A flexible time-varying specification of the technical inefficiency effects model

The temporal pattern of technical efficiency in the technical inefficiency effects model, as modeled by Battese and Coelli (Empir Econ 20:325–332, 1995), is rather restrictive. Specifically, it a priori imposes a common pattern upon all firms in the sample, which in addition is monotonic over time. Obviously this is an undesirable implication of the model especially when there is evidence of strong firm heterogeneity and/or a long time span. To overcome this shortcoming, the present paper incorporates the Cornwell et al. (J Econom 46:185–200, 1990) flexible specification of the temporal pattern of technical efficiency into technical inefficiency effects model. The proposed formulation is then applied to the agricultural sector of the EU and US, during the period 1973–1993. The empirical result support the proposed formulation as quite different temporal patterns of technical efficiency have been found for the ten countries included in the analysis. We would like to thank an anonymous referee and an associate editor for valuable suggestions in an earlier version of the paper.     

On the choice of functional form in stochastic frontier modeling

This paper examines the effect of functional form specification on the estimation of technical efficiency using a panel data set of 125 olive-growing farms in Greece for the period 1987–93. The generalized quadratic Box-Cox transformation is used to test the relative performance of alternative, widely used, functional forms and to examine the effect of prior choice on final efficiency estimates. Other than the functional specifications nested within the Box-Cox transformation, the comparative analysis includes the minflex Laurent translog and generalized Leontief that possess desirable approximation properties. The results indicate that technical efficiency measures are very sensitive to the choice of functional specification. Perhaps most importantly, the choice of functional form affects the identification of the factors affecting individual performance – the sources of technical inefficiency. The analysis also shows that while specification searches do narrow down the set of feasible alternatives, the identification of the most appropriate functional specification might not always be (statistically) feasible. First version received: November 1999/Final version received: July 2001 RID="*" ID="*"  The authors wish to thank Almas Heshmati, Robert Romain, and an anonymous referee for insightful comments and suggestions. Special thanks go to the associate editor who handled the paper, and whose careful reading and suggestions have improved the paper substantially. The second author wishes to acknowledge the financial support from “President SSHRC” from the University of Saskatchewan. The usual caveats with respect to opinions expressed in the paper apply. Senior authorship is shared. This is University of Nebraska-Lincoln Agricultural Research Division Article No. 13270.     

FDI performance: a stochastic frontier analysis of location and variance determinants

The opening up process of the eastern European countries was marked by greater integration of FDI with their western neighbouring countries. Using the single-step ML approach to stochastic frontier analysis, the location and variance determinants of FDI are estimated using the knowledge capital (KK) model framework. The findings, based on a panel of bilateral FDI stocks from 10 western to 10 eastern European countries over the 1996–2007 period, suggest FDI is determined by both horizontal and vertical motives while the process of liberalization and infrastructural developments significantly reduces the variance of FDI. In using a stochastic frontier specification of the KK model, the efficiency of FDI performance is identified relative to maximum levels. The bilateral efficiency scores suggest a mixed performance, indicating scope to improve the efficiency of FDI.     

Values, prices of production and market prices: some more evidence from the Greek economy

This paper extends the empirical investigation of the relationbetween labour values and different price forms in the caseof the Greek economy. Subjecting the labour theory of valueto empirical tests with data from various countries helps inthe derivation of general conclusions regarding its empiricalvalidity and practical usefulness. Our results on the closenessof values and prices as measured by their absolute deviationand correlation, the shape of the wage–profit curves,the predictive power of labour values over market prices comparedwith other ‘value bases’, and the comparison offundamental Marxian categories when estimated in value and priceterms provide further support for the empirical strength ofthe labour theory of value.     

Efficiency of labour use in the Swedish banking industry: a stochastic frontier approach

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of the deregulation of the Swedish banking industry in the mid-1980s, and the consequent banking crisis, on productive efficiency and productivity growth in the industry. An unbalanced panel of Swedish banks is studied over the period, 1984 to 1995. A total of 1275 observations are analysed for 156 banks that were observed for between two and twelve years. We adopt a translog stochastic frontier model to estimate the labour-use requirements in terms of the variables, loans, deposits, guarantees, number of branches and total inventories, together with the year of observation. The inefficiency effects in the labour-use frontier are modelled in terms of the number of branches, total inventories, the type of bank and year of observation. The technical inefficiencies of labour use of Swedish banks were found to be significant, with mean inefficiencies per year estimated to be between about 8 and 15 per cent over the years of study. However, the confidence interval predictions for these inefficiencies were found to be quite wide. First version received: August 1998/Final version received: April 2000     

The transient and persistent efficiency of Italian and German universities: a stochastic frontier analysis

Despite measures on the European level to increase the compatibility between the higher education sectors, the recent literature exposes variations in their efficiencies. To gain insights into these differences, we split the efficiency term according to the two management levels each university is confronted with. We separate short-term and long-term efficiency while controlling for unobserved institution-specific heterogeneity. We argue that the first term reflects the efficiency of the individual universities working within the country, while the second term echoes the influence of the overall country-specific higher education structure. The cross-country comparison displays whether efficiency differences between countries are related to the individual performance of their universities or their higher education structure. This allows more purposeful policy recommendations and expands the literature regarding the efficiency of universities in a fundamental way. Choosing Italy and Germany as two important illustrative examples, we show that the Italian higher education sector exhibits a higher overall efficiency value. With the individual universities working at the upper bound of efficiency in both countries, the remaining inefficiency and the gap between the countries are caused by persistent, structural inefficiency. Future measures should hence aim at the country-specific structure and not solely at the activities of single universities.     

Complementarities of human capital and information technology: small businesses,emerging economy context and the strategic role of firm resources

How information technology (IT) may complement other key firm resources such as human capital is a question that has drawn increasing attention from scholars and practitioners. Answers to this question are crucial for small businesses in today’s environment. These businesses face a growing demand for IT usage at the same time that they typically can count only on limited resources. This has become a common situation that is particularly critical for small businesses operating in developing countries with emerging economies. We develop propositions and test them with a dataset of service small businesses in an emerging economy. We find that the use of IT services is positively related to firm productivity and that this relationship is positively moderated by entrepreneurs’ management education. Our findings indicate that firm productivity is associated with a combination of human and technology resources.     

The effects of corruption on the human capital accumulation process: Evidence from Vietnam

This study aims to identify the effects of corruption on the human capital accumulation process in Vietnamese provinces/cities. I employ labour quality assessments of firms as a proxy for human capital and divide human capital accumulation into the following two processes: an educational process and a process through which educational outcomes and worker training transform into labour quality. The estimation results have some notable implications for the Vietnamese context. Corruption has both negative and positive effects on human capital. On the one hand, corruption reduces the positive effect of local government spending on educational achievements and worsens labour quality. On the other hand, the prevalence of corruption in provinces/cities increases the advantages of local schools in the competition to obtain funds from the central government; hence, corruption enhances educational achievements in those regions. The results of this study indicate that corruption adversely affects human capital overall.     

Human capital formation and public debt: growth and welfare effects of three different deficit policies

We analyze an endogenous growth model public educational spending. We show that the balanced budget policy and the policy with a slight deficit yield higher growth than a debt policy where public debt grows at the same rate as GDP, unless the government is a creditor. As concerns welfare, it can be demonstrated that a strong deficit policy yields lower welfare than a balanced budget and a slight deficit policy, unless initial debt ratios are low and the intertemporal elasticity of substitution is high. Finally, there may exist an inverted U-shaped relation between welfare and deficit-financed educational spending.     

Predicting technical effciency in stochastic production frontier models in the presence of misspecification: a Monte-Carlo analysis

This paper provides a theoretical explanation for the sensitivity of technical efficiency measures to the choice of functional specification in stochastic production frontier models. It is shown that inappropriate functional specifications translate into a misspecification in the conditional mean of the stochastic frontier regression model. This misspecification, in turn, results in estimates of technical efficiency, confidence intervals and production elasticities being biased, even asymptotically. Monte-Carlo simulations reveal that the severity of the bias depends on the functional specification and the percentage contribution of the variance of technical inefficiency to the total variance of the composed errors.     

基于随机前沿生产函数的我国主要省市人力资本与R＆D投资效率实证检验

人力资本和R&D投资一方面促进了经济增长,另一方面又增强了科研主体对外部技术的吸收能力,推动了知识与技术的扩散。本文基于随机前沿生产函数,利用1998—2007年中国29个省市共290个观测数据,通过引入人力资本和R&D投资两个参数,分析人力资本和R&D投资对生产力的直接影响和通过提高技术吸收能力对技术效率的间接影响。结果表明:人力资本在诠释地区间效率差异中扮演着极其重要的角色,它不仅直接影响生产力的提高,而且还通过提高技术吸收能力从而间接影响技术效率;R&D投资对技术效率有重要影响,而对生产力的直接影响并不强。     

The effects of agglomeration economies on technical efficiency of manufacturing firms: evidence from Indonesia

This article examines the effects of agglomeration economies and industrial structure upon firm-level technical efficiency in the Indonesian manufacturing industry over the period 2004–2009. A stochastic production frontier and three channels of agglomeration economies consisting of specialization, diversity and competition are used. The empirical results show that the effects of specialization and diversity upon firm-level technical efficiency are positive and negative, respectively, indicating that specialization is more favourable than diversity for stimulating firms’ technical efficiency. Competition has a positive sign, showing that region with high levels of competition tend to be more conducive in accelerating firm-level technical efficiency. In terms of firm location, both dummy for urban region and industrial complex turn out to be positive, indicating that firms located in both areas are experienced higher technical efficiency. Both firm size and age also have positive effect upon technical efficiency.     

试论企业经营者人力资本激励与约束

本文从企业经营者人力资本的一般特征入手,进一步延伸分析了企业经营者人力资本的产权特征,在此基础上论述了企业经营者激励与约束的制度选择,即赋予企业经营者剩余控制权和部分剩余索取权。     

关于农村剩余劳动力转移对河南经济发展影响的实证分析

河南作为我国人口和农业大省,由于其农村中存在的大量剩余劳动力,造成了就业结构与经济结构的错位,这严重地制约着河南农业现代化和经济结构高级化的实现.实践证明,农村剩余劳动力转移的速度直接影响着河南经济增长的速度,因此,应采取多种措施促进劳动力的转移,以此为契机加速河南经济社会快速发展.     

Productivity growth of newly industrializing economies in heterogeneous capital goods markets: the case of the Korean machinery and equipment industry

Although many previous studies have investigated the economic growth of East Asian countries from the perspective of productivity growth, they have adopted a limited focus only on the national level or on the aggregated level and have overlooked the heterogeneity at the disaggregated level. Furthermore, only a few studies have examined the sources of the remarkable growth and trade performance of the Korean machinery and equipment industry, despite its importance for sustainable growth of national economy. Therefore, we investigated the Total Factor Productivity Growth (TFPG) of the Korean machinery and equipment industry and its 12 sub-sectors from 1970 to 2012 using the stochastic frontier production approach. As a result, we found that the industry has achieved labour input-driven TFPG largely due to technical progress. This is contrary to the previous result that East Asia has expanded the production frontier by capital accumulation. In contrast, in some sub-sectors, scale effect and allocation efficiency have driven TFPG. We also found distinctive patterns of TFPG across different sub-sectors from the perspectives of the effect of input factors and the pattern of technical progress. These results imply that policy makers should consider industry-specific policy designs that incorporate the specific characteristics of individual sub-sectors.     

Human capital of entrepreneurial teams in nascent high-tech sectors: a comparison between Cleantech and Internet

We use an inductive approach to understand what types of founders’ human capital, at individual and team levels, are necessary to recognise and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. A sample of 195 founders who teamed up in the nascent phases of Cleantech and Interned-based sectors is analysed. The results suggest a twofold moderating effect of the sectoral context. First, a more hard science-based and complex sector like Cleantech demands technically more skilled entrepreneurs, but at the same time, it still requires fairly commercially experienced and economically competent individuals. Furthermore, the business context also appears to exert an important influence on team formation dynamics: individuals are more prone to team-up with cofounders possessing complementary know-how when they are starting a new business venture in the Cleantech rather than in the Internet-based sector. Overall, these results stress the role of the specific high-tech business context at stake when analysing entrepreneurial team composition patterns.     

广义虚拟经济视角下人力资本计量途径研究

“不能计量就不能管理”.要实现人力资本利润分享机制的理论突破,计量是关键.与以往研究不同,本文认为人力资本的价值并非取决于投入多少,而在于其功效能否得到市场的认可、能否聚集人气、能否带来虚拟价值.由此,本文以企业不同类型人力资本提供的“非无差别劳动”为导向,依据“非无差别劳动”所形成的创新性成果,提出了人力资本价值计量...     

How market access shapes human capital accumulation in a peripheral country: the case of Spain

Human capital endowment is one of the main factors influencing the level of development of a region. This article analyses whether remoteness from economic activity has a negative effect on human capital accumulation and, consequently, on economic development. Making use of microdata, this research proves that remoteness from economic activity can explain the differences in the level of education observed across Spanish provinces over the last 50 years. The effect is significant even when controlling for the improvement of education supply. Nonetheless, the accessibility effect has been petering out since the 1960s due to decreasing barriers to mobility.     

人力资本对技术效率影响的门限效应研究——以财产保险公司为例

中国产险公司人力资本对技术效率的影响存在双门限效应,处于低人力资本水平的公司通过适当的人力资本投入跨过人力资本水平的门限即可以获得更大的技术效率提升。     

Macroeconomic policy uncertainty shocks on the Chinese economy: a GVAR analysis

This article studies the spillovers of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) from developed economies to China in terms of the source, extent and persistence by estimating a global vector autoregressive (GVAR) model with both financial and trade variables acting as the transmission channels. Our findings confirm the existence of international transmissions of policy uncertainty, while the patterns differ markedly. The US EPU appears to be the most significant cause of the fall of export, industrial production, equity price and exchange rate, meanwhile, the EU EPU is also to be blamed for the depreciation of RMB. In contrast to industrial production, which shows the largest negative impact, Chinese inflation increases to a relatively smaller extent with the EPU shocks ranking as the US, Japanese and the EU. Regardless of the minor impact on a long-term interest rate, the short-term interest rate in China reacts positively to the European and US EPU shocks. Despite the independent national monetary policies, EPUs from the EU, Japan and the UK can decrease the Chinese monetary aggregate. In summary, the Chinese economy responds the most to the US EPU, especially to its inflation expectation disagreement component, whereas it responds the least to the UK EPU.