Which Way is “Up” in Upgrading? Trajectories of Change in the Value Chain for South African Wine

Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis uses the concept of upgrading to highlight paths for developing country firms to “move up the value chain,” usually through the lenses of four categories—product, process, functional, and inter-sectoral upgrading. The implicit normative expectation is that these firms move toward producing higher value-added products and/or take on more sophisticated functions along a value chain. In this article, upgrading is approached more broadly as “reaching a better deal,” including a balance between rewards and risk. The case study of South African wine shows that better product quality, improved processes, and some functional upgrading have co-existed with processes of “downgrading,” higher risks, and limited rewards, especially in traditional export markets. A reflection on further conceptual development and directions for empirical research is also provided.     

Determinants of residential water demand in Germany

We econometrically analyze the impact of several economic, environmental and social determinants for the per capita demand for water in about 600 water supply areas in Germany. Besides prices, income and household size, we consider the effects of population age, the share of wells, housing patterns, precipitation and temperature. We also explore why current per capita residential water consumption in the new federal states is about 30% lower than in the old federal states. Since average cost pricing may cause an endogeneity problem, we apply instrumental-variable procedures in addition to single equation ordinary least squares, but find no evidence that prices are endogenous. Our estimation results suggest that the price elasticity of water demand in Germany is around − 0.24. The income elasticity is positive, decreases with higher income levels and is at least three times higher in the new federal states than in the old federal states. Current differences in prices and income levels explain about one third of the gap in residential water use between the two regions. Household size and the share of wells have a negative impact on per capita water demand, and water use increases with age. Finally, the findings provide some evidence that rainfall patterns rather than total rainfall affect water consumption, while temperature appears to have no impact at all. All outcomes are robust to a log-log and two types of semi-log specifications for the water demand function.     

Unobserved firm heterogeneity and the size-exports nexus: Evidence from German panel data

This paper starts from the stylized fact that firm size and exporting tends to be positively related. Using large sets of establishment panel data for three different industries from official statistics, evidence is presented that the familiar picture of an export/sales ratio that increases (at a decreasing rate) with firm size vanishes if unobserved firm heterogeneity is controlled for in a fixed-effects fractional logit regression model. This finding is well in line with the fact that many small firms are “hidden export champions.” JEL no. F10, D21, L60     

Potentiel de Productivité et Efficacité Technique du Secteur Agricole en Afrique

This study utilizes frontier metaproduction functions to analyze inter‐region agricultural productivity differences. Technical efficiency scores are examined through estimation of stochastic frontiers for 16 African countries divided into three different regions (West Africa, East and Southern Africa, and North Africa) from 1970 to 2001. The idea is to explore the differences in efficiency and technological gaps of agricultural sector. Apart of common traits that characterize African agricultural sector, countries exhibit national and regional specificities. These diversities are such that it is difficult to make valuable generalizations. It appears from the results that: in West Africa, the level of technology is relatively good, meaning that there is no problem of input constraints. By contrast, the efficiency with which inputs are used is very low. The situation is very different in the East and Southern Africa, with the level of technology relatively low and appreciable technical level. At least, the North Africa countries make a performing mixture between technology and efficiency. Cette étude utilise les Meta frontières de production pour analyser les différences inter‐régionales de la productivité agricole. Les niveaux d'efficacité technique sont examinées par l'estimation des frontières stochastiques de 16 pays africains regroupés en trois régions (l'Afrique de l'Ouest, l'Afrique de l'Est et Australe, et l'Afrique du Nord), sur une période allant de 1970 à 2001. L'idée étant d'explorer les différences d'efficacité et les écarts technologiques du secteur agricole. Au‐delà des simples traits communs qui caractérisent le secteur agricole africain, on trouve des expériences nationales et régionales dont il est difficile, du fait de leur grande diversité, de tirer des généralisations valables. Des résultats de l'étude, il ressort que: en Afrique de l'Ouest, le niveau technologique est relativement satisfaisant, traduisant le fait que la présence des inputs ne représente pas une contrainte. Par contre le niveau d'efficacité avec lequel ces intrants sont utilisés est assez faible. La situation est tout autre en Afrique de l'Est et Australe avec un niveau technologique relativement faible et un niveau d'efficacité appréciable. L'Afrique du nord enfin fait un savant dosage entre efficacité et technologie.     

Governance And The Implementation Of Technology Policy In Less Developed Countries

This study discusses key issues of technology policy in less developed countries from a governance perspective. In particular, it analyzes critical problems of policy implementation and looks for general principles which may be suitable as guideposts in making the state more effective regardless of the particularities of its technology policy. The main argument is that governments need to assume a market-enhancing role and must enhance the state's capabilities and capacities for implementing public policies. Crafting public institutions which ensure accountability, transparency, and predictability of policy making and involve the private sector in political decision-making processes is critical for successful policy implementation. Besides institutional arrangements which help governments to credibly precommit to policies, the quality and institutional design of the public administration and the public-private interface are crucial ingredients of an effective governance structure.     

Capital and labor misallocation in the Netherlands

Journal of Productivity Analysis - Using firm-level panel data we analyze the misallocation of capital and labor for the Netherlands in the period 2001–2017. We use the dispersion in marginal...     

Distance-sensitivity of German exports: first evidence from firm-product level data

This article uses a tailor-made new data set of 7 580 251 observations for German exports at the firm-product-destination level to estimate a gravity equation and to investigate the link between the amount of firms’ exports and the distance to destination countries. It is shown that, in line with stylized facts based on aggregate data, the quantity of exports declines significantly with distance within a firm for a given product.     

Distributional effects of imputed rents in five European countries

Most empirical distributional studies of well-being in developed countries rely on distributions of disposable income. From a theoretical point of view this practice is contentious since a household’s command over resources is determined not only by its spending power over commodities it can buy in the market but also on resources available to the household members through non-market mechanisms such as the in-kind provisions of the welfare state and the value of private non-cash incomes. In developed market economies the most important private non-cash income component is imputed rent from owner-occupied or subsidized accommodation. Employing a wider definition of imputed rent that also allows the analyst to capture income advantages among tenants living in rent-subsidized accommodations of various sorts (including rent-free or reduced-rent households), the present paper examines the differential effects of including imputed rents in the concept of resources in five European countries (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy and the UK). The results suggest that in almost all cases, the inclusion of imputed rents in the concept of resources leads to a decline in measured levels of inequality and poverty. The main beneficiaries are outright homeowners and households living in rent-free (or heavily subsidized) accommodation—most often older persons. The inclusion of imputed rents in the concept of resources does not lead to substantial changes in the ranking of the countries according to their level of inequality, despite widespread differences in the rates of home ownership and subsidization across the countries studied here.