Multinational presence and labour productivity differentials in Indonesian manufacturing, 1975–2001

Foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) have accounted for important shares of employment and production in Indonesian manufacturing since 1975, and these shares increased especially rapidly in the early to mid-1990s. These increases were concentrated in the machinery industries and in MNCs with large foreign ownership shares, and continued through the crisis of 1997–98 and beyond, despite apparently large withdrawals of inward foreign direct investment in 1998 and subsequent years. MNCs generally had much higher average labour productivity than local plants and, after controlling for plant-level variation in electricity consumption per employee, size and vintage, we found that these differentials persisted in about three-quarters of the cases examined. However, there was also large variation in MNC presence and in MNC–local productivity differentials across industries and time, with statistically insignificant differentials most common in apparel and footwear, as well as in MNCs with small foreign-ownership shares.     

Competition and the dispersion of labour productivity amongst UK companies

Based on a sample of 140,000 UK companies over the period 1989–93,this paper finds a wide dispersion of labour productivity acrossfirms. Some dispersion is transitory: amongst surviving companiesthere is regression towards the mean and dispersion faDs overtime. However, there are tignifimnt differences between sectorsin the extent of dispersion, eg. in manufacturing it is around40% lower. A possible explanation is greater competition inmanufacturing. A role for competition is also suggested by thefinding that surviving companies which were initially belowthe mean improve their performance more rapidly than those initiallyabove the mean.     

Long-term development of the Russian economy and the problem of labour productivity

This paper analyzes the limitations imposed by the development of the Russian economy on human resources. The contribution of productivity to economic growth in recent years is determined. The key factors affecting the productivity of labor in the Russian economy are revealed. The possible dynamics of production in high-tech sectors under the impact of restrictions on labor resources is reviewed.     

Inflation and total factor productivity in Germany

Conclusions This paper has found a significant and substantial negative relationship between inflation and economic growth in Germany. Thus, inflation substantially reduced the rate of productivity growth and output growth in Germany. German policymakers, especially the Bundesbank, have emphasized the importance of low inflation rates, and inflation in Germany has been less than in most OECD countries. As a result, Germany has benefitted from relatively high rates of economic growth. But had the Bundesbank succeeded in achieving zero inflation, the underlying rate of productivity growth would have been almost a third higher and output growth about a sixth higher.     

海南的资本投入与全要素生产率

本文从投资效率出发估计海南资本存量数据,并运用索洛余值法、隐含变量法和潜在产出法讨论了1978～2006年海南的全要素生产率变动。分析表明:海南全要素生产率增长与海南宏观经济波动趋势较一致,海南的经济增长主要依靠全要素生产率的贡献。     

Total factor productivity growth and the productivity slowdown in the west german industrial sector, 1970-1981

Zusammenfassung Das Wachstum der Totalfaktorproduktivit?t und die Produktivit?tsverlangsamung in der westdeutschen Industrie 1970-1981. -Die Produktivit?tsentwicklung der westdeutschen Industrie in den 70er Jahren wird im Rahmen einer einfachen Wachstumszerlegung untersucht. Für das Jahrzehnt insgesamt zeigt sich, da? die Totalfaktorproduktivit?t oder das “esidual”chstum und die Substitution zwischen Kapital und Arbeit zu ungef?hr gleichen Teilen zur Erh?hung der Pro-Kopf-Produktion beigetragen haben. W?hrend die Totalfaktorproduktivit?t mit einer durchschnittlichen Jahresrate von 2,5 vH zunahm, verringerte sich die Kapitalproduktivit?t im Laufe der gesamten Periode. Hinzu kommt, da? die Kapitalausstattung pro Kopf weiterhin anstieg, w?hrend die Besch?ftigung im Industriesektor zurückging. Mit anderen Worten: Die Faktorsubstitution hat keine Gewinne in Form zus?tzlicher Besch?ftigung erbracht.

---

Résumé Croissance de la productivité totale des facteurs et l’affaiblissement de la productivité dans le secteur industriel ouest-allemand dans la période 1970-1981. -La performance productive du secteur industriel ouest-allemand pendant les années soixante-dix est analysée dans le cadre simple de ?growth accounting?. Pour la décade entière, l’auteur argue que la productivité totale des facteurs ou la croissance ?résiduelle? et la substitution capital/main-d’oeuvre expliquent la croissance d’output par tête plus ou moins à parts égales. Pendant que la productivité totale des facteurs s’augmenta au taux annuel de 2,5 p.c., la productivité du capital tomba pendant la période entière. De plus, le capital par tête continua d’augmenter pendant que l’emploi industriel tomba. En d’autres mots, la substitution des facteurs n’a pas généré des gains mesurés en termes d’emploi additionnel.

---

Resumen El crecimiento de la productividad total de los factures y la aminoración de la productividad en el sector industrial de Alemania Occidental, 1970-1981. -El rendimiento productivo del sector industrial de Alemania Occidental en los anos setenta es analizado en el marco de ?growth accounting?. Tomando la década entera la sugerencia que se dériva es que a la productividad total de los factures o crecimiento ?residual? y a la sustitución de capital y trabajo se les atribuye el crecimiento per capita en proporciones casi iguales. Mientras que la productividad total de los factores aumentó a una tasa anual media del 2,5 %, la productividad del capital disminuyó durante todo el período. Además, el capital per cápita continuó aumentando mientras que el empleo industrial disminuyó. En otras palabras, la sustitución de factores no generó beneficios en términos de empleo adicional.

     

Total factor productivity, the east Asian miracle, and the world production frontier

Total Factor Productivity, the East Asian Miracle, and the World Production Frontier. — The post WWII growth of the East Asian Tiger states has stimulated the discussion about its determinants. Young and Krugman hold that high capital accumulation rather than gains in efficiency or technological progress has spurred growth. Nelson and Pack, however, have recently criticized the methods of measuring technological progress. Applying the nonparametric approach to frontier production function determination and the Malmquist index of total factor productivity change, the authors take up this criticism. They calculate productivity indicators for a sample of 18 American, Asian, and European countries. For the Tiger states, their results confirm that capital accumulation was the main source of growth in 1960-1973, whereas they find evidence for an increasing importance of efficiency improvements for the growth in 1973-1990.     

A model of labour productivity and union density in British private sector unionised establishments

In this paper, a micro theoretic model of the simultaneous determinationof labour productivity and union density is developed and estimatedusing British establishment-level data from the 1990 WorkplaceEmployee Relations Survey. The main empirical finding is thathigher union bargaining power does not necessarily lower labourproductive in union firms, ceteris paribus. Separate bargainingby multiple unions has a negative effect, but productivity ishigher if management recommends union membership. There is alsoevidence that if unions can more effectively provide servicesto their members, and secure management support for union membership,union density may recover.     

Total factor productivity in South African agriculture, 1947‐91

Indices of total factor productivity (TFP) measure aggregate output per unit of aggregate input, providing a guide to the efficiency of agricultural production. This article outlines the relationship between production functions and TFP indices. Then, an index is constructed for South African agriculture for the period 1947‐91. The index shows that TFP grew at an average rate of 1,3 per cent per annum. However, TFP growth has increased since the reforms of the early 1980s. Since capital has been more realistically priced relative to labour, greater productivity growth has gone together with increasing employment, which must have improved social welfare.     

Transactional activities and total factor productivity growth in Taiwan

Total factor productivity (TFP) growth shows how rapidly an economy is enhancing technology and the efficiency with which it allocates resources. It has been argued that “miraculous” growth in East Asian economies may not be sustainable, due to relatively low rates of TFP growth. Among these economies, it appears that Taiwan has indeed exhibited substantial technological progress. Failure to control for transactional activities, however, can distort the impression of TFP growth. This study recalculates Taiwan's TFP growth for the 1957–1993 sample period, adjusting for transaction costs in the government and private sectors. For the early years of the sample, 1957–1973, the economy's technological progress is better than GDP-based calculations suggest. In recent years, 1983–1993, productivity improvement has been overstated, but the economy has still exhibited relatively fast TFP growth.     

New,disaggregated, British railway total factor productivity growth estimates, 1875 to 19121

Total factor productivity (TFP) growth in Britain's railways in the last part of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth has been widely studied, not least because it can throw light on the question of the causes of overall slowdown in industrial growth. This article is concerned with the detailed mechanics of measuring TFP growth and with the use of results to compare growth across different companies. The article disaggregates TFP growth between different activities performed by railway companies (provision of locomotive power, operation of carriages and wagons, provision of permanent way, and working of traffic), and it also develops detailed measures of capital stock and capital costs using disaggregate data on assets employed in each activity. These improvements to existing methodology reduce, rather than increase, existing estimates of TFP growth. Consequently the results confirm the previously observed conclusion that productivity growth was slow. They show that while there were significant increases in goods train operating efficiency in the first decade of the twentieth century, the additional resources that were employed meant that these increases were slow to translate into overall TFP growth.     

广东现代服务业全要素生产率研究

本文利用Malmquist指数法,对广东2000～2008年现代服务业全要素生产率进行了测算。结果显示,广东现代服务业的快速增长并非源于要素使用效率的提高,而是得益于要素投入的增长;但各经济区差异较大,珠三角和西翼经济区现代服务业TFP高于全省平均水平,且现代服务业加速增长的同时,增长方式向集约型方式转变;而东翼经济区和山区现代服务业TFP不升反降,经济增长仍然主要依靠要素投入的增长。     

Agricultural productivity, trade, and industrialisation

Traditional development economics states that industrialisationmust be positively correlated with agricultural developmentas in the American and many European cases. However, some recentindustrialisation experiences suggests a negative link whichcan be supported by a simple Ricardian argument Yet this argumentis not consistent with the agricultural ‘leap forward’that often occurred before industrialisation took place. Here,we develop a model in which, for a closed economy, industrialisationfollows rising agricultural productivity. For a small open economy,multiple equilibria are possible and industrialisation tendsto be associated with low agricultural productivity, but istriggered by sudden changes in it.     

Employment,schooling and productivity growth

Summary This paper presents an empirical analysis of labour demand and labour productivity growth in The Netherlands. Assuming an aggregate production function with as factors capital and 3 types of labour, distinguished by educational attainment, cost minimization leads to a set of 3 labour demand relations to be estimated on time series data. Using the estimates and the implied elasticities, aggregate labour productivity growth is decomposed into factor substitution, autonomous factors, labour time shortening, economies of scale, utilization rates and the increased educational level of the working population. The contributions of substitution, utilization rates and education appear to be substantial, notably in the seventies.

List of symbols

Variables a _i Efficiency index of skill leveli - C production - h _i working-time index for skill leveli - g _i steady-state growth rate of skill leveli - K capital stock - L _i employment volume of skill leveli - L _i ^* desired level of labour skill leveli - p output price - p ^* desired output price - s _i ^* long-run static labour shares in the production value - p _k rental price of capital - P index of total factor productivity - P _l index of labour productivity - u _i utilization rate of skill leveli - u _k utilization rate of capital - w _i wage rate for skill leveli - y production volume - y _yij Hicks partial elasticities of complementarity - _i steady-state cost share of skill leveli - _k Bk steady-state cost share of capital - _f lf highest level price index in cost function nesting - _g 4 intermediate level price index in cost function nesting - _h 4 lowest level price index in cost function nesting - _i steady-state relative wage share of skill leveli - _ij Allen partial elasticities of substitution Parameters d _i l adjustment speed of skill leveli - d _p price adjustment speed - M mark-up on marginal costs - scale elasticity of production - _i distribution parameter in cost function,i = 3, g - _i distribution parameter in cost function,i = k, h - _i distribution parameter in cost function,i =1, 2 - _i autonomous labour productivity growth for skill leveli - _i cost share of skill level in base year - _f production cost index in base year - _i hours elasticity in labour efficiency index - group elasticity of substitution betweenL ₃ and (K, (L ₁,L ₂)) - _g Og group elasticity of substitution betweenK and (L ₁,L ₂) - _h 6h group elasticity of substitution betweenL ₁ andL ₂ We would like to thank B. Downey, G.M.M. Gelauff, A. Nieuwenhuis, J.M.M. Ritzen, J.C. Siebrand and an unknown referee for helpful comments on earlier drafts.     

Inflation and total factor productivity in Germany: A response to Smyth

Conclusion The results in this paper support a somewhat modest conclusion: that for the rather tight range of inflation experienced by Germany over the sample period (-1.8 to 7.8 percent), inflation’s impact on TFP growth was so minor that it did not show up as statistically significant in the analysis. This conclusion is consistent with previous cross-sectional based research.⁹ The findings illustrate that Smyth’s analysis of the contemporaneous correlation between TFP growth and inflation quite likely overstates the potential benefit to Germany of zero inflation. One area for future inquiry, however, is whether the absence of inflationary effects on TFP growth also holds true for nations which have experienced higher levels, and greater fluctuations, of inflation than has Germany since 1950. It is possible that the German results are not the norm due to the nation’s relatively low average rate of inflation.     

Income distribution and total factor productivity: a cross-country panel cointegration analysis

International Economics and Economic Policy - This study investigates the relationship between income inequality and total factor productivity (TFP) across countries for a period covering the years...