Asia–Pacific Telecommunications Liberalisation and Productivity Performance

This study examines the growth in total factor productivity (TFP) of 12 Asia–Pacific telecommunications carriers for the period 1987 through 1990. Carriers are chosen to represent the stages of telecommunications liberalisation identified by the International Telecommunication Union (1995a). A model relating TFP growth to output growth, changes in output mix, technology change and market competition and private ownership is estimated on a unique data set obtained from telecommunications carrier annual reports. Empirical results show competition, private ownership, technology change and scale economies improve carrier TFP growth.     

Productivity Growth And Market Structure In Telecommunications

This study examines sources of telecommunications sector productivity growth. Total factor productivity (TFP) growth is calculated using the Malmquist productivity index for a sample of 74 countries for the period 1991 through 1995. An econometric model is estimated which relates TFP growth to output growth, network digitisation, telecommunications development, output-mix, the business cycle and market structure. Model estimates suggest that higher digitisation rates dampen TFP growth in the short run, and cross-subsidisation of services creates inefficiency. However, developing countries can increase TFP growth through catch up, and increased privatisation and competition are conducive to productivity growth.     

我国玉米全要素生产率增长及其对产出的贡献

运用T orngv ist-T he il指数法和增长账户法测算了1985~2003年期间我国TFP的变动及其对玉米产出增长的贡献。结果表明,1985~2003年我国玉米TFP的年均增长率为2.23%,对产出增长的贡献为66.13%。从总体上看,这一时期我国玉米TFP增长还呈现出明显的波动性特征,粮食生产和流通制度的变革,技术创新和新技术的推广使用,以及玉米市场价格变动可能是产生玉米TFP生产率波动的主要原因。     

The Great Depression in Canada and the United States: A Neoclassical Perspective

Canada suffered a major depression from 1929 to 1939. In terms of output it was similar to the Great Depression in the United States. However, total factor productivity (TFP) in Canada did not recover relative to trend, while in the United States TFP had recovered by 1937. We find that the neoclassical growth model, with TFP treated as exogenous, can account for over half of the decline in output relative to trend in Canada. In contrast, we find that conventional explanations for the Great Depression—monetary shocks, terms of trade shocks, and labor market and competition policies—do not work for Canada. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: E30, N12, N42.     

何去何从:贸易保护还是开放竞争?——来自微观企业创新的证据

文章基于熊彼特效应和逃离竞争效应假说,结合中国转轨时期的经济制度背景,利用2001?2008年制造业关税数据和沪深A股上市公司专利数据,研究了中国加入WTO后,关税削减所导致的进口竞争对企业创新的影响.研究发现,关税削减后,企业的发明专利申请数量显著增加,而专利申请总数和非发明专利申请数量却没有受到显著影响,表明进口竞争激励企业进行了高质量的发明创新.进口竞争的激励效应对于易受竞争影响和全要素生产率高的企业更加显著.文章认为,应以开放的心态迎接贸易自由化和进口竞争,引导企业将进口竞争转化为创新动力,推动企业创新向高质量迈进,形成国际竞争新优势.     

Human capital, economic growth, and regional inequality in China

We show how regional growth patterns in China depend on regional differences in physical, human, and infrastructure capital as well as on differences in foreign direct investment (FDI) flows. We also evaluate the impact of market reforms, especially the reforms that followed Deng Xiaoping's “South Trip” in 1992 those that resulted from serious hardening of budget constraints of state enterprises around 1997. We find that FDI had a much larger effect on TFP growth before 1994 than after, and we attribute this to the encouragement of and increasing success of private and quasi-private enterprises. We find that human capital positively affects output and productivity growth in our cross-provincial study. Moreover, we find both direct and indirect effects of human capital on TFP growth. These impacts of education are more consistent than those found in cross-national studies. The direct effect is hypothesized to come from domestic innovation activities, while the indirect impact is a spillover effect of human capital on TFP growth. We conduct cost-benefit analysis of hypothetical investments in human capital and infrastructure. We find that, while investment in infrastructure generates higher returns in the developed, eastern regions than in the interior, investing in human capital generates slightly higher or comparable returns in the interior regions. We conclude that human capital investment in less-developed areas is justified on efficiency grounds and because it contributes to a reduction in regional inequality.     

Productivity drivers of infrastructure companies: Network industries utilizing economies of scale in the digital era

What drives the productivity dynamics of infrastructure companies? Using a panel of firms in 14 countries, we study total factor productivity (TFP) enhancers of utility and network services companies. We find that moving TFP closer to the technological frontier drives productivity growth at higher speeds in Asian countries than in European countries. We also find that financial leverage exerts a positive effect on TFP growth for larger infrastructure firms and that more financially developed countries utilize economies of scale through better use of financial resources. Large utility and transportation companies display a higher rate of TFP growth, indicating that a competition policy to encourage M&As would be prudent for the utility/transportation sectors to maximize economies of scale. In contrast, we find diseconomies of scale for energy companies in some countries. Moreover, young network firms improve TFP growth faster than their peers in countries with fewer product market regulations. Therefore, policies should remove entry barriers while facilitating the departure of old and low-productivity firms from network markets. Finally, policymakers should offer well-targeted fiscal incentives for intangible investments to boost TFP because the accumulation of intangible assets such as digital technology promotes more scale economies through network effects.     

Exports,technical progress and productivity growth in a transition economy: a non-parametric approach for China

Theories suggesting either static or dynamic productivity gains derived from exports often assume the prior existence of a competitive market. In the presence of market imperfection and distortion, however, the competition and resource reallocation effects of exports on productive efficiency may be greatly reduced; and there may actually be disincentives for innovation. This paper analyses the impact of exports on aggregate productivity growth in a transition economy using a panel of Chinese manufacturing industries over the period 1990–1997. TFP growth is estimated by employing a non-parametric approach and is decomposed into technical progress and efficiency change. No evidence has been found suggesting significant productivity gains at the industry level resulting from exports. Findings of the current study suggest that, for exports to generate significant positive effect on TFP growth, a well-developed domestic market and a neutral, outward-oriented policy are necessary.     

Declining output growth volatility: A sectoral decomposition

A decomposition of the U.S. aggregate output growth volatility using two-digit industry-level data shows that more than 60% of the post-1983 reduction in aggregate output growth volatility is attributed to the lowered comovement in total factor productivity (TFP) growth between industries. In contrast, stabilized input and TFP growths within an industry contribute little.     

Be productive or face decline. On the sources and determinants of output growth in Italian manufacturing firms

This article investigates the sources and determinants of output growth of Italian manufacturing firms. Applying stochastic frontier techniques, we decompose output growth into factor accumulation and TFP growth for the period 1998–2003. TFP growth is further decomposed into technological change, efficiency change and scale effects. Two key results emerge from the analysis. After confirming that both input accumulation and TFP growth are important in explaining output growth, we show that efficiency change (technological catch-up) is the most significant component of TFP growth in explaining output growth distribution. Furthermore, using a specific model of the asymmetric error component, we find that R&D spillovers, banking efficiency and public infrastructures have statistically significant and economically relevant effects on technological catch-up.     

Why is TFP growth sectorally concentrated?

Research shows that total factor productivity (TFP) growth is weak in European countries. This is inter alia attributed to the fact that substantial TFP growth is limited to a few industries. Because TFP growth is typically understood as technological progress, it is concluded that technology diffusion between sectors in Europe is hampered. We use EU KLEMS data sets to decompose sectoral TFP for nine European countries by means of a Malmquist approach in order to identify potential sources besides technical progress. Applying Harberger diagrams, we describe the sectoral distribution of TFP growth, efficiency gains and losses, economies of scale and technological progress. The analysis reveals that technological progress is quite evenly distributed across sectors in most European countries. The wide scattering of TFP growth is explained by deviating efficiency developments and the unused economies of scale. We conclude that the technology transfer between sectors in most European countries seems to work. Therefore, Europe in general does not need a new technology policy, but a further integration of the markets and a reduction of national market entry barriers. This requires further unification of pan-European standards in fields like trade and crafts codes or consumer protection policies.     

Mergers in asymmetric Stackelberg markets

It is well known that the profitability of horizontal mergers with quantity competition is scarce. However, in an asymmetric Stackelberg market we obtain that some mergers are profitable. Our main result is that mergers among followers become profitable when the followers are inefficient enough. In this case, leaders reduce their output when followers merge and this reduction renders the merger profitable. This merger increases price and welfare is reduced.      

Understanding TFP growth in inland regions of China: an empirical study of the effects of three factors

In this paper, we empirically examine the potential effects of international openness, domestic coastal-inland market integration, and human capital accumulation on TFP growth in inland provinces in China. By using a nonlinear technique as our main regression approach as well as an extended GMM method as robustness checks, we show that human capital accumulation plays an important role in promoting TFP growth in the inland provinces. Our results support the argument that the most important contribution of human capital to income growth lies not in its static, direct effect as an accumulable factor in the production function, but in its dynamic role in promoting TFP growth. Our regression results also provide evidence for the positive roles international openness and domestic coastal-inland market integration play in promoting TFP growth in inland provinces in China.     

What determines productivity performance of telecommunications services industry? A cross-country analysis

This article investigates the key factors that determine the productivity performance of telecommunications services industry. A simple theoretical model is used to illustrate that the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth is attributable to the effects of scale economies, market competition and technical change. We then examine empirically the effect of various factors on the TFP growth in the industry using panel data in 12 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries for the period 1983 through 2003. The empirical results are consistent with the theoretical prediction. A new finding in this article is that higher machinery and equipment (M&E) capital intensity and human capital contribute to higher TFP growth in the telecommunications services industry. The decomposition analysis also suggests that technical change induced by changes in M&E capital intensity and human capital are important sources of productivity performance in the industry across the OECD countries, contributing to about 20–50% and 2–7% of TFP growth, respectively. These findings highlight the importance of improving the conditions for M&E capital investment and the quality of human capital, which in turn could facilitate the adoption of new technologies and enhance the productivity in the industry.     

The impact of product market competition on GDP per capita growth in the EU countries: does the model of capitalism matter?

This article assesses whether the intensity of product market competition is a factor affecting economic growth (measured by the growth rate of real GDP per capita) and whether this impact depends on the model of capitalism. The study covers the 1997–2015 period and all EU28 countries. Product market competition is measured by two types of variables: product market regulation indicators and the number of enterprises. New elements in the analysis include, among others, nonlinear impact and overlapping observations. The regression equations are estimated on the basis of Blundell and Bond’s GMM system estimator. The results generally indicate that stronger product market regulations (and theoretically lower product market competition) are linked with faster growth of output. However, the impact of product market competition on economic growth depends on the type of capitalism. For post-socialist countries, unlike the Western European model of capitalism, more regulation tends to reduce the rate of economic growth.     

Cooperation vs. competition in R&D: The role of stability of equilibrium

We consider a model in which firms first choose process R&D expenditures and then compete in an output market. We show the symmetric equilibrium under R&D competition is sometimes unstable, in which case two asymmetric equilibria must also exist. For the latter, we find, in contrast to the literature that total profits are sometimes higher with R&D competition than with research joint venture cartelization (due to the cost asymmetry of the resulting duopoly in the noncooperative case). Furthermore, these equilibria provide another instance of R&D-induced firm heterogeneity.     

广东省高技术产业各行业效率变化的实证研究

采用基于DEA的Malmquist生产率指数法,选取5个投入指标和4个产出指标对1995—2008年广东省高技术产业的4个细分行业进行多投入、多产出的动态效率测度。结果表明:1995—2008年期间广东省高技术产业全要素生产率的年均增长率为12.3%,这是技术进步和技术效率共同推动的结果,其贡献率分别为11.1%和1.1%;电子及通信设备制造业全要素生产率的平均增长率最高,主要由技术进步推动;其次是医疗设备及仪器仪表制造业,由技术进步和规模效率共同推动;然后依次是电子计算机及办公设备制造业和医药制造业,技术进步是两者的主要推动力量。最后,提出促进广东省高技术产业生产率提升的政策建议。     

Sources of output growth in Singapore's services sector

As services are an important engine of growth for Singapore, this paper attempts to empirically investigate the sources of output growth in this sector to shed light on the debate sparked off by Krugman (1994) on the miraculous or mythical growth of Singapore and the other newly industralizing Southeast Asian economies. This is done by using the stochastic production frontier model with panel data. Unlike existing studies which used the conventional growth accounting approach to decompose output growth into just input growth and total factor productivity (TFP) growth, this approach further decomposes TFP growth into technological progress and changes in technical efficiency.     

Sources of efficiency,productivity and output growth in Botswana agriculture

The purpose of this study is to explore reasons for the decline in agricultural performance in Botswana that has occurred during the implementation of a variety of policy measures, as well as the introduction of new technologies, and to identify ways in which it might be reversed. Panel data from six regions in Botswana (period 1979–2012) is analyzed with a stochastic output distance function and inefficiency effects model. We decompose agricultural output growth into; total factor productivity (TFP ) and changes in input use (factors of production). TFP is further decomposed into scale effects, technical efficiency and technological change. The results show that over the study period agricultural output grew at a very low rate of 0.072 percent per year, which is largely due to a growth in factors of production at 0.071 percent per year rather than TFP growth (which declined at 0.003 percent per year). We found that the decline in productivity has been due to technological regress and low growth in technical efficiency and scale efficiency. Policy options aimed at improving agricultural productivity and output growth will require the strengthening of extension services; improving the agronomic and husbandry management skills of farmers through training; and by encouraging farmers to adopt and utilize technologies that have been provided under existing policy programs.     

Investment Incentives in Procurement Auctions

This paper investigates firms' incentives to invest in cost reduction in the first price sealed bid auction, a format largely used for procurement. Two central features of the model are that we allow firms to be heterogeneous and that investment is observable. We find that firms will tend to underinvest in cost reduction because they anticipate fiercer head-on competition. Using the second price auction as a benchmark, we also find that the first price auction will elicit less investment from market participants and that this is socially inefficient. These results have implications for market design when investment is important.