Marketization,environmental regulation,and eco-friendly productivity: A Malmquist–Luenberger index for pollution emissions of large Chinese firms

Marketization requires individuals and firms to increase energy efficiency and improve environmental quality, and various levels of governments interested in environmental protection have adopted tough environmental regulations. This paper develops data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure unified efficiency at the firm level by introducing energy utilization and pollution emissions. A Malmquist–Luenberger efficiency model with undesirable output follows radial measurement by directional distance function type. We analyze green productive efficiency in relation to polluting emissions using a large dynamic panel dataset of 229,491 Chinese manufacturing firms from 1998 to 2012. We identify that marketization and environmental regulation both significantly facilitate green productivity. Further, our findings imply that both marketization and regulatory effects weakened from the tenth to the twelfth Five-Year Plans. Regarding effects across ownership type, green total factor productivity (TFP) growth of state-owned enterprises is significantly affected by regulation but not marketization. Private and foreign-owned firms are both significantly affected by marketization and regulation. Regionally, green TFP growth is positively associated with marketization and regulation in central China. East China’s green TFP growth is motivated by marketization, and West China’s green TFP growth is strongly driven by regulation.     

Total Factor Productivity in China's Manufacturing Sector in the Aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis

This paper improves the estimation of firm-level total factor productivity (TFP) by considering energy use and including small- and medium-sized enterprises using data from the Chinese National Tax Survey Database (2008–2011). It analyzes the production efficiency of Chinese manufacturing firms using the improved TFP data and finds that (i) the TFP data frequently used in previous studies overestimated firms' real production efficiency; (ii) the TFP of manufacturing firms decreased from 2008 to 2011 due to declines in both technical efficiency and allocation efficiency; (iii) the lower capacity utilization of production factors led to lower technical efficiency; and (iv) allocation efficiency decreased more in provinces and industries with higher shares of state-owned enterprises. The findings have policy implications for enhancing growth potential in the long run.     

SOURCES OF PRODUCTIVITY GAINS FROM FDI IN INDONESIA: IS IT EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT OR TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS?

This article investigates the spillover effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on productivity growth in the Indonesian food-processing (ISIC 311) and electrical machinery industries (ISIC 383). Total factor productivity (TFP) growth is decomposed into efficiency change and technological change by using the Malmquist productivity index. The empirical results show that efficiency improvement is the major driver of TFP growth in the food-processing industry, whereas technological progress is the dominant contributor in the electrical machinery industry. There are positive spillovers on efficiency change but negative spillovers on technological change in the food-processing industry. However, FDI spillovers turn out to be negative in efficiency change while positive in technological progress in the electrical machinery industry. These findings demonstrate that different industries experience different sources of productivity gains, which are dependent on the characteristics of firms in the industry.     

Knowledge economy and industry performance in China: a provincial level analysis

ABSTRACT

We construct a framework for investigating the effects of knowledge on industry performance. Using Chinese provincial industry data from 2000 to 2012, we decompose total factor productivity (TFP) change into the four components of embodied technical change, disembodied technical change, scale efficiency change, and technical efficiency change. Our results show a considerably stronger positive effect of advanced knowledge on production technology than of basic knowledge. International knowledge spillovers, particularly trade-induced spillovers, are more effective in inducing TFP growth than domestic spillovers. Our analysis further illustrates a discrepancy in TFP growth rates between regions, and we find TFP of the Central and West Region to be catching-up with the East Region. On average, scale efficiency change is the major contributing factor to regional disparities in TFP change. We discuss several policy implications of our results.

Abbreviation: Advanced knowledge (ADV); Share of agriculture (AGR); Basic knowledge (BAS); Chinese Industrial Census (CIC); Data envelopment analysis (DEA); Disembodied technical change (DTC); Embodied technical change (ETC); Foreign direct investment (FDI); Gross domestic product (GDP); Population density (POD); Scale efficiency change (SEC); Stochastic frontier analysis (SFA); International spillovers from foreign countries (SPF); Cross-sectoral external knowledge spillovers within China (SPH); Neutral technical change (TC); Technical efficiency (TE); Technical efficiency change (TEC); Total factor productivity (TFP); International trade (TRD); Degree of urbanization (URB)     

Do Market Pressures Induce Economic Efficiency? The Case of Slovenian Manufacturing, 1994–2001

Using a unique longitudinal data set on all manufacturing firms in Slovenia from 1994 to 2001, this article analyzes how firm efficiency changed in response to changing competitive pressures associated with the transition to market. Results show that the period was one of atypically rapid growth of total factor productivity (TFP). The rise in firm efficiency occurs across almost all industries and firm types: large or small, state or private, domestic or foreign owned. Changes in firm ownership type have no direct impact on firm efficiency. However, increased market competition related to rising market share of private firms, new market entrants, foreign‐owned firms, and international trade raises TFP across all firms in an industry, whether private or state owned. In addition, competitive pressures that sort out inefficient firms of all types and retain the most efficient, coupled with the entry of new private firms that are at least as efficient as surviving firms, prove to be the major source of TFP gains. Results strongly confirm that market competition fosters efficiency.     

中国地区工业绿色全要素生产率增长:——基于方向性距离函数的经验分析

结合方向性距离函数和跨期数据包络分析法,测度绿色全要素生产率增长时尽可能地避免了出现技术倒退结论。中国省份工业的经验分析表明:忽略非期望产出的全要素生产率增长被高估,并混淆了技术进步和技术效率变化的相对贡献;技术无效率普遍存在且省际差异和年际波动性大,但这与经济发展水平无关;绿色全要素生产率变化也存在省际差异和年际波动特点,其中技术进步是其增长的主要源泉,而技术效率恶化是其倒退的根本原因;绿色全要素生产率增长存在明显的倒U型趋势和趋同性,而且外资利用印证了"污染天堂"假说。     

中国装备制造业全要素生产率增长的分解:1998-2009——基于省际面板数据的研究

本文采用超越对数的随机前沿生产函数和1998-2009年的省际面板数据,测算了中国各地区装备制造业的全要素生产率(TFP)增长率,并从技术进步、技术效率变化、规模效率变化、配置效率变化四个方面对中国装备制造业全要素生产率变化的特点进行了分析。经验结果表明,样本期间内,全国以及东、中、西部地区装备制造业的TFP都有所增长,其增速皆呈现出先增后减再增的趋势;TFP增长对全国装备制造业产出增长的贡献率相对较低,仅为0.117。对TFP增长的分解发现,技术进步已成为中国装备制造业TFP增长的主要源泉,配置效率和规模效率恶化则严重阻碍了中国装备制造业TFP水平的提高。分地区来看,中部地区的TFP增长率最高,东部次之,西部最低,这主要是由于西部地区装备制造业要素配置效率的下降最为严重,东部地区规模效率的下降最为严重。     

New estimates and a decomposition of provincial productivity change in China

Productivity and efficiency change lies at the heart of achieving sustainable growth in China. This paper computes and decomposes provincial-level Färe–Primont TFP indexes for the period 1978 to 2010. On average across provinces, we find evidence of rapid TFP growth mostly due to technical change, but with changes in scale–mix efficiency also playing a supplementary role. Considerable heterogeneity from province to province is also documented both with respect to the rate of TFP growth and its components. Policy implications are discussed.     

Total factor productivity of Korean manufacturing industries: Comparison of competing models with firm-level data

This paper presents the parametric estimation of the rates of technical change and total factor productivity (TFP) growth of 7462 Korean manufacturing firms over the period 1987–2007. Two alternative formulations of technical change measured by the time trend and the general index approaches are estimated with panel data models assuming flexible functional forms. Several extensions of each approach are also considered and their benefits and limitations are discussed. In addition to making estimates of the TFP growth and its decomposition, the paper compares the parametric TFP growth measure with the non-parametric Solow residual serving as a benchmark. Several hypotheses related to technology level, firm sizes, industrial sectors, skill biased technological change and macroeconomic and industrial policies are tested to explain the growth patterns and heterogeneity in technical change, input biases and TFP growth rates. Using second regression analysis, the paper explores the determinants of TFP growth and their policy implications.     

Call For Papers: The Eighth International Convention of the East Asian Economic Association

This paper provides empirical estimates of total factor productivity (TFP) trends in a sample of 17 APEC countries over the period 1975 to 1996. TFP growth is an important measure of an economy's performance and if measured correctly it can provide valuable guidance on issues related to the assessment of sustainable growth trends. We use the Malmquist index to measure TFP growth and decompose it into an efficiency change and a technical change component. This decomposition provides extra insight on assessing sustainable growth trends. The measurement technique itself is regarded as a significant improvement over previous conventional measures of TFP growth. The results are very interesting. Japan, Thailand and primarily Indonesia and Malaysia are identified as countries exhibiting on average negative TFP growth rates in the 1975-1990 period. In all these countries as well as in South Korea and Taiwan the main cause of low TFP growth is a poor (negative) efficiency record. The average TFP growth rate for Japan and Malaysia is positive in the 1975-1996 period but the efficiency change component remains negative. In all these countries the main contributor to labour productivity growth is capital accumulation. Unlike previous studies we find no evidence of a poor TFP growth performance for Singapore. Furthermore, we estimate that most of Singapore's labour productivity growth is driven by efficiency change. Estimates of rates of convergence towards the frontier economy that is estimated (not assumed as in other studies) to be the US, are also reported.     

环境约束下中国区域工业技术效率与生产率及其影响因素实证研究

本文运用方向性距离函数和曼奎斯特-卢恩伯格指数方法测算了环境约束下中国1998--2007年各地区工业技术效率、全要素生产率指数和环境规制成本,并对影响技术效率和全要素生产率增长的因素进行了实证分析。结果显示：环境技术效率呈现东、中、西依次递减,并且技术效率越高的地区,环境管制成本越低;考虑环境因素后,中国各地区工业全要素生产率指数降低,主要是由技术进步推动;环境约束下工业全要素生产率东部最高,西部次之,中部最低;人均GRP、FDI、工业结构、能源结构、人口密度对技术效率和全要素生产率有不同程度的影响。     

Agricultural productivity evolution in China: A generalized decomposition of the Luenberger-Hicks-Moorsteen productivity indicator

China has undergone a series of agricultural policy reforms since 1978. The measurement of the productivity gains and identification of the underlying drivers thereof are important facets of policy analysis. The commonly used Total Factor Productivity (TFP) measures often lack such desirable properties as completeness or independence of the direction of the optimization (orientation). In this paper, we take a top down approach by beginning with a TFP measure and then decomposing it into three mutually exclusive, exhaustive elements. In particular, we begin with the additively complete Luenberger-Hicks-Moorsteen (LHM) TFP indicator that takes into account both input and output changes when measuring productivity and then additively decompose it into measures of technological progress, technical efficiency change, and scale efficiency change. We develop a generalized decomposition of the LHM TFP indicator which encompasses both input-oriented and output-oriented changes over time. We illustrate this additively complete LHM TFP indicator using agricultural data from 31 Chinese provinces over the period 1997–2015. Our empirical results show that Chinese agricultural productivity growth (3.05% per annum) was mainly driven by technological progress (2.35% p.a.), with relatively small contributions from scale efficiency change (0.65% p.a.) and technical efficiency change (0.04% p.a.). We also found that productivity change and the relative importance of its components varied across both time and provinces.     

Product differentiation,export participation and productivity growth: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms

In this paper, we investigate how the degree of export participation and product differentiation affect firms' productivity growth through learning-by-exporting. We extend the model of Melitz and Ottaviano (2008) to endogenize the effort firms allocate to learning. This effort choice depends on both the degree to which firms enter export markets and the extent to which products are differentiated across producers. Using a firm-level dataset from China's manufacturing industries, we implement propensity score matching methods to test the model's predictions. Our results indicate that the degree of export participation is positively correlated with TFP improvements. Simultaneously, we empirically verify that firms exporting less differentiated products experience faster TFP growth than those exporting more differentiated products.     

基于技能偏向性技术进步的经济增长动能分解

在传统Solow增长核算框架基础上引入异质性劳动投入以及技能偏向性技术进步,从而将经济增长分解为固定资本投入增长、劳动投入增长、技能结构深化、技能偏向性技术进步、中性技术进步及效率改进等五种动能。研究发现：第一,中国经济增长主要由固定资本投入以及全要素生产率增长共同驱动,其中资本投入对经济增长年均贡献率为61.64%,全要素生产率增长的年均贡献率则为35.66%,中国区别于其他中低收入国家的发展奇迹背后正是较快的全要素生产率增长;第二,即使对于高收入国家而言,资本投入仍然是主要的经济增长动能;第三,技能结构深化以及技能偏向性技术进步是全要素生产率的主要来源,二者对中国经济增长的年均贡献率分别为32.04%和21.27%;第四,资源配置效率变化是引起全要素生产率波动的主要因素,资源配置效率下降是导致2008年后中国以及大部分高收入国家全要素生产率增速放缓的主要原因。     

FDI、知识溢出与生产率增长——基于DEA方法和状态空间模型的经验研究

本文利用DEA方法对中国全要素生产率进行了测算,在此基础上建立国际知识溢出分析框架,检验了基于FDI渠道的国外知识资本对全要素生产率的溢出效应。结果表明:国内知识资本和基于FDI渠道的国外知识资本对TFP增长起到显著的促进作用;通过对TFP进行分解发现,两者对技术进步促进作用明显,对技术效率影响微弱;采用状态空间模型进一步分析发现,于FDI渠道的国外知识资本对TFP的贡献度在不断上升。     

中国新能源上市公司全要素生产率动态变化实证研究

文章从投入产出角度,运用DEA-Malmquist指数法对中国新能源上市公司的全要素生产率动态变化及其分解进行了测算。研究表明2006－2011年间中国新能源上市公司的全要素生产率增长水平较低,平均增长率仅为1.5％。增长的源泉主要是技术进步,技术效率的下降在一定程度上抵消了技术进步带来的效果。最后从不同类型新能源公司视角出发,分析了不同类型新能源公司全要素生产率变化、技术效率变化、技术进步之间的差异性。     

Is working capital management value-enhancing through alleviating financial constraints? Evidence from Chinese non-listed firms

Financial factors have been found highly important in influencing firms’ real activities and in promoting aggregate growth. Yet, the linkage between finance and firm-level total factor productivity (TFP) has been overlooked in the literature. I fill this gap using 147,310 non-listed Chinese firms over the period 1999–2007 to estimate a TFP model augmented with working capital. I find that TFP is strongly and significantly associated with working capital for private and foreign firms, but not for SOEs. More specifically, an increase in working capital has a negative (positive) effect on TFP in firms with positive (negative) working capital. Furthermore, highly external financial constrained, highly internal financial constrained, under-developed institutional regions and small size private and foreign firms are more sensitive to working capital.     

Trade liberalization and productivity growth in Australian manufacturing industries

Although there has been a revival of interest in the trade-growth nexus, the impact of trade liberalization on productivity gains remains empirical, given the ambiguity in the literature on this issue. This paper examines the case for Australia using annual data of eight two-digit manufacturing industries from 1968–69 to 1994–95. Unlike earlier studies, total factor productivity growth is first decomposed into technological progress and gains in technical efficiency, and the effect of trade liberalization is then investigated separately on TFP growth, as well as on each of the components of TFP growth. The empirical finding that trade liberalization has a positive and significant effect on technological progress, but no significant effect on gains in technical efficiency, adds yet another dimension to the evaluation of trade liberalization policies.     

Measuring Green Productivity Growth for China's Manufacturing Sectors: 1991–2000*

Over the past two decades, China has sustained rapid economic growth of 8–10 percent, part of which is attributed to the positive total factor productivity (TFP) growth. However, this extraordinary economic performance has been accompanied by severe environmental pollution and associated health damage. The conventional TFP method is biased in interpreting the progress of technology change because it does not consider non‐marketable residues, such as environmental pollution, and, hence, efficiency improvements in terms of pollution abatement technology and environmentally friendly management are ignored. This bias might direct our attention to less efficient use of environmental friendly abatement technologies or send wrong signals to policy‐makers. To address this issue, the present paper applies a modified welfare‐based green TFP approach, treating environmental damage as non‐desirable (negative) residual output. Therefore, environmental efficiency is taken into account to accurately interpret technological progress from a social welfare point of view. Based on a national time‐series input–output table, historical capital and labor input data for China and sectoral level air pollution emission data from 1991 to 2000, the empirical results suggest that with increasingly stringent environmental regulations, many pollution intensive sectors, such as electricity, primary metal and chemical industries, improved their environmental efficiency in the late 1990s. However, because of the weak environmental regulations in construction and transportation, and in sectors primarily composed of small private or township and village industrial enterprises, firms within these industries contributed to increasing environmental degradation.     

中国食品饮料行业经营绩效评价及影响因素——基于SORM-BCC和Malmquist的DEA-Tobit模型

本文运用基于SORM-BCC和Malmquist的DEA-Tobit模型对中国食品饮料行业44家主要上市公司2002-2009年间的经营绩效及影响因素进行了分析。研究结果显示:第一,静态来看,受规模效率限制,综合技术效率均值普遍偏低;第二,动态来看,技术水平变化是TFP增长的强劲来源,但是纯技术效率变化和规模效率变化呈现不同程度的衰退,影响了TFP的进一步提升;第三,资产周转率以及人均资本均是正向影响食品饮料公司综合技术效率及规模效率的显著因素,公司规模亦产生正向影响,但是稳健性较差,而上市年龄则产生显著的负向影响;第四,只有资产周转率对纯技术效率产生显著正向影响,其它环境变量的影响缺乏显著性和稳健性。