Imported Capital Goods and Manufacturing Productivity: Evidence from Botswana's Manufacturing Sector

This article examines the effects of imported capital goods on manufacturing productivity growth in Botswana. Despite consistent efforts aimed at diversification, Botswana's economy has remained heavily dependent on diamond exports, and the country's productivity remains a point of concern. The ability to apply foreign technologies to increase productivity and spur diversification is limited by the foreign exchange gap. This study uses an imported input growth model to analyse how the importation of capital goods contributes to enabling productivity growth and export diversification. With a panel of 340 manufacturing firms, the study also analyses the effects of imported capital goods on firm productivity growth and skills development. The results show that imported machines and equipment have increase manufacturing productivity after 1‐2 years following the investment. Additionally, foreign‐owned firms were found to enjoy more productivity growth than their domestic counterparts.     

Ownership and Energy Efficiency in Indonesian Manufacturing

Using 1996 and 2006 census data on medium-large plants in Indonesian manufacturing, we examine whether foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) and stateowned enterprises (SOEs) used purchased energy more efficiently than local, private plants, finding that the correlation between plant ownership and total energy intensity, gas intensity, and coal intensity was generally weak in both years. Second, we ask whether energy efficiency in private plants was affected by the presence of MNEs or SOEs in high-energy-consuming industries. In 1996, private energy intensities were often positively correlated with the presence of SOEs and majorityforeign MNEs and negatively correlated with the presence of wholly foreign or minority-foreign MNEs, but in 2006 the corresponding results differed substantially. This suggests that ownership-related differentials in energy intensity and intra-industry energy-intensity spillovers are not pronounced. If policymakers are concerned with improving energy efficiency in Indonesian manufacturing, plant ownership should not be a major consideration.     

Growth and Productivity in Singapore Manufacturing Industries: 1975–1998

Consistently defined price and volume relatives are constructed for 18 manufacturing industries under the two-digit industry classifications officially adopted in 1996. Industry-specific output and materials price deflators for the period 1974–1998 are also constructed. Where the comparison is possible, we arrive at a markedly different conclusion from those in Tsao (1982, 1985 ) and Young (1994 ), and narrow the cause to a difference in the choice of output measure. The updated accounts show that the conventional index number measure of total factor productivity growth (TFPG) for Singapore manufacturing is 2.7% per annum for the period 1975–1998, and exhibits a cyclical pattern over time.     

Effects of Knowledge Spillovers on Knowledge Production and Productivity Growth in Korean Manufacturing Firms

Using Korean firm‐level data, this paper studies the effects of knowledge spillovers on knowledge production and productivity growth. Data from 213 Korean firms for the years 1985 to 2007 are used, and the number of patent applications is used as a proxy variable for knowledge. The results show that all the growth rates of output, patents, and productivity are higher in high‐technology firms. Regression results show that the spillover effect on knowledge production and productivity growth is very significant, and that the spillover effect is larger in small firms than in large firms. Moreover, spillover effects on productivity growth are larger after 1995, when Korean intellectual property rights were strengthened. Our findings suggest that the effects of knowledge spillover on productivity are positively correlated with strong intellectual property rights.     

Infrastructure and Growth in South Africa: Direct and Indirect Productivity Impacts of 19 Infrastructure Measures

Empirical explorations of the growth and aggregate productivity impacts of infrastructure have been characterized by ambiguous (countervailing signs) results with little robustness. This paper, utilizing panel data for South African manufacturing over the 1970–2000 period, and a range of 19 infrastructure measures, explores the question of infrastructure endogeneity in output equations. The paper develops an instrumentation strategy generalizable to other contexts. Controlling for the possibility of endogeneity in the infrastructure measures renders the impact of infrastructure capital not only positive, but of economically meaningful magnitudes.     

Exports, FDI, and Productivity: Dynamic Evidence from Japanese Firms

This paper examines the relationship between exports, foreign direct investment, and firm productivity. Using longitudinal panel data on Japanese firms, it is found that the most productive firms engage in exports and foreign direct investment, medium productive firms engage in either exports or foreign direct investment, and the least productive firms focus only on the domestic market. Moreover, exports and foreign direct investment appear to improve firm productivity once the productivity convergence effect is controlled for. Firms that retain a presence in foreign markets, either by exports or foreign direct investment, show the highest productivity growth, which contributes to improvements in national productivity. JEL no. F10, F20, D21     

Wage Differentials among Ownership Groups and Worker Quality in Vietnamese Manufacturing

Wholly foreign multinational enterprises (WFs), joint-venture multinationals (JVs), state-owned enterprises (SOEs) pay higher wages than domestic private firms in Vietnamese manufacturing. In large samples of medium–large (20+ employees) firms, conditional differentials accounting for worker education and occupation, as well as capital intensity, size, and shares of female workers, were substantially smaller, but positive and significant. Wage levels and differentials varied substantially among industries. Conditional differentials remained positive and significant for WFs and JVs in most of the 11 industries examined, but estimates of SOE-private differentials were insignificant in most industries. Robustness checks using 2007 data yielded similar results.     

Productivity Growth in Different Plant‐size Groups in the Malaysian Manufacturing Sector*

In the present study, we develop a stochastic frontier production model that allows for different groups of firms to have different patterns of technical efficiency over time. We apply our model to the Malaysian manufacturing sector to decompose total factor productivity growth into technical efficiency change and technical progress for different plant size groups (e.g. large and small) in seven industries during 2000–2004. Our empirical results indicate that technical efficiency has worsened across all industries and plant‐size groups. In contrast, we find evidence of substantial technical progress in all industries. In fact, technical progress has been larger than technical efficiency deterioration in most industries and plant‐size groups, leading to total factor productivity growth. Our analysis identifies the industries and plant‐size groups that lag the most in terms of productivity, and thus have the greatest scope for policies that facilitate productivity growth.     

Productivity of Foreign and Domestic Firms in the Malaysian Manufacturing Industry*

The relative position of total factor productivity (TFP) of both foreign and domestic ?rms in the manufacturing industry in Malaysia is estimated for three‐ and ?ve‐digit level subsectors. It was found that the differences between foreign and domestic ?rms varied widely from sector to sector. However, for the manufacturing industry as a whole, TFP was approximately the same for foreign and domestic ?rms for the period 1994–1996.     

股权结构、高管薪酬、董事会特征与制造业运营效率--基于江苏制造业上市公司2009-2013年的面板数据

文章利用DEA分析技术测度了江苏制造业97家上市公司的运营效率;建立了股权结构、高管薪酬及董事会特征与制造业企业运营效率间的函数关系,以江苏制造业上市公司2009-2013年间的数据为样本,运用Probit回归分析法验证了这种关系下的实际影响。研究结果发现：2009-2013年制造业运营效率呈现先上升后停滞的变化特征,企业间运营效率水平差异较大;股权较为集中的制造业企业有较高的运营效率,高管薪酬的提高对公司运营效率有显著的积极影响,董事会规模对企业运营效率有显著负影响,独立董事所占比例对企业运营效率提升并没有明显作用。基于此,提出了改善公司内部治理机制和提升公司效率的相关政策建议。     

The U-Shaped Productivity Dynamics of French Exporters

We use data on French manufacturing firms to reveal that the productivity dynamics of new exporters is typically U-shaped. Prior to entry, firm productivity temporarily decreases, then recovers contemporaneously with entry, as the benefits from sales to foreign markets accrue. We show that the U-shaped pattern is more pronounced for intensively exporting firms and for firms operating in capital-intensive or high-technology sectors. This finding suggests that firms prepare to become exporters through prior specific investments and learning-to-export mechanisms. We then point to the limitations of studies that focus only on date of entry to exporting to discriminate between self-selection versus learning mechanisms. JEL no.  F10, F14, L60     

The Impact of Computers on Productivity in the Trade Sector: Explorations with Dutch Microdata

The impact of computers on productivity in the Dutch trade sector during the period 1988-1994 is examined. The analysis is based on a panel data set derived from the Production Survey of Statistics Netherlands, which includes data on output, employment, wages, and various types of investment. A new method is developed to estimate IT- and non-IT capital stocks for each firm based on investment flows and booked depreciation figures by firm. A Cobb-Douglas production function setting is used to study the effect of computer capital stock on productivity. We find that computers contributed positively to productivity, even when firm-specific effects such as labour quality are accounted for. In retail trade computers yielded returns above their relatively high rental price. For wholesaling, no evidence for excessive returns is found. The rates of return were not subject to a decline in the period studied, in contrast to findings for the US. This suggests that the Netherlands has been lagging in the application of IT compared to the US and that further productivity boosting effects can be expected.     

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.     

中国汽车企业所有权结构与技术创新问题研究

创新理论和产权理论以及前人的研究均说明,所有权结构作为企业基本的制度环境,对企业技术创新的行为和绩效有着重要的影响。本文通过实证研究,得出中国汽车企业中,内资企业比中外合资企业更注重技术创新并获得了成长。内资企业中的国有控股企业技术创新绩效较差,但没有证据表明非国有控股企业技术创新活动更活跃。     

数字技术创新对制造业绿色全要素生产率影响的门槛效应

制造业作为一个碳排放量较高的行业,其绿色发展已经成为我国实现“双碳”战略目标的重中之重,如何促进制造业的绿色发展是当今重要的研究话题。基于中国30个（因数据缺失,未包括西藏地区和港澳台地区）省份2006—2021年的统计资料,在以环境规制为门槛变量的情况下,实证分析数字技术创新赋能制造业绿色全要素生产率增长的非线性效应。研究发现,数字技术创新对制造业绿色全要素生产率的提升具有显著的积极影响;数字技术创新对制造业绿色全要素生产率的影响呈现非线性关系,具有以环境规制为门槛变量的单一门槛效应;当环境规制强度小于门槛值时,数字技术创新对促进制造业绿色全要素生产率的增长具有较强的正向推动作用,而当环境规制强度大于门槛值时,数字技术创新对制造业绿色全要素生产率增长的推动作用大幅度降低;当地区数字技术创新水平达到一定程度后,门槛效应才开始显著,数字技术创新水平过低时,环境规制强度对数字技术创新促进制造业绿色全要素生产率增长的影响较小。