The impact of knowledge accumulation and geographical spillovers on productivity and efficiency: The case of U. S. shipbuilding during WWII

This paper examines the productivity and efficiency experience of World War II Liberty ship builders using two complementary paradigms which can be viewed as alternative specifications of the endogenous growth model introduced by Romer (1986) and the stochastic frontier production model introduced by Aigner, Lovell, and Schmidt (1977). We develop modifications in the endogenous growth model to allow for learning as well as spatial spillovers by relating productivity growth to cumulative productive experience (the ‘learning curve’) and to worker experience as it is transferred and utilized across different geographical regions. We also consider the relative impact of both proximal and distant simultaneous production on productivity growth. We then utilize a framework in which the efficiency component of productivity growth is explicitly considered using a stochastic frontier model wherein contributions to productivity growth introduced in the endogenous growth model are formally modeled as determinants of efficiency change.     

Environmental productivity and Kuznets curve in India

As a result of India's extremely rapid economic growth, the scale and seriousness of environmental problems are no longer in doubt. Whether pollution abatement technologies are utilized more efficiently is crucial in the analysis of environmental management because it influences the cost of alternative production and pollution abatement technologies. In this study, we use state-level industry data of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and suspended particular matter over the period 1991-2003. Employing recently developed productivity measurement technique, we show that overall environmental productivities decrease over time in India. Furthermore, we analyze the determinants of environmental productivities and find environmental Kuznets curve type relationship existences between environmental productivity and income. Panel analysis results show that the scale effect dominates over the technique effect. Therefore, a combined effect of income on environmental productivity is negative.     

Multinational enterprises and innovation: firm level evidence on spillover via R&D collaboration

This paper estimates the knowledge spillovers to multinational enterprises (MNEs) in Sweden via domestic and foreign R&;D collaboration. Applying an augmented generalized method of moments-estimator that accounts for selectivity and simultaneity bias on data from 1,249 MNEs, our research has resulted in five distinct conclusions. First, we find that the knowledge spillovers via R&;D collaboration typically take place as a network phenomenon rather than a process between the local firm and a single innovation partner. Second, successful collaboration is conditional on the presence of foreign innovation partners in the network. Third, output is found to be an increasing function of R&;D-collaboration only among non-export oriented firms. Fourth, foreign MNEs, selling mainly to local and regional markets in Sweden, benefit more from R&;D collaboration than do other firms. Overall, the results show that demand-driven motives that require entrepreneurial knowledge to adapt products to local consumers and markets are more important for successful R&;D-collaboration than supply-driven motives.     

Economic reforms,efficiency and productivity in Chinese banking

This paper analyzes the impact of banking reforms on efficiency and total factor productivity (TFP) change in Chinese banking industry. Using an input distance function, we find that joint-equity banks are more efficient than wholly state-owned banks (WSOBs). Furthermore, both WSOBs and joint-equity banks are found to be operating slightly below their optimal size, suggesting potential advantages in expansion of their businesses. Overall, TFP growth was 4.4% per annum for the sample period 1993–2002. Joint-equity banks experienced much higher growth in TFP (5.5% per annum) compared to the WSOBs (1.4% per annum).      

Computerization,workplace organization,skilled labour and firm productivity: Evidence for the Swiss business sector

The present study explores empirically the hypothesis that information and communication technologies, new organizational practices and human capital are important determinants of firm efficiency and performance, further that the combined use of these three factors leads to a mutual strengthening of their impact on firm performance. The analytical framework is that of a production function at firm level. The new contribution of this study to the empirical literature is that it is the first empirical study of this type for the Swiss business sector, using a rich data set at firm level for the year 1999 which were collected by means of a postal survey, and giving particular attention to the complementarity issue (several approaches) and to the endogenization of the technology and organization variables.     

Bidirectional technological spillover in the Chinese star-rated hotel sector: An empirical investigation

The star-rated hotel sector has played an increasing role in Chinese economic development. A feature of this sector is the technology-gap between high- and low-end hotels, which may generate spillover through different channels: such as human capital mobility and management systems. High-end hotels are technological leaders with better access to technology, foreign connections, and government policy support, while low-end hotels have better localized knowledge and expertise. Therefore, it is important to see whether there is spillover between high- and low-end hotels. Two contributions of our paper are to model hotels as multi-service decision-makers, and to rely on a nonparametric empirical strategy. The results show that high-end hotels are the major spillover generators moving the star-rated hotel sector to better performance. On the other hand, low-end hotels not only integrate the technological knowledge from high-end hotels, but also share their experience of local knowledge.     

Organisational change and the productivity effects of green technology adoption

This study investigates induced productivity effects of firms introducing new environmental technologies. The literature on within-firm organisational change and productivity suggests that firms can achieve higher productivity gains from adopting new technologies if they adapt their organisational structures. Such complementarity effects may be of particular importance for the adoption of greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement technologies. The adoption of these technologies is often induced by public authorities to limit the social costs of climate change, whereas the private returns are much less obvious. This study finds empirical support for complementarity between green technology adoption (either CO₂-reducing or resources and energy efficiency-enhancing technologies) and organisational change. While the sole adoption of green technologies is associated with lower productivity, the simultaneous implementation of green technologies and organisational innovations is not.     

The distributional effects of selection and capital accumulation on firm productivity under imperfect capital markets

In this evolutionary model, random shocks create differences in the rate of return on capital, while individual saving and investment behavior can reduce these differences over time. Firms with either low total factor productivity (TFP) or a low average return on capital are selected for exit, and new firms enter to take their place. As would be expected, a higher turnover rate improves TFP and reduces its variation. While we show that a higher turnover rate would result in a more positively skewed TFP distribution if exit selection is based directly upon TFP, we find that when we select firms for exit based on their average product of capital, the marginal impact of a higher turnover rate is to more negatively skew the TFP distribution. Overall, our simulations highlight the importance of considering the role selection may play in shaping the distribution of productivity when econometricians seek estimates of firm inefficiency.

Environmental determinants of banking efficiency in Austria

The great majority of Austrian banks operate on a regional or local basis and only a few banks provide their services on a national or even international scale. Obviously, the market environments regional or local banks face are different from that of nationwide operating banks. Casual evidence suggests that local markets condition is a very important external determinant of banking efficiency. Thus, not controlling for market conditions may substantially bias the measurement of managerial efficiency particularly of locally operating banks. In this paper we assess the internal technical efficiency (or X-efficiency) of the Austrian banking sector with the focus on environmental and non-controllable factors critical to banking markets. Analytically, we apply a multiple-stage approach based on a slacks-based DEA model (SBM) and a censored regression model, respectively. In order to cope with the inherent dependency problem of DEA-based efficiency analysis when incorporated into regression analysis we apply a Bootstrap estimator. In so doing we attempt to overcome the dependency problem which plagues the power of standard regression analysis based on DEA processed data. The empirical analysis is based on an unbalanced panel of data covering more than 800 Austrian banks ranging over 1995–2002.

Innovation and productivity in family firms: evidence from a sample of European firms

ABSTRACT

Using firm-level data, we estimate the returns to R&D investments for a sample of European manufacturing firms over the period 2007–2009. Results confirm that R&D efforts are positively related to productivity regardless of firm type (family or nonfamily firms). Additionally, we find that family firms invested more in R&D than nonfamily firms, but the returns to their R&D investments are low, emphasizing that they have a lower capacity to translate R&D investments into economic gains.     

Intra-industry spillovers and innovation: An econometric analysis at the firm level

This paper studies spillover effects of innovation at the firm level and the comparability of generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators with maximum likelihood estimators of the earlier studies. Two sources of spillovers are identified, i.e. intra-industry R&D expenditure and intra-industry innovation output. This paper estimates a negative R&D spillover effect and a positive output spillover effect. Because of the substitution effect of intra-industry R&D spillovers, the elasticity of patent with respect to firm's own R&D expenditure is greater than those estimated in the earlier studies. With GMM, individual effects are incorporated into the models either by developing proxies for them or attempting to eliminate them.     

The relationship between efficiency and profitability with respect to the size of firms: An empirical investigation for Austria

In this paper, an attempt is made to investigate the performance of Upper-Austrian firms by size class. Considering the six derived hypotheses, why small firms have a better performance measure, some of the hypothesis with respect to profitability and labour cost efficiency are confirmed. On average, the gross residual quota (profitability measure) of small firms is higher than the one of medium-sized and large firms. However, a similar result could not be found for the productivity development. Considering the influence of the firm size on the productivity measure, there is in three out of four cases no statistically significant influence at all and in one case the opposite result is obtained indicating the larger the firm, the higher is the productivity. In the case of labour cost efficiency, the hypothesis (the smaller the firm the lower the labour cost per employee) is clearly confirmed.     

国际R&D溢出与生产率增长——基于APEC视角的动态面板数据分析

本文从服务贸易进口、FDI流入和生产率积聚效应等方面扩展了CH模型,并以APEC成员作为研究对象,运用动态面板数据模型和脉冲响应函教研究了全要素生产率、技术效率和技术进步的动态变化规律,得出了全要素生产率、技术效率和技术进步存在显著的积聚效应;本国R&D资本存量有助于提升技术效率,但是能否促进技术进步刖依赖于R&D投入强度;和通过服务贸易渠道获得的国际R&D溢出对全要素生产率和技术进步均有显著的促进作用等三个一般性结论.     

Subsidies under uncertainty: Modeling of input- and output-oriented policies

Agricultural subsidies play an essential role in agricultural and rural development in many developed economies. Countries have implemented agricultural subsidy policies with a focus on food security and environmental protection. Agricultural production is risky and uncertain, influencing the efficiency of agricultural subsidies. This study develops a theoretical framework to analyze the effects of production uncertainties on the efficiency of agricultural subsidy policies under the double constraints of food security and environmental protection. The basic model is investigated under six different conditions, and expanded research also is presented. Our models show that uncertainty, including output, cost, and price uncertainties, and technology conversion efficiency significantly affects the efficiency of agricultural subsidies. Under high technology conversion efficiency, output-oriented subsidies are appropriate for food security and environmental protection goals. Policymakers should take both uncertainty and production efficiency into consideration when choosing between input-oriented and output-oriented subsidy policies.     

环保产业发展与区域环境质量改善——来自省级面板数据的证据

环保产业能够通过技术效应、替代效应、直接效应、环保意识和环境管制标准提升等途径来改善环境质量。对我国30个省份的面板数据进行的实证研究发现,环保产业发展确实能够改善区域环境质量,但是目前其对不同污染物排放有着不同的影响力度,其对整体环境质量和工业废水排放的改善作用较为明显,但对固体废物和废气排放的影响并不显著。环保产业改善环境质量的力度和广度都还没有充分展示出来,这与其目前的总体规模和水平相称。     

Impact of firm heterogeneity on direct and spillover effects of FDI: Micro-evidence from ten transition countries

This paper presents a comparative study of the importance of direct technology transfer and spillovers through FDI on a set of 10 transition countries, using a common methodology and appropriate methods to account for selection and simultaneity correction. This paper considers by far the largest firm level dataset (more than 90,000 firms) used by any study on the spillover effects of FDI. The main novelty of the paper is the explicit control for various sources of firm heterogeneity when accounting for different effects of FDI on firm performance. This work shows that the heterogeneity of firms in terms of absorptive capacity, size, productivity and technology levels affect the results. Controlling for these variables leads to some interesting results, which contrast with the previous empirical work in the field. We find that horizontal spillovers have become increasingly important over the last decade, and they may even become more important than vertical spillovers. Positive horizontal spillovers are equally distributed across size classes of firms, while negative horizontal spillovers seem to be more likely to accrue to smaller firms. Moreover, positive horizontal spillovers seem more likely to be present in medium or high productivity firms with higher absorptive capacities, while negative horizontal spillovers are more likely to affect low to medium productivity firms. These findings suggest that both direct effects from foreign ownership as well as the spillovers from foreign firms substantially depend on the absorptive capacity and productivity level of individual firms. In addition, these results show that foreign presence may also affect smaller firms to a larger extent than larger firms, but this impact may be in either direction.     

中国绿色技术创新效率异质性环境规制影响与时空跃迁研究

引导环境规制政策对绿色技术创新效率变革产生推动作用,可为经济高质量发展提供重要支撑。将命令控制型、市场激励型与公众参与型环境规制视为不可控制变量,构建动态SBM-DEA模型,考察异质性环境规制对绿色技术创新效率的影响,分析其动态演化特征及时空跃迁路径,揭示考虑和未考虑环境规制影响绿色技术创新效率的时空差异。结果发现：①异质性环境规制对2001-2018年中国绿色技术创新效率具有正向影响,影响作用存在地区差异性;②东部地区环境规制政策可以有效发挥市场机制和公众监督作用,中西部地区环境规制政策可以更好地发挥政府调控作用;③绿色技术创新效率时空演变具有持续优化、空间差异缩小等特征。为推动中国绿色技术创新均衡、高效发展,应重点制定相关策略以缩小南北地区绿色技术创新发展差距。     

Wage,foreign-owned firms,and productivity spillovers via labour turnover: a non-linear analysis based on Chinese firm-level data

Using firm-level panel data from Chinese manufacturing firms over the period 2004–2007, this article investigates the impact of the wage gap between local and foreign-owned firms on foreign direct investment (FDI) spillovers in terms of total factor productivity (TFP). We find a non-linear threshold effect that: a low-level wage gap threshold exists, below which FDI spillovers are significantly negative. This is because FDI spillovers via labour turnover are blocked due to the low wages of local firms, which jeopardizes the flow of skilled workers from foreign firms to local firms. In contrast, when the wage gap reaches a high-level threshold, local firms can get benefits from FDI spillovers. The reason is that high wages of local firms attract skilled employees to leave foreign firms, which yields a large magnitude of worker mobility from foreign firms to local firms. Our article provides evidence that labour turnover as the channel of FDI spillovers only works when the wage gap is beyond some threshold. Also, these thresholds vary across regions and firm ownerships.     

The contractionary effects of tax shocks on productivity: An empirical and theoretical analysis

I analyze the effects of tax policy changes on US Total Factor Productivity. VAR estimates show that permanent and exogenous tax increases have strong, permanent, and negative effects on TFP which represent about 80% of change in output following the tax increase. I then build a DSGE model which has learning-by-doing and endogenous TFP evolution. The benchmark model is able to replicate the empirical impulse responses. However, when I calibrate the model as in the literature, the effect of taxes on TFP is substantially less elastic than in the data. I argue that this divergence may arise because tax changes labeled as exogenous can give spurious results or because of a mis-specified model.     

环境约束下中国省际全要素能源效率实证研究

本文运用基于DEA的方向性距离函数方法测算了1998-2007年环境约束下的中国省际全要素能源效率,并对影响环境约束下全要素能源效率的因素进行了实证检验。研究发现:我国全要素能源效率在样本期间整体处于持续下滑状态,其中西部地区下降的幅度最大;东部地区全要素能源效率最高,其次是中部地区,西部地区最低;广东、辽宁、上海、北京、天津和海南6省市均在生产边界上,而云南、新疆、河北和贵州具有低水平的全要素能源效率;人均GRP、外商直接投资、要素禀赋结构、产业结构、所有制结构、能源结构、企业的环境管理能力以及能源价格都对全要素能源效率有显著影响。因此,全面提升经济发展的水平和质量,均衡地区经济发展,弱化当前我国经济高能耗高产出的特点,是提高我国全要素能源效率的重要手段。