Farm size and productivity growth in the United States Corn Belt

In recent decades, agricultural production in the U.S. has continued to shift to large-scale operations, raising concerns about the economic viability of small and midsized farms. To understand whether economies of size provided an incentive for the consolidation of production, the study estimates the total factor productivity (TFP) of five size classes of grain-producing farms in the U.S. Heartland (Corn Belt) region. Using quinquennial Agricultural Census data from 1982 to 2012 the study also compares TFP growth rates across farm sizes to gain insight into whether observed productivity differences are likely to persist. The finding of a strong positive relationship between farm size and TFP suggests that consolidation of production has contributed to recent aggregate productivity growth in the crop sector. The study estimates the extent to which sectoral productivity growth can be attributed to structural change versus other factors including technological change. The study also explores some tradeoffs associated with policies that raise the productivity of small versus large farms.     

Are China’s regional agricultural productivities converging: How and why?

This article tests the hypotheses of convergence to a single level of total factor productivity (TFP), and a steady state of TFP growth rate in China’s agricultural sector. Based on multilateral TFP estimates we found that China’s agricultural sector has rebounded in recent years from a slower TFP growth in the 2005–2007 period. While convergence test results confirm a “catch-up” effect that provinces with lower TFP levels tend to grow faster than others, estimated rates of β convergence are conditional on how we capture the heterogeneity effect across regions. The rates of β convergence range from 0.016 to 0.039 under different model specifications. Estimates show that higher growth rates of educational attainment, R&D, and intermediate goods density (per unit of labor) can enhance TFP growth. Unfortunately, there is no evidence of an overall σ convergence, indicating that TFP levels are not converging except in the South region. It implies that to catch up with leading provinces, it would require extra efforts for those lagging behind by increasing their region-specific research investment, promoting rural educational attainment, and enhancing embodied technical change.     

Productivity Growth in the Chinese Economy by Industry and the Role of Foreign Capital

I. IntroductionIt is well known that China’s reform and open-up policy initiated in 1978 had an extremelylarge impact on the Chinese economy. This policy represented an about-face against thetraditional self-reconstruction strategy that China had maintained since the founding ofthe people’s Republic in 1949. Although China’s economy temporarily fell into confusionfor a few years after the Tian-an-men incident in 1989, China continued to record high GDPgrowth. Moreover, after Deng Xiao…     

Replacement Investment: Optimal Economic Life Under Uncertainty

Replacement investment is essentially a regenerative optimal stopping problem; that is, the key decision concerns when to terminate the life of existing plant – and hence when to start over again. This paper examines this optimisation problem within a continuous time framework and studies the qualitative and quantitative impact of uncertainty on the timing of new investment (and the criteria that should be used for terminating the life of existing plant).     

INDUSTRIAL POLICY IN GREAT BRITAIN AND ITS EFFECT ON TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY IN MANUFACTURING PLANTS, 1990–1998

Industrial policy in any economy has a number of varying and occasionally conflicting objectives, but the overarching intention of the various grants, subsidies and support schemes, arguably, must be to improve the economic performance of the plants they assist directly. However, in the absence of counterfactual evidence, whether or not assistance does improve performance is hard to establish. In this paper, we consider the impact of two UK government industrial support schemes (Regional Selective Assistance and the Small Firm Merit Awards for Research and Technology) on UK manufacturing plant level total factor productivity in an attempt to answer the question, ‘did assistance make a difference?’     

On efficiency of the ratio estimator

Summary The exact mean square error for the ratio estimator of a finite population total based on simple random sampling without replacement is shown to have an expected value less than that of the variance of the ratio estimator based on Midzuno’s scheme, under a usual super-population model.     

不良贷款约束下的中国银行业全要素生产率增长研究

本文运用共同边界Malmquist-Luenberger生产率指数测度了2004—2009年中国27家商业银行在不良贷款约束下的全要素生产率增长及其成分,并对影响全要素生产率增长的宏观经济因素进行了实证分析。本文的主要结论有:在表示偏离共同边界的技术落差比率方面,国有商业银行呈"V"型,股份制商业银行较平稳,城市商业银行逐步上升;总体上,中国银行业的全要素生产率是进步的,纯技术进步是推动全要素生产率进步的主要动力,纯技术效率变化和规模效率变化进步都不明显,技术规模变化显示中国银行业趋向CRS边界;股份制商业银行的纯技术赶超最优,而潜在技术相对变动方面表现较弱;外资银行进入和固定资产投资增加对银行全要素生产率提高有推动作用。     

广州-茂名铁路换碴施工技术

文章介绍了有关在广州-茂名铁路运用大型养路机械进行更换石碴施工的技术和经验。     

中外全面预算管理比较

本文在分析中外全面预算管理相同点的基础上,着重论述了两者在预算目标定位、预算组织管理、人力资源配置、信息技术研发和应用及预算执行与评价等方面的不同点,并提出了适合于中国企业研究和借鉴的建议。     

高技术企业的权变治理、管理者更替与企业永续发展

高技术企业的治理与规范化公司的治理存在很大的差异,甚至是本质上的差异。这种差异主要来自于高技术企业的人力资本价值和团队合作价值。但从企业长期发展来看,高技术企业必须平衡权威治理和企业永续发展的关系问题。本文运用企业权力主体竞争力模型分析高技术企业控制权结构,剖析了高技术企业的“两人治理结构”现象,揭示出保持高技术企业永续发展的两大主题——权变治理和管理者更替问题。