明,我国大中型城市应进行房价的“一城一策”精细化调节,“房住不炒”的政策定位具有坚实理论依据和现实必然。     

企业数字化转型对环境社会责任的影响研究—“末端治理”还是“源头控制”？

本文基于2006-2020年我国A股上市企业数据,考察企业数字化转型对企业环境社会责任的影响及机制。研究发现：企业数字化转型对企业“源头控制”环境社会责任有显著正向影响,对“末端治理”环境社会责任有显著负向影响,并实现了企业从“末端治理”向“源头控制”的转变。实证结论在经一系列稳健性检验与内生性处理后依然成立。机制分析发现,数字化转型能通过员工绿色行为、企业环境社会关注意愿及全要素生产率影响企业的环境社会责任。调节效应发现,公司治理与融资成本能进一步调节数字化转型对两种环境社会责任的影响。异质性分析发现,数字化转型对非国有、高环境规制及高学历高管在承担“源头控制”环境社会责任上有着更显著的影响。动机分析发现,企业之所以从“末端治理”向“源头控制”环境社会责任的转变,其动机在于后者对企业价值有着更为显著的正向影响,而数字化转型在其中会进一步强化这一影响。     

HIGH-INVOLVEMENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, TRADE UNION REPRESENTATION AND WORKPLACE PERFORMANCE IN BRITAIN

Debates about Britain's productivity performance have often drawn attention to the roles played by working practices and employment relations. In the 1980s and 1990s, trade unions were a prime focus; more recently, attention has turned to high‐involvement management (HIM) practices (also referred to as ‘high‐performance work systems’). We combine the two to investigate the relationships between work organisation, trade union representation and workplace performance. We find that HIM has a positive impact on labour productivity. However, this effect is restricted to unionised workplaces, and seems more readily explained by concessionary wage bargaining than ‘mutual gains’, given the absence of any association with financial performance. These findings raise questions about the universal applicability of HIM as a route to improved workplace performance.     

“双碳”目标下碳交易与制造业绿色全要素生产率——基于异质性技术创新模式的机制检验

碳交易是推动制造业绿色发展,实现“双碳”目标的重要市场化工具,交易价格和市场规模能够反映碳交易实施状况,是影响制造业绿色全要素生产率的重要因素。从碳交易价格和市场规模切入,基于2008—2020年中国内地30个省份面板数据,构建连续型双重差分模型评估碳交易对制造业绿色全要素生产率的作用效果,并考察异质性技术创新模式的传导路径。结果表明,提高碳交易价格和扩大市场规模均能显著提升制造业绿色全要素生产率。机制检验表明,碳交易价格和市场规模能够推动自主创新、减少技术改造投入,进而影响制造业绿色全要素生产率,而技术引进并非有效路径。进一步研究发现,自主创新对技术改造存在挤出效应。研究结论对完善碳交易制度顶层设计、精准制定技术创新配套政策具有重要启示意义。     

Inside Europe: human capital and economic growth revisited

This paper investigates the impact of human capital on the process of innovation and technology catch-up in European Union countries. Based on the framework proposed by Benhabib and Spiegel (in: Aghion and Durlauf (eds) Handbook of economic growth, 1A, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 2005), a panel data model is estimated from 1950 to 2011 using the improved total factor productivity and human capital variables included in PWT 8.0. Following Vandenbussche et al. (J Econ Growth 11(2):97–127, 2006) we also analyse the differential impact of skilled and unskilled human capital on growth. The empirical analysis applies instrumental variables panel data methods which resolve the endogeneity bias. Our results show robust evidence of the significant direct and indirect effects of human capital on the process of total factor productivity (TFP henceforth) growth in euro area countries. When we analyse the impact of different kinds of human capital on different ways of increasing TFP we conclude that, regardless of academic level, the quantity of unskilled human capital boosts imitation in EU countries while, by contrast, highly qualified human capital is essential for growth through innovation.     

外来者劣势与海外并购企业的生产率提升

海外并购已成为新兴经济体企业对外投资和实现国际化扩张的重要战略选择。外来者劣势是中国企业海外并购活动面临着的诸多困难之一。“外来者”身份会对企业并购后的整合与生产率提升这一关键问题产生负面影响,化解负面影响需作深入的细化研究。选取2008-2015年中国上市企业共计197起海外并购事件,以制度距离、文化距离以及地理距离分别作为外来者劣势中合法性缺失和信息不对称的替代变量,分析外来者劣势对海外并购企业生产率提升的作用机制。结果显示,合法性缺失导致的外来者劣势对海外并购企业的生产率提升有显著负影响,但信息不对称对生产率的影响并不显著。调节效应检验结果表明,国内投资能显著弱化制度距离和文化距离引致的外来者劣势对海外并购企业生产率的负影响,国际化经验和出口能克服制度距离带来的合法性问题,但对文化距离带来的合法性缺失的弱化效果并不明显。     

国际生产分割的生产率效应

国际生产分割对参与国的生产率产生了重要影响。本文使用符合中国特点的生产分割指标考察了中国参与国际生产分割对于工业行业生产率的影响。研究结果表明:中国参与生产分割有利于生产率的提高;非加工贸易形式的生产分割对生产率的提升作用要高于加工贸易形式的生产分割;生产分割提高生产率的效果对不同行业是不同的,中低技术行业最为明显,其次是高技术行业,最低为初级产品、劳动和资源密集部门;从发达国家承接的生产分割对生产率的提升作用要大于从非发达国家承接的生产分割。     

Continuing Vocational Training Forms and Establishment Productivity in Germany

Abstract. This paper provides evidence of the productivity effects of different continuing vocational training forms in Germany. Using the waves 1997–2001 of the IAB establishment panel, it is found that formal external courses have the largest positive impact on productivity. Formal internal courses and quality circles have a smaller positive impact. Self‐induced learning, participation at seminars and talks and job rotation do not enhance productivity while training on the job has a negative productivity impact. Establishments with an inefficient production structure decide to offer training in order to boost productivity. This paper also shows that taking into account selectivity of the training decision, unobserved time‐invariant heterogeneity, human resource practices, as well as establishment and employee characteristics has an important impact on the measurement results.     

Education and job complexity levels

Education is generally accepted as a leading instrument for promoting economic growth. Growth theories have attempted to explain the relationship existing between education and growth through the important role played by labor productivity. However, productivity itself can be explained by consumers’ requirement for higher-quality products, which need more complex production process, suggesting more complex jobs. This paper extends the theoretical model in Teulings and van Rens (Rev Econ Stat 90(1):89–104, 2008)). Using a general model, it shows that education levels are influenced by the productivity and jobs’ complexity levels. However, the impact of the jobs’ complexity is attenuated by the effect of the elasticity of substitution between workers types.     

文化要素与经济增长

狭义地说,文化是世代相传下来的、规则化的"惯例",以及一套价值观念和相应伦理规范的"信仰"。关于文化对经济增长的作用机制,大致可以从三个方面给出初步解释:文化要素影响企业家职业选择和企业管理者选择机制,影响企业层次生产率,进而影响总生产率和经济增长;文化作为知识资产,以其特有的方式进入总生产函数,决定了经济增长率和增长路径;经济和文化的共生演进,将成为服务经济时代的典型化事实,并影响经济增长方式和经济竞争方式。     

The productivity impact of climate change: Evidence from Australia's Millennium drought

The economic impact of climate change has usually been estimated based on changes in average weather condition and is often measured in terms of immediate loss of output or profit. Yet little is known about the impact of extreme weather event, in particular its impact on productivity in the medium to long term. Using Australia's Millennium drought as a case of extreme weather event and applying the synthetic control method, we show that severe droughts occurred between 2002 and 2010 has brought down agricultural total factor productivity by about 18 percent in Australia over the period, contributing significantly to the country's long-term slowdown of agricultural total factor productivity growth. Our results highlight the significance of productivity impact of extreme weather events that has been overlooked when accessing the economic impact of climate change.     

R&D Policies and Endogenous Growth: A Dynamic General Equilibrium Analysis of the Case for Canada*

This paper utilizes a general equilibrium R&D model of endogenous growth via increasing capital variety to examine the impact of alternative policies on productivity and economic growth. The model is calibrated using data from the Canadian economy. Findings reveal that direct incentives such as subsidies to R&D activities would have the highest productivity impact on the Canadian economy, that an increase in subsidies to the users of R&D capital (output) would have a positive but smaller impact, and trade liberalization would have minimal effects on productivity growth via its impact on international R&D spillovers.     

Minimum Wages and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Vietnamese Manufacturing Firms

ABSTRACT

This paper empirically examines the minimum-wage impact on firm productivity. Using a detailed Vietnamese firm-level dataset from 2010 through 2015, the regression results suggest that firms raise their labor productivity, total factor productivity, capital intensity and revenue in response to increased minimum wage standards. Firms that pay their workers below the minimum wage react more positively in raising their labor productivity than high-wage firms. Minimum wages has had a more pronounced impact on firms’ labor productivity, total factor productivity and capital intensity since the uniform wage rate was introduced for both domestic private and foreign-invested enterprises in 2012.     

Corruption,Bureaucracy and Firm Productivity in Africa

This paper estimates the impact of corruption and poor bureaucratic quality on firm productivity for a unique dataset with firm‐specific data of more than 900 firms over 12 years for Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. We first discuss why poor bureaucratic quality and, especially, corruption are expected to have negative impacts on firm productivity. We then employ Data Envelopment Analysis to estimate firm productivity and pooled OLS and Tobit regression analysis to estimate the effects of corruption and bureaucratic quality on firm productivity. We find that less productive firms are more likely to engage in corrupt activities; both poor bureaucratic quality and corruption reduce firm productivity; and corruption has a greater negative impact on productivity.     

New Evidence from Brazil on Trade Liberalization and Productivity Growth*

This article presents evidence on the positive effect of international trade on productivity growth using industrial level data preceding and following Brazil's trade liberalization in 1988–90. Our data reveal large and widespread productivity improvement across industries after barriers to trade were drastically reduced. Econometric results confirm the association between trade liberalization and productivity growth and show that the impact was indeed substantial: The observed tariff reduction in the period brought a 6% estimated increase in total factor productivity growth rate and a similar impact on labor productivity.     

PRODUCTIVITY ANALYSIS WITH CO2 EMISSIONS IN JAPAN

This article measures Japanese prefectures' productivity from 1991 to 2002, taking CO₂ emissions into consideration, and examines the factors that impact on productivity. We use the data envelopment analysis and measure the Luenberger productivity indicator, incorporating CO₂ emissions in the analysis. Our results show that productivity was decreasing during the period of investigation. According to the results of the generalized method of moment estimation, the operations rate, the share of the energy intensive industries and social capital significantly impact on productivity.