Corruption and total factor productivity: level or growth effects?

This paper adopts a productivity-based perspective in order to study how corruption conditions the efficiency levels of the economies and their TFP growth rate. It attempts to identify the channels through which corruption can influence productivity growth, whether by conditioning improvements in relative efficiency levels or by shifting the production frontier. The results point out that corruption negatively affects both the levels of efficiency at which the economies perform and the growth rate of TFP, suggesting that the negative impact of corruption on technological progress manifest through its influence on human capital.     

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.     

Technical efficiency of Spanish manufacturing firms: a panel data approach

This paper estimates the levels of technical efficiency reached by Spanish manufacturing firms, through an econometric estimation of frontier production functions for fifteen sectors of activity, and also, obtains other relevant technological measurements of these productive processes such as the scale and the technical progress parameters. The methodology used is the panel data methods (Schmidt and Sickles, 1984). The statistical source is provided by the Survey on Business Strategies (Encuesta Sobre Estrategias Empresariales), a panel of data covering 855 Spanish manufacturing firms observed over the period 1990-1994. Our econometric results confirm the great heterogeneity in the firms' efficiency, the predominance of constant returns to scale and the great rate of technological progress.     

International Trade, Technological Development, and Agglomeration

The paper focuses on how localized dynamic external economies of scale may cause uneven technological development internationally, and encourage regional agglomeration of industries. Location-specific technological progress depends on the absolute number of local innovating firms, and the relative number of innovating firms; i.e., the share of economic activity in a region that takes place within the innovating sector. The creation of industrial clusters contributes to explaining regional specialization, factor prices and welfare, and it appears that the critical size of a region regarding its ability to sustain an industrial cluster depends on whether factors of production are internationally mobile.     

Technological progress and scientific indicators: a panel data analysis

Total factor productivity (TFP) is generally interpreted to be a proxy for technological advancement. In this paper, we use stochastic frontier analysis to decompose the growth in TFP into three components: technological progress, scale effect and change in technical efficiency. Then, we conduct a comprehensive panel data analysis using the technological progress component of the TFP growth and several scientific and technological indicators using data from 160 countries over the period from 1960 to 2009. Our results generally show that the technological progress component of the TFP growth properly reflects certain dimensions of actual scientific and technological progress. However, we also find that this result is somewhat sensitive to different econometric specifications and assumptions.     

中国不同行业全球价值链位置对创新效率的影响

关注中国各行业全球价值链位置对创新性效率的影响,基于新古典经济理论提出假设,采用非竞争性投入产出法计算中国19个代表性行业在全球价值链中的位置及变化趋势,测算其整体创新效率。进一步将创新效率分解为技术进步指数、规模效率指数、纯技术效率指数,通过观察分解变量值揭示行业差异。结果表明：研发阶段,处于全球价值链上游的行业,行业技术前沿水平上升,行业整体向前沿靠近的程度降低;生产阶段,处于全球价值链上游的行业,行业技术前沿水平下降,行业整体向前沿靠近的程度上升。     

中国传媒产业的市场势力与规模经济——基于NEIO范式的实证研究

新经验产业组织分析（NEIO）是研究产业竞争性行为与绩效关系的一种实证范式。本文以目前传媒上市公司相关数据作为取样对象,运用NEIO模型重点分析保持产品差异前提下的市场势力和规模经济。结果显示：中国的传媒业上市公司存在显著的市场势力;在考虑企业之间生产差异率时,传媒产业上市公司显著地规模不经济;在考虑多年改制而带来的技术进步时,企业呈现出比较显著的规模经济效益。     

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.     

银行主导型金融对制造业企业技术进步的影响——基于技术距离的视角

制造业企业的技术发展离不开适宜类型的金融支持。那么,我国以商业银行为主导的金融体系对其具有怎样的影响？本文从技术距离视角出发,通过构建熊彼特内生增长模型探究银行主导型金融体系对制造业企业技术进步的影响效应及作用机理,并运用中国工业企业数据库与城市数据库的匹配数据进行实证检验。研究发现：当制造业企业远离技术前沿时,银行主导型金融对其技术进步具有明显的促进作用,但随着企业接近技术前沿,该作用将由正转负。相较于国有和抵押资产丰富的制造业企业,银行主导型金融对技术进步的负向作用在非国有和抵押资产匮乏企业中出现较早。机制检验表明,在远离技术前沿阶段,银行主导型金融能够激励制造业企业创新从而促进其技术进步,但在接近技术前沿后,银行主导型金融难以通过激励企业创新驱动其技术进步。研究结论对如何深化金融供给侧结构性改革、增强金融服务制造业之功效具有一定的指导意义。     

中国商业银行业的全要素 生产率增长及其分解——基于24家银行面板数据的实证分析

本文收集了2003-2010年24家商业银行的非平衡面板数据,首先通过构建随机前沿生产模型,对中国银行业的技术效率进行测算,然后利用TFP分解模型对商业银行TFP增长的驱动因素及其演变过程进行了系统分析。研究发现,整体来说,中国银行业的全要素生产率在所有年份均实现了明显的增长。相对而言,国有大型商业银行在研究初期并没有显示出明显的优势,但随着时间的推移,其TFP增长率开始不断上升,并逐渐赶超中小型银行。通过对TFP增长率的分解计算,技术效率变化和要素配置效率变化对中国银行业TFP增长具有较强的拉动作用,技术进步的影响并不明显,而规模效率变化的负面作用最为显著。     

Cost structure and technological change of local public transport: the Kaohsiung City Bus case

This study has developed a translog cost function for the Kaohsiung City Bus (KCB) to analyse its cost structure and economic characteristics, based on monthly data over the time period from January 1996 to December 2000. The empirical results reveal that economies of density in the provision of bus services in Kaohsiung do prevail. The estimated marginal cost, which is less than the average cost but greater than the current bus fare, indicates that the subsidy is necessary. Due to the existence of returns to density (RTD), the KCB could obtain cost-saving benefits by extending its output scale. The KCB production technology is also not neutral. The effects of technological change on the KCB costs suggest that over the period 1996–2000 technological progress did lead to cost saving; the pure productivity growth rate increased from 0.45% in 1998 to 3% in 2000.     

Allocative and scale efficiency among maize farmers in Zambia: a zero efficiency stochastic frontier approach

The commonly used stochastic frontier model assumes that all firms are inefficient. In this specification, inefficiency is non-negative, and the probability of inefficiency being exactly zero is also zero. To the extent that efficiency varies widely across farms in under-developed economies, it is important to employ techniques that account for both inefficiency and full efficiency to ensure unbiased efficiency estimates. In this study, we employ a zero-inefficiency stochastic frontier model to examine allocative efficiency and scale economies, as well as key determinants of efficiency among Zambian maize farmers. The results show that, unlike the stochastic frontier model, the zero-inefficiency stochastic frontier model successfully allows for both fully efficient and inefficient firms to be accounted for in the estimation procedure. The estimates also reveal the presence of scale economies, with the zero-inefficiency stochastic frontier model better predicting scale efficiency compared to the stochastic frontier model. The findings also show that inefficiency is explained by the level of education, access to extension services, distance to markets and access to credit.     

Technological change,efficiency gains and capital accumulation in labour productivity growth and convergence: an application to the Spanish regions

The main objective of this article is to analyse labour productivity growth and convergence in the Spanish regions between 1965 and 1995, decomposing total factor productivity gains into technological progress and efficiency change by means of Malmquist productivity indices. On the basis of this decomposition, labour productivity growth is broken down into components attributable to technological change (shifts in the frontier), efficiency gains (movements toward the frontier) and capital accumulation (movements along the frontier). The approach followed in this study is based on work initiated by Färe et al., where a link between the economic growth and convergence literature and the production frontier approach was established. Furthermore, in the spirit of Quah's approach, the evolution of the whole distribution is considered. Thus, the analysis of the dynamics of the entire distribution of labour productivity and the factors behind it – technological progress, efficiency gains and capital accumulation – combine both approaches, yielding new insights into the process of productivity growth and convergence experienced by the Spanish regions over the last 30 years.     

农户生产无公害蔬菜的技术效率及其影响因素分析——基于山东寿光无公害黄瓜和西红柿生产的调查

根据2008年对山东寿光样本农户生产无公害黄瓜和西红柿的调研数据,运用数据包络分析法和随机前沿分析法测算了其生产的技术效率,分析了农户生产无公害蔬菜的技术效率的影响因素。结果表明:农户生产无公害蔬菜的平均技术效率低,主要原因是部分要素投入过剩和规模不经济;获取科技信息和建立稳定的销售渠道对提高农户生产无公害蔬菜的技术效率有显著的正效应;利用两种测算方法所得的结果具有一致性。     

偏向技术进步有利于可再生能源转型吗——基于要素替代弹性的证据

尽管偏向技术进步被视为可再生能源消费最重要的驱动因素之一，但现有研究普遍忽视其对可再生能源转型的影响。基于偏向技术进步理论框架，运用固定效应随机前沿生产函数分析技术进步的偏向性以及化石能源与可再生能源间的替代弹性，进而判断2000—2017年中国内地30个省域的偏向技术进步是否推动了可再生能源转型。研究发现，整体上技术进步在化石能源与可再生能源间偏向于使用更多化石能源，且二者之间具有替代关系，这表明整体上偏向技术进步不利于可再生能源转型。分省域看，仅有上海、浙江和湖北的技术进步偏向于使用更多可再生能源，且可再生能源能够有效替代化石能源，这表明上述省份的偏向技术进步有利于可再生能源转型。     

Measuring returns to scale and technological change in co-operative banks: A provincial analysis of Canadian credit unions and caisses populaires

In Canada economies of scale in credit unions come not only from large single office arrangements but from external economies realized from belonging to central provincial credit unions. Making use of aggregate provincial time series and cross-sectional data, this study begins by employing a sequential Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) test to select the most appropriate model. This procedure permits the isolation of economies of scale from technological change effects. For all provinces, economies of scale are discovered to be significantly different from 1, and for five of the eight provinces examined, technological change was statistically significant from zero. The larger the provincial organization, as illustrated by the Quebec caisses populaires, the higher we find estimates of returns to scale and technological change. An implication may be that both expansion and more centralization should be encouraged and that other provinces may be able to increase efficiency by imitating some of Quebec's operational and administrative practices.     

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.     

Productivity growth in British manufacturing: spatial variation in the role of scale economies,technological growth and industrial structure

This paper investigates the role of scale economies, technological growth and industrial structure in creating spatial variation in manufacturing labour and Total Factor (TFP) productivity in Britain. Separate estimates of a translog specification are presented for British manufacturing firms located in defined areas of the country over the period 1994–1998. The results show that TFP change due to scale economies and technological growth has been of much less important in influencing the output growth of manufacturing firms than input growth or industrial structure. Regarding the components of TFP, technological growth has been the dominant force at play. The analysis of average labour productivity identifies shifts to other factors of production and industrial structure as being the main determinants of change, scale economies appear to have had a marginal role. The results identify spatial patterns indicating that more favourable locational effects arise for firms in areas adjacent to large urban centres, rather than for those located within cities, on the extreme periphery of the urban hinterland, or in rural areas and smaller towns.     

An Index Number Method for Estimating Scale Economies and Technical Processes Using Time-series of Cross-section Data: Sources of Total Factor Productivity Growth for Japanese Manufacturing, 1964–1988

Sample multicollinearity often makes it difficult to estimate returns to scale. We present an index number method to overcome potential multicollinearity problems when the production function is homogeneous of degree k . We apply our method to estimate empirically the effects of returns to scale and technical progress on growth in total factor productivity (TFP) using establishment data for Japanese manufacturing industries. We find that, while significant scale economies exist in many manufacturing industries, the TFP growth in the last twenty-five years is attributable primarily to technical progress. This finding also validates the current practice of assuming constant-returns-to-scale production functions in macroeconometric modelling.
JEL Classification Numbers: C43, D24, 030.     

Environmental Policy and the International Diffusion of Cleaner Energy Technologies

Technology transfer is an important channel of technological change and sustainable development for countries with less innovative ability than technological leaders. This paper studies whether domestic environmental policies affect the inward technology transfer of cleaner innovation from abroad. We focus specifically on the power sector, for its important role in the decarbonization process, by looking at zero-carbon (renewable) and carbon-saving (efficient fossil) technologies for energy production. Using data on cross-country patent applications, we provide evidence that environmental policy contributes to attracting foreign cleaner technology options to OECD markets but not to non-OECD markets. We show that this is due to the nature of the implemented policy instruments. Market-based approaches positively impact technology transfer to both OECD and non-OECD economies, while non-market based approaches have at best only a weak effect in OECD countries. Domestic environmental policies may provide too weak a signal for foreign innovators in countries off the technological frontier. This calls for a strengthening of policy incentives for technology transfer in light of pressing climate change objectives.