Catch-up Effect Research Articles

Spatial-Temporal Pattern and Convergence Characteristics of Provincial Urban Land Use Efficiency under Environmental Constraints in China.

Revealing the spatial–temporal pattern and convergence characteristics of urban land use efficiency has important guiding significance for adjusting and optimizing the regional urban land use structure. Taking the provincial units in China as the research object, the urban land use efficiency evaluation system considering the unexpected output was constructed, and the slack-based measure (SBA) model was used to quantitatively measure the provincial urban land use efficiency from 2000 to 2020. The exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) model and spatial convergence index were combined to reveal the spatial–temporal pattern and convergence characteristics of provincial urban land use efficiency. The results showed that the provincial urban land use efficiency has been continuously improving, with regional differences as shown in eastern region > northeast region > central region > western region. Moran’s I of provincial urban land use efficiency was greater than 0, there was a positive spatial correlation, and the clustering feature became increasingly significant. The spatial form of LISA was characterized by “small agglomeration and large dispersion”; the H(High)-H(High) type was clustered in the Yangtze River Delta and Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, while the L(Low)-L(Low) type was clustered in Xizang, Xinjiang and Qinghai. There was a σ convergence in provincial urban land use efficiency, and there was significant absolute β convergence and conditional β convergence of provincial urban land use efficiency. The results showed that the differences in provincial urban land use efficiency were shrinking, showing a “catch-up effect”, and converging to their respective stable states over time. Based on the analysis of the spatial–temporal pattern and convergence characteristics of provincial urban land use efficiency in China, we could provide a direction for the optimization of the urban land use structure and efficiency improvement in China, in order to narrow the differences in urban land use efficiency in China’s four major regions.

Spatiotemporal pattern of carbon productivity and carbon offset potential in Chinese counties

This study used panel data for 2166 county-level units in China between 2000 and 2017 to characterize carbon productivity's temporal and spatial evolution in Chinese counties. The “catch-up effect” of carbon offsets between counties was examined, and this was used to measure the carbon offset potential and analyze its spatial differences. The results indicated that: (1) China's carbon productivity increased from 2000 to 2017; carbon productivity in eastern China was the highest, and carbon productivity in northeast China was the lowest. A polarization to unipolarization evolutionary trend was evident. (2) Considering the spatial differences in carbon productivity, the overall difference in carbon productivity in China from 2000 to 2017 first decreased and then increased; the contribution rate of differences between cities and counties to the overall difference was relatively stable, at around 39.88 %. The contribution rate of the differences between zones to the overall difference was the lowest, remaining stable at around 2.49 %. (3) In terms of the spatial distribution of the carbon offset potential, the eastern region exhibited the highest average carbon offset potential. The carbon offset potential of China exhibited a “high in the north and low in the south; low in the west and high in the east” spatial pattern.

Macroeconomic, Political and Institutional Factors of Economic Growth

Broad theoretical and empirical literature discusses how economic development is affected by different economic, political, institutional, social, and other factors. The classic macroeconomic growth theory argues that poorer states must have higher rates of economic growth compared to more prosperous states due to the so-called ‘catch-up effect’. The concept of ‘institutional sclerosis’, suggested by Olson, claims that economic performance is worse in countries that have powerful interest groups. Some scholars suggest that economic growth is conditioned by ‘institutional coherence’ when one institution in a country promotes the efficiency of another. In this research, using regression analysis we estimate the effect of different factors on economic growth in 187 countries from 2001 to 2018. Our findings do not fully support Olson’s argument that economic decline in some countries was conditioned by the influence of interest groups. Our econometric results do not confirm the importance of the effectiveness of state governance and the quality of public policy. At the same time, the most robust result of our analysis is a statistically significant negative relationship between the level of a country’s initial economic development and its following medium- and long-term economic growth. This research contributes to the existing literature by testing Olson’s institutional sclerosis effect for the last two decade,; estimating the combined effect of interacted variables that explains predictions of both ‘interest groups’ and ‘varieties of capitalism’ theories; considering various macroeconomic and social factors along with political ones in one multivariate model.

Research on Green Innovation Performance of Manufacturing Industry and Its Improvement Path in China

Green innovation, which combines “innovation-driven” and “green development,” is one of the most powerful ways to overcome resource and environmental constraints and enhance manufacturing industry sustainability. Based on the innovation value chain perspective, the green innovation process of manufacturing industry is decomposed into two stages: green scientific and technological R&D and achievement transformation. Then, using the three-stage DEA and Malmquist index model to measure the green innovation performance of China’s manufacturing industry, and compare its regional heterogeneity from the dual perspectives of static efficiency and dynamic productivity. In addition, this paper further discusses the improvement path of green innovation performance of China’s manufacturing industry. The findings are as follows: (1) The green innovation efficiency of manufacturing industry in China is at a comparatively low degree and has great potential for improvement. Moreover, it shows apparent regional heterogeneity: The green innovation efficiency in the eastern region is higher than that in the western region, and both are higher than that in the center region, confirming the phenomenon of “central collapse”. (2) The green innovation productivity of China’s manufacturing industry shows a “W-type” dynamic evolution tendency, with green technological progress as the key driving factor, while the green technical efficiency does not clearly exhibit a “catch-up effect”. Additionally, it shows significant regional heterogeneity: green innovation productivity in the western region is higher than that in the central and eastern regions, indicating a potential “backwardness advantage”. (3) The eastern region of China is located in combination IV, which indicates that it has a high rate of green innovation efficiency but a low rate of green innovation productivity; the central region is located in combination III, which indicates that it has a low rate of both green innovation efficiency and productivity; and the western region is located in combination II, which indicates that it has a low rate of green innovation efficiency but a high rate of green innovation productivity. Last but not least, this paper puts forward three kinds of paths for the improvement of the green innovation performance of China’s manufacturing industry: unilateral breakthrough, step-by-step and stimulating jumping type.

Is China's energy policy effective for power plants? Evidence from the 12th Five-Year Plan energy saving targets

We propose the meta-frontier hybrid data envelopment analysis (MHDEA) model, a non-parametric methodology, to assess the total factor carbon performance index (TCPI) of China's fossil fuel power plants from 2005 to 2015. The model allows for both proportional and non-proportional variables within the production technology. In contrast to conventional DEA models, the MHDEA model simultaneously incorporates the characteristics of group heterogeneity, undesirable outputs as well as hybrid measures. In accordance with the definition of the Malmquist-Luenberger (ML) index, we further explore the driving factors of productivity progress, including efficiency change (EC), best-practice gap change (BPC) and technology gap change (TGC). We employ the difference-in-differences (DID) strategy by combining the variations across regions and years to identify the effect of the 12th Five-Year Plan (FYP) energy saving targets on the TCPI of power plants. Frist, we find that the average TCPI of power plants is 0.50 and the average growth rate is 3.58% per year. Second, the productivity progress of the central group is driven by the innovation effect, while the local group stems from the catch-up effect. Third, the energy intensity reduction target is 1% above the average value and the TCPI is expected to increase by 0.32%. We suggest that the Chinese government design different policies for the central and local power plants based on this heterogenicity.

The development of China's Circular Economy: From the perspective of environmental regulation

While achieving rapid economic growth, the pressure caused by environmental pollution and resource depletion has increasingly become a bottleneck in China's economic development, making the development of a circular economy particularly important. The extant literature has not focused on the influence of environmental regulation on a circular economy performance. This study uses the metafrontier global direction distance function (Metafrontier-Global-DDF) super-efficiency data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to estimate the circular economy performance and decomposition values of circular economy growth rate in 286 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2018. It further tests the influences of environmental regulations on circular economy performance and its influencing mechanism. The results show that environmental regulation can play a linear role in promoting the performance of the circular economy, mainly through the “catch-up effect,” while “innovation effect” and “demonstration effect” have not yet played an effective role. This study provides evidence for the performance evaluation of the circular economy in China and the relationship between environmental regulations and circular economy performance. The future development of a circular economy still needs the active development of circular economy technology in each city. The role of the “innovation effect” and “demonstration effect” in improving the performance of the circular economy should be further enhanced.

Assessment of energy poverty convergence: A global analysis

This study uncovers a fresh global evidence of energy poverty and its convergence in 146 countries over the period 2002–2018. We measure a multidimensional energy poverty index (MEPI) based on 13 indicators classified into three energy dimensions (affordability, cleanability, and availability) through the Grey Relational Analysis and Sequential Relational Analysis. We further adopt a robust systematic model of convergence approach developed by Phillips and Sul (PS) to identify the con/divergent in energy poverty. We set an average MEPI of 33 developed countries of OECD as frontier countries and assess the catch-up effect in energy poverty across 113 developing countries. The results show that there is a considerable heterogeneity in energy poverty between developed and developing countries. However, developing countries experienced continuous improvement in energy poverty after 2008. Region-based results demonstrate that Africa, South Asia and Central Asia remained the energy poor among other regions. The results of PS test identify the formation of six clubs, indicating that six groups of countries are converging towards distinct steady states for energy poverty. The convergence speed for the developing countries for a whole sample was 0.575. Our results suggest that there is an urgent need for energy policy activities by solving the structural inconsistencies of the energy infrastructures across both developed and developing countries while addressing vulnerabilities such as race, gender, age, physical disability, socio-economic status, etc.

Analysis of the Influence of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Economic Growth Convergence at the District/City Level in East Java: What Is the Right Public Policy?

Indonesia has experienced relatively significant and stable economic growth in the last decade. However, Indonesia, a developing country, is still vulnerable to income disparities between regions or regions. It is due to the unequal distribution of natural resources, population, and development concentration. This study aims to examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the convergence of economic growth in East Java Province. In this study, per capita Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) data or secondary data with panel type is used which is accessed from the annual report of the Central Statistics Agency in each district or city in East Java for the period 2010 to 2020. By using the -convergence analysis technique and -convergence and considering the spatial dependence between regions, the researchers found no substantial evidence of the occurrence of regional income convergence in East Java. There has been a divergence in regional income before and after the pandemic. But with a more significant divergence coefficient before the pandemic, it means that the existence of a pandemic has reduced the level of divergence even though the catch-up effect is negligible on economic growth. In general, this means a decrease in income inequality due to the pandemic, as rich regions are affected more than poor regions. So that public policy recommendations are needed, especially after the pandemic, through recovery that focuses on improving the economic sector in the affected affluent areas such as Surabaya and others.

An empirical analysis of tourism eco-efficiency in ecological protection priority areas based on the DPSIR-SBM model: A case study of the Yellow River Basin, China

The Yellow River Basin is a key area for ecological protection and high-quality economic development in China. However, with the continued development of urbanization and industrial transformation, tourism poses a serious threat to the ecological environment. Based on the panel data of eight provinces in the Yellow River Basin, a framework of the drivers, pressures, state, impact, and response (DPSIR) model of intervention was constructed, and the tourism eco-efficiency values in the Yellow River Basin were measured using the superefficiency slacks-based measure (SBM) model. The convergence characteristics and driving factors of tourism eco-efficiency were analysed by combining the σ convergence and β convergence models. The results demonstrated that the overall tourism eco-efficiency of the Yellow River Basin ha exhibited a fluctuating upwards trend over time, with an increase of 25.4%, as well as significant differences in the stage fluctuations of the three subbasins. In the spatial dimension, tourism eco-efficiency exhibits a trend of “high in the head and low in the middle,” with the middle reaches having significantly lower tourism eco-efficiency than the upper and lower reaches. The convergence study revealed unstable stochastic convergence and σ convergence in the overall basin and three subbasins, while there is absolute β convergence with a catch-up effect in the overall basin and upstream and midstream regions. Additionally, conditional β convergence is found in the overall basin and the three subbasins. The initial tourism eco-efficiency value, economic development strength, ecological and environmental pressure, scientific and technological development, government input, and greening coverage level are all found to influence the convergence of the overall basin and the three subbasins to different degrees. The findings of this work provide scientific support and effective policy recommendations for ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin.

Socio-economic driving forces of PM2.5 emission in China: a global meta-frontier-production-theoretical decomposition analysis

PM2.5 is a bad output of China's improved industrialization and rapid economic development, which seriously threatens people's health and greatly hinders the sustainable economic development. Studying the socio-economic driving factors of PM2.5 emissions is of great significance for reducing air pollution and realizing green development. Therefore, based on the simultaneous consideration of space technology differences and time technology progress, this paper constructs an index decomposition analysis-production-theoretical decomposition analysis decomposition model under the global meta-frontier-production theory. Then, we decompose the PM2.5 emission concentration of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2018 into nine driving factors and discuss the impact of different factors from the national, regional, and provincial levels. The results reveal that economic activity is still the main factor to promote the increase of PM2.5 emission, but its effect decreases, while the inhibitory effect of catch-up effect on PM2.5 concentration increases gradually. In addition, economic activities have the greatest impact on the East China, while the time catch-up effect has a more significant impact on the Central and Western China. Moreover, the influence of energy intensity effect, space technology catch-up effect, and time technology catch-up effect is gradually increasing, which have become important factors to inhibit the PM2.5 emission. Based on the above results, we put forward relevant policy suggestions.

The Regional Expressions of Secular Stagnation

This The terminology secular stagnation is suggested by Larry Summers in the last decade to demonstrate the globally economic downward trend. Although this standpoint was not paid importance at that time, the unstoppable decrease in world economy of recent years has shown this. Driven by these miscellaneous data, this report aims to search for evidence that can argue the secular stagnation. Thereby, we first analyse and select the objective tabular data from 1970s to 2010s covering all countries to apply the multiple linear regression model. Then the statistical theory is used for both preliminary measurement and subsequent regression diagnostics, also for the estimation method. In data processing, this paper explores the relationship between economic slow-down rate and (the logarithm of) affluence level with the random forest logarithm to find the threshold. Through the data visualization, the economic trend during the corresponding objective period can be observed intuitively. Finally, in the extension of the slow-down rate, we try to excavate the deep interactive terms among all countries. By the Solow growth model, it can be concluded that the gap between developing countries and developed countries is narrower due to the low original capital of poor countries. This phenomenon is also known as the catch-up effect. This report conducts the slow-down rate to verify the secular stagnation and meanwhile provides evidence for the relationship between slow-down and affluence levels.

IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE INITIATION OF ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUG THERAPY IN FRANCE

Objective: The objective was to analyze time-trends in the rates of patients who had at least one reimbursement of an antihypertensive drug without reimbursement in the past 12 month for each year from 2017 to 2021, and to study changes according to sex, age, history of cardiovascular diseases, group of antihypertensive drugs and lockdown/curefew periods. Design and method: We used data from the French national healthcare database (“Systéme National des données de Santé”-SNDS) covering 99% of the French population. For each year and weeks from 1st January 2017 to 23 of May 2021, patients who initiated an antihypertensive drug treatment in France were selected. Crude and age-standardized rates of patients initiating an antihypertensive drug in overall population living in France were calculated and compared with the 2017–2019 incidence with incidence rate ratio (IRR) adjusted for age and time-trends. Consultations (with general practitioner (GP) or cardiologist) were also recorded over the study period Results: In 2020, 1,518,686 persons initiated an antihypertensive therapy in France which was less than the mean number 2017–2019 (n = 1,549,215). The age-standardized incidence in the French population were 2.2% for 2017, 2.3% for 2018, 2.4% for 2019 and 2.2% for 2020. The initiation of an antihypertensive treatment declined by 11% in 2020 as compared to 2017–2019 (reaching -30% during the first national lockdown), with a major differences between men (-5%) and women (-16%), and age groups (-2% in people aged < 45 years old, and -17% in more than 85 years). A similar decline was found between people with a personal history of cardiovascular disease and those without. Among antihypertensive treatments, the greater decrease in the initiation was observed for diuretics (-20%) and ARBs (-19%). In 2021, initiation of antihypertensive drugs were still diminished compared to 2017–2019 but in a lower extent (-4%). An increase was even observed in the youngest age group (+6%) and in men (+4%). Conclusions: The pandemic had a major impact on the initiation of antihypertensive drugs and therefore the incidence and/or screening of hypertension with an important age and sex effect and no catch-up effect was observed in 2021.

Evaluation of Unified Healthcare Efficiency in China: A Meta-Frontier Non-radial Directional Distance Function Analysis During 2009-2019.

In this study, we analyze the unified healthcare efficiency in China at the regional level from 2009 to 2019. To accurately evaluate the evolution of unified efficiency from both static and dynamic perspectives, we combine the non-radial directional distance function and the meta-frontier method to evaluate the unified healthcare efficiency and its dynamic changes. This new approach allows for regional heterogeneity and non-radial slack simultaneously. The decomposition of the meta-frontier non-radial Malmquist unified healthcare efficiency index (MNMHEI) can be used to identify the driving factors of dynamic changes. The results show that the unified healthcare efficiency in eastern China is generally higher than that in non-eastern China from the static perspective, implying significant regional differences. Moreover, the unified efficiency in both eastern and non-eastern regions shows similar time trends and reaches the maximum in 2012. From the dynamic perspective, the unified healthcare efficiency increases annually by 2.68% during the study period. This increase in eastern China as a technology leader is mainly driven by technological progress, whereas the increase in non-eastern China is mainly driven by a better catch-up effect. In addition, the impact of the reform on the non-eastern region is more significant for the decreasing technology gap, the stronger growth momentum of technological progress, and global innovative provinces.

Measurement and Spatial Correlations of Green Total Factor Productivities of Chinese Provinces

The measurement of green total factor productivity (GTFP) helps to improve environmental evaluation and to supervise environmental protection. This article establishes a system of assessment indicators (AIS) for GTFP and computes the GTFPs of 30 provinces of China from 2000–2019, using the evidence-based measure (EBM) model. Then, the spatial correlation between provincial GTFPs was analyzed and the convergence between them was discussed with spatial panel data. The main results are as follows: China faces a regional difference in GTFP. In general, GTFP descends stepwise from east to west. The 30 Chinese provinces vary significantly in GTFP. The high GTFP provinces are concentrated in the east, and the low GTFP ones mainly exist in the west. According to Global Moran’s I, an indicator of spatial correlation, China’s GTFPs bear prominent features of spatial clustering. The spatial clustering of China’s GTFPs has a significant impact on GTFP convergence. If this spatial effect is considered in traditional convergence models, the GTFP convergence rate can be measured more correctly. The provincial GTFPs show a significant absolute beta convergence, the rate of which reached 0.943% in the research period. Among the various impactors of GTFP, industrial structure and technical innovation significantly enhance GTFP convergence; opening-up and urbanization level significantly suppress GTFP convergence; environmental governance does not significantly affect GTFP convergence. Unlike the previous studies, this paper includes the spatial effect in traditional convergence models to obtain spatial convergence models. The GTFP convergence measured by our spatial convergence models was slower than that measured by the traditional model, suggesting that the spatial effect plays a significant role in GTFP convergence. In addition, this paper proves that the GTFP gap between Chinese provinces has narrowed gradually. This absolute convergence trend of GTFPs provides the key basis for the catch-up effect of the green economy. To improve the convergence of China’s provincial GTFPs, it is important to fully consider the varied effects of factors such as industrial structure, technical innovation, opening-up, urbanization, and environmental governance, and to formulate green development policies according to local conditions.

Resilience and specialization – How German regions weathered the Great Recession

Abstract This paper takes an explorative approach for analyzing the economic development of German Spatial Planning Regions during and after the Great Recession covering the period from 2007 to 2017. Specifically, we are interested in the relation between the short- and the mid-term resilience of regions and in the role of the underlying economic structure in this regard. For this purpose, we categorize regions by their GDP per capita growth in the resistance and recovery phase and then characterize the resulting region types by their average structural characteristics and track their performance through the renewal and reorientation phase. Our analysis reveals that, in general, larger shares of manufacturing, higher degrees of export orientation and specialization, and lower shares of public sector services are associated with weaker resilience and stronger recovery capacity. In addition, we observe a catch-up effect of regions with at least either an above-average resistance or recovery compared to regions with both weak resistance and slow recovery. However, we do not find a substantial reorientation effect because, in the case of Germany, the advantages of regional economic specialization still outweigh its potential disadvantages.

Assessment of research efficiency of critical care medicine in hospitals affiliated S university based on data envelopment method: taking the 13th Five-Year Plan period as an example

To investigate the static and dynamic trends of scientific research efficiency of the critical care medicine in hospitals affiliated S university during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Based on the scientific research data of 16 hospitals affiliated to Beijing S University from 2014 to 2020, the scientific research investment funds and the number of physicians involved in scientific research were selected as input evaluation indexes, and the number of science citation index (SCI) papers, Chinese science citation database (CSCD) papers, and the number of masters and doctors trained were selected as output evaluation indexes, and the evaluation index system of scientific research efficiency of critical care medicine was constructed. SPSS version 23.0 software was used for descriptive data statistics, and data envelopment analysis (DEA)-BCC model and DEA-Malmquist index model of DEAP 2.1 software were used for static and dynamic evaluation of its scientific research efficiency from 2016 to 2020, respectively. (1) The scientific research technical efficiency (TE) of critical care medicine in 16 hospitals affiliated with S universities varied greatly from 2016 to 2020, but pure technical efficiency (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE) were at a good level, and 6-11 affiliated hospitals in critical care medicine kept DEA effective for 5 consecutive years. (2) Dynamic analysis of their total factor productivity (TFP) of scientific research from 2016 to 2020 showed a trend of rising and then falling and then rising again. The mean value was 0.985. The technical efficiency change (TEC) showed a decreasing and then increasing trend, and the technical progress change (TC) showed a slow increasing and then decreasing trend, with a mean value of 0.953. While the mean values of TEC, pure technical efficiency change (PTEC) and scale efficiency change (SEC) were above 1, which showed that the growth of total factor productivity index of research and innovation depended more on the technical efficiency index. The "gain effect" and "catch-up effect" of scientific research efficiency in the specialty of critical care medicine in hospitals affiliated S universities are obvious, but the "growth effect" is not obvious. "Although the research efficiency of the 13th Five-Year Plan period has been significantly improved, there is still much room for improvement in scientific and technological innovation and international academic influence.

What inhibits regional inclusive green growth? Empirical evidence from China.

The diversity of locations, environment, and resource elements among different regions leads to the regional imbalance of inclusive green growth (IGG), especially in those developing countries like China. A core issue for achieving the coordination of regional IGG is to identify what influence factors with what extent to inhibit IGG levels of different regions. In this paper, a comprehensive IGG indicator system is designed based on the IGG connotation from four dimensions of economic development, social opportunity equity, green production and consumption, and ecological environment protection. An improved TODIM method is proposed to measure the regional IGG level and further reveal the inhibition effects of various influence factors on regional IGG. The results exemplified by China's 30 provinces during 2008-2018 show that China's eastern provinces possess more superior IGG levels, while the catch-up effect of IGG in central and western provinces is significant. The lower economic output, larger income gap, and weaker green production and consumption restrict the IGG of most western provinces. The higher economic and population agglomerations in eastern and central provinces challenge the ecological resource endowment and environment governance, which inhibits their IGG development. The inhibition effects of social opportunity equity involving employment, education, medical treatment, social security, and infrastructure on IGG levels do not reflect obvious regional agglomeration.

The Pattern of Trade Flows in Nigeria during the Pre-and Post-Era of Covid-19

Trade can serve as a major transmitter of economic disruption across the globe and a tool for quick recovery in times of crisis. While the pandemic disrupted trade activities globally in global merchandise, the traditional mode shifted grounds to digitalization embracement in trade activities. Therein, the concern that this development may further aggravate the catch-up effect of the developing countries like Nigeria is a serious issue due to their deficient digital technological facilities. Although, ICT industries experienced tremendous growth during and post Covid-19 eras in Nigeria. This paper is a desk review investigation carried out on the methods of trade during the pre-and-post Covid-19 era. The data revealed that there was decrease in trade pattern during and post-era of the Covid-19 pandemic globally and in African countries (Nigeria). It was therefore concluded that unlike the pre-Covid-19 trade experience, there was increasing migration of trade to digital network in the era-and-post-Covid-19 period. The paper thereby recommends digitalization of trade activities in forestalling breakdown of trade activities during the post-pandemic era.

An evaluation of the productivity change in public transport sector using DEA-based model

This study aims to build a framework for measuring the productivity in the public transport sector through a data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique. This paper extends the Malmquist productivity index (MP1) and Luenberger productivity indicator (I.P1) evaluation with the concept of an input-oriented new slack model (NSM). NSM model measures the efficiency with the effect of slacks and satisfies unit invariance, radial and translation invariance properties. In particular, the purpose of the proposed extension is to obtain the overall productivity change in terms of technical change (Frontier Shift) and technical efficiency change (Catch-up Effect) for Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC) bus depots from 2008 to 2019. For this purpose, the number of buses, number of employers, fuel consumption and route distance arc are considered input variables, while passenger-kilometres occupied and vehicle utilisation are output variables. Finally, the result demonstrates that the average total factor productivity (TFP) growth of 46 depots using MPI and LPI over the study period is 1.956% and 1.409%, respectively. This study enables policy-maker and managers to evaluate the input to reach consistent output up to an optimum level and understand the process of improving the productivity level for the bus depots.

Analysing productivity and technical change in museums: A dynamic network approach

The efficiency evaluation of cultural institutions is proving to be a highly fertile area for theoretical and applied research. Nevertheless, few studies have thus far focused on the dynamic analysis of efficiency and on estimating productivity to gauge how receptive these institutions are to technological progress. The present work provides an approach to these two goals for a sample of public museums in Spain by applying a non-parametric technique, the dynamic-network DEA model, and by calculating the corresponding dynamic Malmquist indices. This involves positing a production function broken down into production activities and time intervals, with inputs that are inter-related horizontally (production links) and vertically (time carry-overs). Results show that museum productivity remains practically stable over a long period of time, thus partly confirming the hypothesis of Baumol's cost disease adapted to these activities. Nevertheless, breaking down the indices into catch-up and shift-frontier effects reveals substantial growth in productivity at the stage involving the creation of the cultural supply, due to a displacement of the results frontier as well as significant improvements in museum efficiency at the stage involving the provision of services geared towards attracting visitors. This also reflects a change in museums’ functional priorities, where the goals related to visibility and activities involving dissemination and social impact prove to be particularly important.