Accelerated Productivity Growth Research Articles

Estruturas desmontadas: a economia política do principal setor de exportação de automóveis do México

ABSTRACT Mexico’s current export-led economy arose from the adoption of a market-driven model based in conditions of technological disarticulation separating dominant transnational firms from the national industrial base. This determined that, in contrast to Verdoorn’s analysis, the crucial manufacturing sector would function not as a motor-force inducing a process of autonomous national development by accelerating productivity growth and promoting product and process innovations, but rather would deepen a fragmented process of production, centered on processing imported components under conditions of declining total factor productivity. Despite the profound reordering of its economic geography over the past 30 years, this process has failed to produce legitimate markers of “upgrading”.

Zu wenig qualifizierte Arbeitskräfte für praktische Tätigkeiten

AbstractAll western countries are faced with the problem of a low birth rate and an increasingly aging population. The burden of old age requires accelerated productivity growth. Productivity growth is declining, however. In Germany, it has come to a standstill. At the same time, there is an increasing academisation of the labour force. There are several reasons for this paradox: sectoral change or bureaucratisation. A shortage of qualified blue collar workers is also a contributing factor.

The R&D cost of climate mitigation in agriculture

AbstractAgriculture is responsible for 20%–25% of global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), which result from production practices and land use conversion. Supply‐side approaches for reducing emissions from agriculture rely on emissions‐saving technological change and environmental protection of carbon‐rich areas. This study investigates how productivity policies, in the form of higher agricultural research and development (R&D) spending, might affect GHG emissions from agriculture, and compares this to environmental policies that restrict agricultural land use or production practices that may cause environmental harm. Using simulations from a global economic model, we project outcomes in 2050 from a set of policy scenarios involving R&D and environmental policies, and combinations of the two. Outcomes of interest are net global GHG emissions, land use, agricultural production, food prices, the prevalence of food insecurity, and policy cost. We find that at the global level, more R&D spending to accelerate productivity growth reduces GHG emissions from land use change, but not as effectively as targeted environmental policies. However, accelerated productivity growth reduces the emissions intensity of agricultural production and, by lowering land rents, also reduces the cost of the environmental policy. Moreover, higher levels of productivity lower agricultural GHG emissions permanently, and by lowering global food prices, generally improve global food security. A policy scenario that is patterned after the EU Green Deal finds that policies that restrict agricultural factor inputs in order to reduce local environmental costs may, at the global level, increase agricultural GHG emissions and worsen food insecurity. These consequences could be avoided with higher EU R&D spending to accelerate agricultural productivity growth that is either factor neutral or biased toward saving production factors associated with negative environmental externalities.

Integral analysis of the model of profitability of fixed assets in the construction industry of the Russian Federation

One of the main objectives of the company is to increase profits through the correct and rational use of fixed assets. Knowing about each element of fixed assets, their physical and moral wear and tear, and the factors that affect fixed assets, managers can improve the efficiency of using fixed assets and accelerate productivity growth. As a result, many companies strive to improve the efficiency of their fixed assets. This is the key to increasing output, which ultimately leads to higher revenues, and, consequently, to an increase in profitability. Therefore, the problem of maximum efficiency of fixed assets should become one of the key issues for any organization, not only construction. The article presents the author’s model of profitability of fixed assets. Currently, the construction industry of the Russian Federation is experiencing a number of difficulties in its development, but at the same time it has a good chance of increasing its competitiveness and integration into the world market. The object of research of the article is the construction industry of the Russian Federation in the context of three main types of construction: construction of buildings; construction of engineering structures; specialized construction works. The article describes one of the author’s methods of integral factor analysis, which allows you to assess the degree of influence of factors on changes in the performance indicator in an accessible and relatively simple way.

How weather affects the decomposition of total factor productivity in U.S. agriculture

AbstractThis study illustrates and quantifies how overlooking the impact of weather shocks can affect the measurement and decomposition of agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) change. The underlying technology is represented by a flexible input distance function with quasi‐fixed inputs estimated with Bayesian methods. Using agricultural production and weather data for 16 states in the Pacific Region, Central Region, and Southern Plains of the United States, we estimate TFP change as the direct sum of multiple components, including a net weather effect. To assess the role of weather, we conduct a comparative analysis based on two distinct sets of input and output variables. A traditional set of variables that ignore weather variations, and a new set of “weather‐filtered” variables that represent input and output levels that would have been chosen under average weather conditions. From this comparative analysis, we derive biases in the decomposition of TFP growth from the omission of weather shocks. We find that weather shocks accelerated productivity growth in 12 out of 16 states by the equivalent of 11.4% of their group‐average TFP growth, but slowed down productivity by the equivalent of 6.5% of the group‐average TFP growth in the other four states (located in the Northern‐most part of the country). We also find substantial biases in the estimated contribution of technical change, scale effects, technical efficiency change, and output allocation effects to TFP growth (varying in magnitude and direction across regions) when weather effects are excluded from the model. This is the first study to present estimates of those biases based on a counterfactual analysis. One major implication from our study is that the official USDA's measures of TFP change would appear to overestimate the rate of productivity growth in U.S. agriculture stemming from technical change, market forces, agricultural policies, and other nonweather drivers.

Disparities in regional productivity, capital accumulation, and efficiency across Indonesia: A club convergence approach

AbstractThis paper studies the evolution of regional disparities in labor productivity, capital accumulation, and efficiency across Indonesian provinces over the 1990–2010 period. Through the lens of a nonlinear dynamic factor model, we first test the hypothesis that all provinces would eventually converge to a common steady‐state path. We reject this hypothesis and find that the provincial dynamics of labor productivity are characterized by two convergence clubs. We next evaluate the dynamics of the proximate sources of labor productivity and find some mixed results. On the one hand, physical and human capital accumulation are characterized by three and two convergence clubs, respectively. On the other hand, efficiency is characterized by a unique convergence club. The paper concludes by suggesting that, based on the provincial composition of each club and the common low level of efficiency across Indonesia, considerable improvements in both capital accumulation and efficiency are still needed to reduce regional disparities and accelerate productivity growth.

Opportunities for accelerating labor productivity growth: The role of small and medium enterprises

The paper considers necessary conditions for acceleration of labor productivity growth in Russia. Based on micro data, as well as aggregate data, the paper quantifies the contribution of small and medium firms to labor productivity growth. It shows that mere increase of the number of small and medium enterprises is not as important for positive effects of these programs, as qualitative improvements: development of favorable environment for growth, which is largely determined by business climate. Accelerating productivity growth involves redistribution of labor and capital from inefficient to efficient enterprises. In particular, it is necessary to create conditions, which allow a firm to grow after it enters the market instead of stagnating as a small firm with low efficiency. At the same time, it is necessary for ineffective firms, which exhausted their growth potential, to have an opportunity to exit the market easily leaving resources including labor to fast-growing companies.

Foreign direct investment in developing economies

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate how the productivity spillover effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Latin American economies are manifested. Specifically, the paper sought to identify the role of foreign presence and government intervention through an industrial policy on total factor productivity in Latin American countries. Design/methodology/approach The analyses in this study were performed in two stages. The first step consisted of decomposing the total factor productivity growth, in technical efficiency change (EC) and technological efficiency change (TC), using the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI). In the second stage of this research, the specific EC and TC indexes of each country – obtained with the MPI – are used alternately as a dependent variable in a regression analysis with dynamic panel data. The variables were collected from the World Development Indicators database, available in the World Bank database, and cover the period from 1994 to 2014. Findings FDI has contributed to not only the catch-up effect – i.e. to continuous improvements in production processes and products using the same technology – but also in terms of productivity, due to technological innovations and the frontier-shift effect. Industrial policies, such as the FDI attraction, when established in isolation, are not able to contribute to the generation of productivity spillovers, measured in terms of technical and technological efficiency. Research limitations/implications The limitation of the present study lies precisely in the nature of data aggregation that actually limits a more in-depth analysis of the object of study. The available data set for the analysis in this study does not provide a detailed examination of the domestic corporations’ characteristics, the sectors and motivations of multinational corporations of each one of the analyzed economies. Practical implications The outcomes of this research present several practical implications, as its development is based on the recognition that productivity is essential for the development of a country. It remains the Achilles' heel of the Latin American economies, and therefore, it is necessary and essential to move toward a change in its development model and, more specifically, in its industrial policies, with a focus on investment and innovation to achieve the new sustainable development objectives. Among the main challenges presented to governments in the region is the emergence of policies aimed at establishing a sustainable development path through industrial policies capable of accelerating productivity growth. Social implications The evidence presented in this study highlights the importance of better understanding the real effects of state intervention through the use of industrial policy instruments and how they affect foreigners’ investment decisions, as the lack of clear industrial policy orientation that is systematically integrated with MNEs’ operations may result in economic development opportunities below the ideal. Originality/value The research results corroborate the foundations of spillover effects theory and with the recognition that the intensity of the effect of the foreign participation on the performance of economies will depend on the absorption capacity of host economies.

Operational Performance and Lean Healthcare in the Healthcare Sector: Review on the Dimensions and Relationships

Numbers of evidence have shown operational level in the healthcare sector is predicted to make some changes in operational performance that help to improve cost, quality, flexibility, efficiency, effectiveness and other measures of the organization. Further, the implementation of lean healthcare seen as one of the best practices to accelerate productivity growth and facilitated the organizations to eliminate waste. Moreover, it helps to have a better health outcomes, to reach efficiency and optimize resources by improving work processes in the organization. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to discuss the dimensions of operational performance and lean healthcare and hence, to review numerous article on the relationship between lean healthcare and operational performance in the healthcare sector.

Neurosciences in Brazil: a bibliometric study of main characteristics, collaboration and citations

Brazilian scientific output in the field of Neurosciences is analyzed based on articles indexed in Web of Science from 2006 to 2013 according to bibliometric indicators of production, collaboration, impact and keywords analysis. The growth rate of Brazilian scientific output is greater than global scientific production in the area, with a higher percentage of articles in English than other research areas in Brazil and Brazilian neuroscientists preferring to publish their work in foreign journals. However, Portuguese papers were also observed in domestic journals in connection mainly to one research focus--Psychiatry. Modes of production in the area are also transdisciplinary when analyzed within the scope of research topics, which branch into issues related to basic and experimental research as well as clinical research. In addition, the Brazilian Neurosciences output is highly concentrated to a small number of authors, regions, and particularly institutions, with most output coming from public universities in the southeastern and southern states. However, there is greater participation by the private sector than in other fields of knowledge (mainly private universities and hospitals). Interinstitutional collaboration occurs in 60.79 % and international collaboration in 29.40 %. Brazil's main partners in international collaboration are the USA, Colombia, Argentina and the UK. With regard to citations, journals that most cite Brazilian Neurosciences are US, English and English-language Dutch publications, but the citing authors are linked to institutions on all continents of the world. It concludes that global reach and accelerated productivity growth does not translate into excellent impact. Thus, it is suggested to conduct further studies to determine why research is scarce in the northern and northeastern states.

Economic Integration, Monopoly Power and Productivity Growth without Scale Effects

This paper considers how monopoly power affects the relationship between economic integration and economic growth that is not biased by a scale effect. In a two-country model of trade, productivity growth is generated by firm-level investment in process innovation, and the location of economic activity is determined by relative market size, trade costs and imperfect knowledge diffusion. Equilibrium features the partial concentration of manufacturing and the full concentration of innovation in the larger country. Increased economic integration raises the concentration of manufacturing in the larger country, and when monopoly power is strong, leads to decreased product variety, accelerated productivity growth and greater national welfare. With weak monopoly power, however, it raises product variety and dampens productivity growth, but may benefit or hurt welfare.

Endogenous growth and property rights over renewable resources

We study how different regimes of access rights to renewable natural resources – namely open access versus full property rights – affect sustainability, growth and welfare in the context of modern endogenous growth theory. Resource exhaustion may occur under both regimes but is more likely to arise under open access. Moreover, under full property rights, positive resource rents increase expenditures on manufacturing goods and temporarily accelerate productivity growth, but also yield a higher resource price at least in the short-to-medium run. We characterize analytically and quantitatively the model׳s dynamics to assess the welfare implications of differences in property rights enforcement.

Public R&D, Private R&D, and U.S. Agricultural Productivity Growth: Dynamic and Long‐Run Relationships

If accelerated productivity growth is to be an effective policy response for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, the appropriate means for raising productivity needs to be addressed. Previous research has shown a close correlation between investments in public agricultural research and total factor productivity (TFP) growth in agriculture (Huffman and Evenson 2006; Alston et al. 2010; Wang et al. 2012, among the most recent, comprehensive studies). Largely neglected from this framework, however, has been the role of the private sector. Private sector spending on agricultural research and development (R&D) has grown more rapidly than public agricultural R&D and is now greater than that of the public sector (Fuglie et al. 2011). While it is widely perceived that both public and private R&D make significant contributions to agricultural productivity growth, private R&D (because of data limitations) has rarely been included in empirical models of agricultural TFP growth. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Economic Reforms and Total Factor Productivity Growth of Indian Manufacturing: An Inter-State Analysis

The extent to which Indian organized manufacturing performance changed after the Economic Reform of 1991 has been an important question among empirical analysts. Using input-output data from the Annual Survey of Industries for the period 1970-71 through 2007-08, this paper compares the pre- and post-reform performances of Indian manufacturing in terms of total factor productivity growth. We use the non-parametric method of Data Envelopment Analysis to construct the Biennial Malmquist Index of total factor productivity for Indian states to determine if the states have experienced improvement in manufacturing productivity during the post-reform years. Results show that at the all-India level, total factor productivity growth rate in manufacturing is higher during the post-reform period. Although the majority of states experienced accelerated productivity growth, some states experienced declines in productivity after the reforms. However, the regional variation in the rates of productivity change diminished during the post-reform years. A non-parametric decomposition of the Malmquist productivity index into its components shows that both before and after the reforms technological progress was the most important component of the manufacturing growth process.

Analysing agricultural productivity growth in a framework of institutional quality

This paper addresses the question whether the institutional environment of transition countries in Eastern Europe affects productivity growth in the agricultural sector. Situated in a neoclassical growth framework, a dynamic panel model for the period 1996-2005 provides evidence that poor institutional quality leads to a slowdown in agricultural productivity growth. Productivity growth is limited by a high degree of corruption, which is of particular importance given that corruption has been proven to be most prevalent in Eastern European countries. Moreover, agricultural productivity in countries where privatisation and transferability of land is restricted is found to grow at a slower rate than countries supporting market-oriented land reforms. Interestingly, the results suggest that a high degree of openness leads to a loss in agricultural productivity, suggesting that timing and sequencing of trade reforms matter. An improvement of the poor institutional quality is thus of central importance to accelerate productivity growth in Eastern European countries.

Shedding Light on Spanish External Competitiveness (Luces y Sombras de la Competitividad Exterior de Espana)

Many observers view the large external current account deficit in Spain as a symptom of declining competitiveness. To check this hypothesis, this paper examines several indicators commonly used to evaluate external competitiveness. The first of them is the export quota in the world, which has declined in the 2000s, reversing a long term upward trend. Nevertheless, this decline has not been as significant as the one experienced by the EU-15 as a whole. Secondly, the paper assesses the price competitiveness of Spanish exports, which has deteriorated significantly as a result of the inflation differential with our main trading partners, low productivity growth and, more recently, the strengthening of the euro. Finally, the paper examines the technology content of exports and finds an important improvement in the case of services; in the case of goods, however, the technology content has remained at a medium-low level, which seems to suggest certain competitiveness problems. In short, Spain seems to have lost some external competitiveness over the last few years, although the analysis also reveals some areas of strength, specially in services exports. Improving competitiveness would require accelerating productivity growth, reducing the inflation differential; and establishing a business environment more conducive to innovation.

Information technology, efficiency and productivity: evidence from Korean local governments

This study evaluates the performance of Korean local government by measuring their technical efficiency (TE) and total factor productivity (TFP) growth and, more importantly, examining the impact of information technology (IT) on this performance. The study is different from received analysis in that a unique measure of the state of IT–the Informatization Index–is used to investigate the impact of IT on both TE and TFP growth. Empirical analyses are conducted on data from 222 Korean local governments for the period 1999 to 2001. In particular, data envelopment analysis techniques are applied to calculate TE scores and TFP growth rates for sampled local governments. The empirical findings confirm the positive impact IT has in improving technical efficiency and accelerating productivity growth. The estimated coefficients are correctly signed (with other regional characteristics controlled for) when TE scores and TFP growth rates are regressed on the Index. In addition, the findings indicate that economies of density are present in the production of local public services.

THE IT REVOLUTION ACROSS THE UNITED STATES

In this paper we study the geography of the IT revolution in the U.S. economy. By relating the intensity of IT production and diffusion to labor productivity growth for the United States, we find three main results. First, states with above‐average production intensity of IT manufacturing show more growth acceleration than other states. Second, the same applies to states with above‐average IT diffusion. Yet, while the result for IT‐producing states is strong, the result for IT‐using states is somewhat smaller and less robust across specifications. Third, we also reconcile our state‐wide pieces of evidence with previous industry and aggregate evidence. Accelerating productivity growth in IT‐producing states stems from both IT‐producing and IT‐using industries in those states and is not a manifestation of the exclusive importance of IT production. Moreover, the less robust evidence for IT‐using states is due to lower growth contributions from IT‐producing and other industries in these states, not a symptom of a missing effect of IT usage.

The US Dollar and the Trade Deficit: What Accounts for the Late 1990s?*

AbstractBased on a version of the IMF's global economy model set up to analyse macroeconomic interdependence between the United States and the rest of the world, this paper asks to what extent accelerating productivity growth in the United States may have contributed to the US real exchange rate appreciation and the trade balance deterioration witnessed in the second half of the 1990s. The paper concludes that productivity is only part of this story. A portfolio preference shift in favour of US assets, possibly triggered by faster productivity growth, and some uncertainty and learning about the persistence of both shocks are needed to match the data more satisfactorily.

New Economy Myths and Reality

In the late 1990s, some economists announced that the American economy had fundamentally changed. According to this view, technological advances had brought on a higher sustained level of productivity growth, which allowed faster economic growth with less inflation. But given events since 2000 - the long, steep stock market downturn, the falloff in business investment and the subsequent recession - many question whether anything in the New Economy view is valid. Although those who hold this view consider accelerated productivity growth fundamental to the late '90s boom, other forces were also at work. These include the earlier deregulation of key U.S. industries, financial innovation and freer trade in many parts of the world. Despite this, the flood of Internet-related businesses and the spectacular rise in their stock valuations led some to see the New Economy as solely an Internet phenomenon. Is the New Economy view simply Pollyanna economics? Or is it rooted in reality? An analysis of several myths shows that recent advances in information technology have, in fact, helped transform the U.S. economy. While such technology effects are an old story, the evidence suggests that the current situation differs significantly. The New Economy has not produced ever-increasing stock prices or tamed the business cycle. But it has accelerated productivity growth, making the economy more resilient and flexible, with less volatile growth rates and fewer and milder recessions, thereby improving living standards.