Productivity Dispersion and Measurement Error

Several reasons have been put forward to explain the high dispersion of productivity across establishments: quality of management, different input usage and market distortions, to name but a few. Although it is acknowledged that a sizable portion of productivity dispersion may also be due to measurement error, little research has been devoted to identifying how much they contribute. We outline a novel procedure for identifying the role of measurement error in explaining the empirical dispersion of productivity across establishments. The starting point of our framework is the errors-in-variable model consisting of a measurement equation and a structural equation for latent productivity. We estimate the variance of the measurement error and subsequently estimate the variance of the latent productivity variable, which is not contaminated by measurement error. Using Norwegian data on the manufacture of food products, we find that about one percent of the measured dispersion stems from measurement error.     

中国城市化水平与产业生产率增长的实证研究

对1978-2008年中国城市化水平对第二产业和第三产业生产率增长的影响进行实证分析,结果显示：城市化对产业增长的影响有着类似于全要素生产率（TFP）的作用;城市化对产业生产率增长的技术效应和要素重置效应都有贡献。这表明,城市发展对产业增长形成了要素的集聚效应和重置效应,促进了产业生产率的提高;但工资成本的上升不利于产业生产率的增长。     

Business cycles and productivity growth: Are temporary downturns productive or wasteful?

This paper investigates the relationship between the structure of the business cycle and total factor productivity (TFP) growth in U.S. manufacturing. Previous empirical studies on cycle-growth interactions have been conducted at the aggregate level, and have produced mixed results. In contrast, we examine the dynamic linkages between temporary employment shocks and TFP at the industry level, using the NBER Productivity Database. Given the substantial differences in factor intensities, costs and the nature of innovation and productivity-enhancing activities across industries, there are good reasons why cycle-growth interactions may be more readily captured at the sectoral level. We construct an exactly identified Vector Autoregressive model for employment and TFP growth, and find strong support for the “opportunity-cost” view of business cycle-productivity growth interaction. This result suggests that recessions can lead to TFP growth through reorganization and restructuring effects. On the other hand, we find little support for the notion that temporary booms increase TFP through “learning-by-doing” effects. The responsiveness of TFP to employment shocks also seems to be related to the degree of job reallocation within individual industries and the capital intensity of the industry in question. This is further evidence in favour of the view that employment shocks can trigger reorganization effects. Finally, we suggest possible future avenues for this research, including the adjustment of TFP measures to allow for variable factor utilization over the cycle.     

The Productivity Slowdown Puzzle. Technological and Non-technological Shocks in the Labor Market

Abstract

In this paper we examine the relationships between business cycles in the G7 countries. We focus on whether recessionary periods in one country are independent of the timing of recessions in other countries in the G7, using three different methods for dating recessions. We find that the evidence is mixed on whether phases of the business cycle in North America and in European countries are independent, or whether there is a common phase structure in the business cycle across all the G7 economies. NBER dates suggest that business cycles are synchronised, while other methods for generating business cycle chronologies are more consistent with regional, rather than international cycles. We also find mixed evidence on whether the UK is synchronised with European countries, while Japan quite clearly has the cycle that is most independent of other G7 countries.     

过程服务生产力测评框架研究

生产力的传统定义是投入与产出之比，其测评往往仅考虑生产过程的两端。这里所暗含的假设是：企业内部生产过程是黑箱，生产力指标只与两个终端相关。如果立足于服务生产的过程特性。将观察视角从终端测评转移到过程测评，那么就可确定基于过程的服务生产力测评框架以及基本路径。     

汇率对中国制造业企业生产率的影响

在文献回顾的基础上,就汇率对企业生产率的作用机理进行了理论剖析。构建面板数据模型,利用2006—2013年中国制造业上市公司的数据,实证检验了汇率改革以来中国汇率变动对企业生产率的影响。研究结果表明:汇率波动对企业劳动生产率有很大影响,汇率与企业生产率负相关;企业资产、营业利润、FDI、出口依存度、资本密集度会不同程度地影响汇率对企业生产率的传递效应。     

Life Cycle and Cohort Productivity in Economic Research: The Case of Germany

Abstract. We examine the research productivity of German academic economists over their life cycles. It turns out that the career patterns of research productivity as measured by journal publications are characterized by marked cohort effects. Moreover, the life cycles of younger German economists are hump shaped and resemble the life cycles identified for US economists, whereas the life cycles of older German economists are much flatter. Finally, we find that not only productivity, but also research quality follows distinct life cycles. Our study employs econometric techniques that are likely to produce estimates that are more trustworthy than previous estimates.     

Measuring CPI's reliability: the stochastic approach to index numbers revisited

The reliability measurement of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has recently drawn much attention, as the index number has been criticized for its inaccuracy in accessing the degree of inflation. This article centers on providing a new regression specification that can help better gauge the CPI's reliability. More specifically, based on the stochastic approach to index numbers, we argue that the conventional treatment of the systematic changes in relative prices should be made time variant. We therefore propose a more comprehensive regression specification by including additional dummies that represent different general inflation rate levels and business cycle phases. Under this framework, we are more capable of avoiding possible misspecifications in the regression equation, as was experienced by Clements and Izan (1987). It also allows us to better answer the ‘Keynes’ critic’ regarding the stochastic approach to index numbers. The empirical results of Australia and the US are used to validate the merit of our specification.     

A Generalized Exactly Additive Decomposition of Aggregate Labor Productivity Growth

Aggregate labor productivity (ALP) growth—i.e., growth of output per unit of labor—may be decomposed into additive contributions due to within‐sector productivity growth effect, dynamic structural reallocation effect (Baumol effect), and static structural reallocation effect (Denison effect) of cross‐sectional components (e.g., industry or region) of output and labor. This paper implements ALP growth decomposition that is “generalized” to output in constant prices and to output in chained prices (i.e., chained volume measure or CVM) and “exactly additive” since with either output the sum of contributions exactly equals “actual” ALP growth. It compares this “generalized exactly additive” decomposition (GEAD) to the “traditional” (TRAD) ALP growth decomposition devised for output in constant prices. The results show GEAD and TRAD are exactly additive when output is in constant prices, but GEAD is exactly additive while TRAD is not when output is in CVM. Also, GEAD components are empirically purer than or analytically superior to those from TRAD. Moreover, considering that contributions to ALP growth can be classified by industry or region each year over many years, GEAD provides a more well‐grounded picture over time of industrial or regional transformation than TRAD. Therefore, GEAD should replace TRAD in practice.     

出口、产业结构和生产率变动：来自制造业与生产者服务业的证据

经济转型需要生产和就业结构的根本改变。生产率提高带来资源尤其是劳动力资源的优化配置。然而,这种优化配置的出现在不同行业具有不同的特点,并且其影响因素也各不相同。本文利用2001-2007年的数据采用份额转换方法测定了制造业和生产者服务业的生产率变化以及劳动力资源的配置变化,然后,从多个层面分析了出口等因素对制造业和生产者服务业的影响,其中出口对资源配置的影响在中、高技术的制造业和生产者服务业中有较积极的影响。     

Capacity utilization and technology shocks in the US manufacturing sector

The ability of real business cycle models to generate reasonable aggregate fluctuations depends on the time series properties of technology shocks measured by the change of total factor productivity. Three specifications of a non‐parametric productivity analysis which correct to different degrees for variations of capacity utilization are compared in this article using data for three‐ and four‐digit US manufacturing industries during the years 1958–1996. The results show that correcting for utilization generally leads to substantially smaller technology shocks that are less strongly correlated with growth of output and hours. Moreover, the probability of technological regress is considerably lower after the correction.     

我国装备制造业全要素生产率测算及实证分析

本文运用B＆CⅡ模型,使用Coelli编制的软件＂Frontier＂4.1对我国装备制造业的生产函数和技术效率进行了估计,计算了我国装备制造业的全要素生产率和分阶段的全要素生产率。针对影响全要素生产率水平的各种因素,如技术进步、所有制结构、对外开放程度、人力资源素质,就提高我国装备制造业全要素生产率水平提出了若干政策建议。     

收入分配不公平与全要素生产率——基于中国上市制造企业数据的经验分析

基于2001—2017年A股上市制造企业数据,探究了普通职工收入分配不公平对企业全要素生产率的影响。研究结果表明:普通职工收入分配不公平明显制约了企业全要素生产率的提升;资本劳动比弱化了普通职工收入分配不公平对企业全要素生产率的负向影响;相对于资本密集型企业,技术密集型和劳动密集型企业的全要素生产率更易受到普通职工收入分配不公平的影响;普通职工收入分配不公平通过影响技术水平和管理成本的方式作用于全要素生产率。     

Exports and growth: a causality analysis for the pulp and paper industries based on international panel data

This study examines the causal relations between exports and domestic production in the pulp and paper industries. The issue is whether exports are the engine of growth, or whether exports follow growth. The data were time-series of the 15 main exporting countries between 1961 and 1995. The method was Granger-causality analysis with error correction, based on models estimated in three ways: ordinary least squares by country, least squares with dummy variables (LSDV), and seemingly unrelated regression. Regardless of method, the strongest relation was an instantaneous (within a year) feedback between exports and production. The LSDV results implied average multipliers across countries of 1.2 to 1.4 from exports to production, and 0.20 to 0.25 from production to exports, in both industries. Experiments with monthly data on the pulp industries of Canada and the USA showed that temporal aggregation could affect the Granger-causality test results.     

制造业部门劳动生产率比较研究——基于浙江地区与国内外制造业的实证分析

劳动生产率提高是经济增长的主要源泉,是内生型增长的决定性因素,也是实现收入翻番的基本支撑。处于沿海发达地区的浙江制造业劳动生产率,不及全国平均水平,也仅为美日韩等先进国家的1/4或1/5左右,劳动生产率提升较为滞后。在当前制度红利和"人口红利"逐渐消失的背景下,抓住城镇化、信息化和全球生产制造方式变革机遇,注重发挥"三个效应",即追赶效应、丹尼森效应和鲍默效应,着力创造"劳动生产率红利",继续形成对发达经济体的较快追赶步伐和推动增长模式升级。     

Information Technology As A Factor Of Production: The Role Of Differences Among Firms

Despite evidence that information technology (IT) has recently become a productive investment for a large cross-section of firms, a number of questions remain. Some of these issues can be addressed by extending the basic production function approach that was applied in earlier work. Specifically, in this short paper we: 1) control for individual firm differences in productivity by employing a ‘firm effects’ specification, 2) consider the more flexible translog specification instead of only the Cobb-Douglas specification, and 3) allow all parameters to vary between various subsectors of the economy.

We find that while ‘firm effects’ may account for as much as half of the productivity benefits imputed to IT in earlier studies, the elasticity of IT remains positive and statistically significant. We also find that the estimates of IT elasticity and marginal product are little-changed when the less restrictive translog production function is employed. Finally, we find only limited evidence of differences in IT's marginal product between manufacturing and services and between the ‘measurable’ and ‘unmeasurable’ sectors of the economy. Surprisingly, we find that the marginal product of IT is at least as high in firms that did not grow during 1988–1992 sample period as it is in firms that grew.     

中国制造业空间集聚对全要素生产率的影响机理研究——基于双门限回归模型的实证分析

文章根据中国2000-2008年20个制造行业的面板数据,建立了以产业空间集聚水平为门限变量的双门限回归模型,以考察产业空间集聚对全要素生产率的影响机理。研究发现,产业空间集聚主要促进体现型技术进步,对技术效率的影响较弱;产业空间集聚的影响存在门限效应,其影响力随集聚水平的提高而逐步减弱,集聚规模存在最佳边界;产业空间集聚对全要素生产率及技术进步的影响在不同门限区间的行业技术梯度特征较明显,资源性和中低技术行业的集聚水平较低但集聚效应较高。     

Capacity constraints, asymmetries, and the business cycle

We study how an occasionally binding capacity constraint affects the properties of business cycles. A real business cycle model is constructed where production takes place at individual plants and the number of plants operated varies over the cycle. The capacity constraint binds in states where all plants are operated. We derive the aggregate production function for this economy, which turns out to differ from the standard Cobb–Douglas function while retaining its desirable properties. The business cycle features of this one-sector growth model are similar to those of a standard real business cycle model in most respects. Our model does, however, display some properties of actual economies that standard models do not. In particular, business cycles in our model are asymmetric—troughs are deeper on average than peaks are tall. Also, labor's share of income is counter-cyclical, as it is in US data.     

环境规制对制造业绿色全要素生产率的影响研究——基于碳排放权交易政策的PSM-DID检验

随着我国环境规制体系的不断完善,环境规制在促进经济绿色发展中所发挥的作用越来越重要,其中2011年提出的碳排放权交易政策是这一体系中重要的一种环境规制制度。因此,在利用DEA-Malmquist指数法来测度中国2009—2017年30个省份制造业绿色全要素生产率的基础上,将2013年在试点省市正式实施的碳排放权交易政策作为一次准自然实验,采用倾向匹配得分的双重差分法(PSM-DID)研究了环境规制对制造业绿色全要素生产率的影响效应。实证研究表明:制造业绿色全要素生产率受环境规制的影响逐步改善,对MGTFP分解项的影响和对MGTFP的影响相一致。在对MGTFP分解项的影响中,技术进步所受的影响最大,纯技术效率所受的影响最小,综合技术效率所受到的影响要大于规模效率所受到的影响,产业结构、政府干预及城镇化对MGTFP及其分解项的影响存在差异,技术创新对MGTFP及其分解项的影响为正,对外开放对MGTFP分解项的影响为负,这与对MGTFP的影响一致。     

R&;D: A Small Contribution to Productivity Growth

In this article I evaluate the contribution of R&D investments to productivity growth. The basis for the analysis are the free entry condition and the fact that most R&D innovations are embodied. Free entry yields a relationship between the resources devoted to R&D and the growth rate of technology. Since innovators are small, this relationship is not directly affected by the size of R&D externalities, or the presence of aggregate diminishing returns in R&D after controlling for the growth rate of output and the interest rate. The embodiment of R&D-driven innovations bounds the size of the production externalities. The resulting contribution of R&D to productivity growth in the US is smaller than 3–5 tenths of 1% point. This constitutes an upper bound for the case where innovators internalize the consequences of their R&D investments on the cost of conducting future innovations. From a normative perspective, this analysis implies that, if the innovation technology takes the form assumed in the literature, the actual US R&D intensity may be the socially optimal.