Firm Total Factor Productivity Research Articles

Firms Left Behind: Emigration and Firm Productivity

This paper establishes a causal link between the emigration of skilled workers and firm performance in source countries. Using firm-level panel data from ten Eastern European countries, we show that the emigration of skilled workers lowers firm total factor productivity. We exploit time, country, and industry differences in the opening of EU labor markets from 2004 to 2014 as a source of exogenous variation in the emigration rates from new EU member states. We argue that a potential channel behind this effect relates to the reduction in firm-specific human capital due to a higher worker turnover.

Credit Allocation and Firm Productivity Under Financial Imperfection: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms

ABSTRACTThe role of the financial system, especially the credit market, in productivity enhancement has interested many researchers. However, how credit allocation affects firms’ productivity in emerging economies remains unanswered. Using data from the Annual Survey of Industrial Firms (ASIF) during 1999–2007, this article examines whether credit allocation impacts Chinese firms’ productivity under financial imperfection. Our results show that the size of credit market has no influence on Chinese firms’ total factor productivity (TFP), while allocating more credit to non-SOEs significantly promotes firm TFP. Our further analysis shows that firms which are less subsidized, smaller, more external financially dependent, and more labor intensive are affected more by credit allocation. As China is the largest emerging economy, our analysis also sheds light on the development of firms in emerging economies.

Agglomeration externalities, competition and productivity: empirical evidence from firms located in Ukraine

This paper studies role of agglomeration externalities and market structure in determination of total factor productivity (TFP) of Ukrainian firms, having controlled for individual firm characteristics. We use micro-level data for manufacturing and service sectors in years 2005 and 2013. Our empirical results confirm the importance of various agglomeration externalities as well as competition in determination of TFP of Ukrainian firms. In addition, we find the statistically significant link between the total factor productivity, intangible assets, capital intensity, firm size, ownership status and firm internationalization (exports and imports).

How Urbanization Economies Impact TFP of R&D Performers: Evidence from China

There have been extensive studies exploring the relationship between agglomeration economies and economic growth. However, far less attention is paid to the nonlinear relationship of urbanization economies–firm productivity nexus, especially in developing countries. This paper aims to explore how urbanization economies impact the total factor productivity (TFP) of research and development (R&D) performers using a large sample of Chinese manufacturing firms. The generalized propensity score matching methodology is employed to not only address the selection-bias and endogenous issues, but also quantitatively investigate how firm TFP responds to urbanization economies at each urbanization level. Based on the full data sample, our results show that there exists an S-shaped relationship between urbanization economies and TFP of Chinese R&D performers. Importantly, there is an optimal interval in which urbanization economies’ impact on firm TFP can be maximized. There is also a threshold value, only beyond which a further increase in urbanization economies improves firm TFP, and a saturation point, beyond which a further increase in urbanization economies does not increase and even decrease firm TFP. The relationship between urbanization economies and TFP of Chinese R&D performers presents a consistent pattern for firms in high- and medium–low-technology industries, as well as in Eastern and North East China. However, for firms in Central and Western China, there is a much smaller and even no range of optimal interval of urbanization economies, respectively. Our research helps provide insights into policy makers to maximize urbanization economies’ positive impact on firm TFP.

Immigrants and firms’ outcomes: Evidence from France

In this paper we analyze the impact of an increase in the local supply of immigrants on firms’ outcomes, allowing for heterogeneous effects across firms. Using micro-level data on French manufacturing firms spanning the period 1995–2005, we show that a supply-driven increase in the share of foreign-born workers in a French département (a small geographic area) increased the total factor productivity of firms in that département. We also find this effect to be significantly stronger for firms with low initial productivity and small size. The positive productivity effect of immigrants was also associated with faster growth of capital, larger exports, and higher wages for natives. Highly-skilled natives, in competition with immigrants, moved towards firms hiring fewer immigrants spreading positive productivity effects to those firms too.

: (Productivity (TFP) and Competitiveness of Listed Firms in China)

Korean Abstract: 본고는 중국 상장기업 데이터를 이용해 각 산업별 개별 기업들의 총요소생산성을 추정하고 시계열적 변화를 분석했다. 그 결과 첫째, 1999년 이래 기계, 전기 및 전자, 통신, 자동차산업의 생산성이 빠르게 향상됐음을 발견했다. 둘째, 매출규모 상위 50% 기업과 하위 50% 기업 간 생산성 격차가 확대되는 양극화 현상이 나타나고 있다. 셋째, 최상위 10대 기업의 생산성 증가는 미약해, 한국의 경제발전 과정에서 나타났던 선두기업의 생산성 견인역할이 나타나지 않은 것으로 분석됐다. 넷째, 산업별 상위 5대 기업의 생산성 추이를 살펴본 결과, 각 산업 선두기업의 생산성 증가속도가 추격기업에 비해 낮은 것으로 나타났다. 국제시장에서 중국기업들이 두각을 나타내고 있지만, 그동안 기업 차원에서 중국경제를 연구한 논문은 희박했다. 본고는 기업 수준에서 각 산업으로 분류된 개별기업의 총요소생산성을 분석했다는 데 의미가 있다. English Abstract: This paper measured the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of listed firms in the China stock market by employing the balanced panel data from 1999 to 2007. According to the findings, the TFPs of Chinese firms have increased considerably especially in machinery, electric and electronics, telecommunication, and automobile industries which are major exporting industries in Korea. The findings also show that the TFP gap between large and small firms has increased since 1999. The TFP gap between large and small firms was 9.7 points in 1999, increasing to 14.9 points in 2007. In addition, we found that the TFP growth rate of the leading firm in each industry is much lower than those of followers which may become potential competitors to Korea exporting firms.

Regional foreign direct investment and technology spillover: evidence across different clusters in India

ABSTRACTThis paper examines whether there exist productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI) to domestic firms at the regional level, using firm-level panel dataset covering 22 manufacturing industries in India from 2000 to 2012. In order to estimate the productivity spillovers from FDI at the regional level, we select 10 industrial clusters across 4 regions in India. In estimating productivity, we control for a possible simultaneity bias by using semi-parametric estimation techniques. We find that local firms benefit from horizontal and vertical FDI, but the benefits from the latter are found to be substantially stronger. The absorptive capacity of domestic firms is highly relevant to harvest the spilled technology from foreign-owned firms. Furthermore, we find that domestic firms belonging to high-technology industries benefit more from FDI at the regional level. We also find that market concentration is a crucial conduit for firm innovation, technological upgradation, and having a direct effect on local firm total factor productivity.

Imported Intermediates, Absorptive Capacity and Productivity: Evidence from Ghanaian Manufacturing Firms

AbstractThis paper analyses whether the use of imported intermediates improves productivity using firm‐level panel data of manufacturing firms in Ghana covering the period between 1991 and 2002. This includes examining the importance of absorptive capacity (ABC) in enhancing the productivity gains from imported intermediates. We propose lagged relative productivity as a new measure of ABC. For any given period, ABC is defined as the natural logarithm of a firm's total factor productivity (TFP) in the previous period relative to the firm's initial TFP. An alternative measure of ABC considers real value added per worker in lieu of TFP. Overall, we find that firms with high levels of ABC derive productivity gains from the contemporaneous and prior use of imported intermediates, particularly for firms operating in the input‐intensive industries. Our findings are robust to different specifications of the base model and different estimation techniques.

Decisions of OFDI Engagement and Location for Heterogeneous Multinational firms: Evidence from Chinese firms

This paper explores how multinational firm take decisions with regard to outward FDI (OFDI) depending on total factor productivity (TFP). In particular, we examine how the TFP of an individual firm interacts with the host country's factors, and its indirect impact on the location decision. An annual data set from 2008 to 2013 for publicly listed multinational firms in China is examined. The empirical results suggest that, first, the TFP could stimulate the OFDI engagement of a firm. Second, the influence of the firm's TFP is consistent across firms with different institutional advantages. Third, the firm's TFP reduces the importance of the host country's market potential on the likelihood of the firm's entry into a host country.

External Governance and Debt Structure

This paper examines how external governance pressure provided by both the product market and the market for corporate control affects the type of debt that firms issue. Consistent with a governance substitution effect, we find that (i) an exogenous increase in governance pressure from the product market has a significant negative impact on the use of bank financing over public debt issuance, and (ii) an exogenous decrease in governance pressure from the takeover market has a significant positive impact on the use of bank financing. Tests using changes in the strictness of loan covenants provides corroborative evidence. Also consistent with bank specialness in providing governance, we find that a bank loan issue causally increases total factor productivity of firms by 1% to 1.6% per year over a bond issue for up to four years after the issuance. We interpret these findings as consistent with the notion that firms endogenously substitute among alternative governance mechanisms in devising a governance structure that allows external capital to be raised at the lowest possible cost and that demand for creditor governance depends on the relative strength of alternative external governance mechanisms.

Localization Strategies in Response to Recent Changes in the Southeast Asian Labor Market Environment

Southeast Asia still has the potential to attract FDI from Korean firms even though the labor market environment has been changing at a very swift pace as of late. For example, as the increase in FDI improves the total factor productivity of firms operating in Southeast Asia, the wages of workers in this region have accordingly skyrocketed. As income growth led workers in the region to devote greater attention to democracy and human rights. Ongoing changes in Southeast Asia’s labor market are likely to have an adverse impact on Korean firms operating in the region, though the extent of the impact will differ across industries, firm sizes, and technology levels. Therefore, we suggest that government policies for FDI should be redirected to support localization efforts of firms operating in Southeast Asia. As these firms operate in foreign countries, they do not create jobs domestically. The existing literature, however, tells us that they positively affect domestic productivity and employment. This provides a reason for governments, including Korea’s, to identify effective policy measures that can support firms to successfully meet challenges and localize in these ever-changing markets of Southeast Asia.

Learning from exporting in China

AbstractDo exports increase the firm's productivity causally? Focusing on the matched information of highly disaggregated transaction and firm‐level data from 2000 to 2006 in China, we construct a new measure of firm‐specific demand shock as an instrument for firm exports, based on the GDP growth rate of destination countries. We find that a one percentage point expansion in exports raises firm total factor productivity (estimated by the Olley–Pakes method) by approximately 0.224 percentage points on average. Moreover, we find that exports to high‐income countries, more processing exports and scope expansion about variety contribute to the learning effect.

Learning by exporting effect in China revisited: An instrumental Approach

Does exporting increase the firm’s productivity causally? Focusing on Chinese exporters over the period 1998-2007, we construct a new measure of firm-specific trade cost, based on the daily Baltic Dry Index (BDI), as an instrument of exports. The BDI is termed a leading trade cost indicator, reflecting the cost of utilizing dry bulk carriers which primarily consists of materials that function as raw material inputs to the production of finished goods. We find that a one percentage point expansion in exports raises firm total factor productivity by approximately 0.04 percentage point on average, which accounts for nearly 60 percent growth of the exporter’s productivity over the period 1999-2007.

Firm heterogeneity in productivity across Europe: evidence from multilevel models

This paper analyses the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) heterogeneity of a sample of manufacturing firms operating in seven EU countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the UK). TFP data refer to 2008. The empirical setting is based on the multilevel modeling which provides two main results. Firstly, we show that TFP heterogeneity is largely due to firm-specific features (85% of TFP variability in the empty model). Interestingly, we find that some key-drivers of firm performance (size, family management, group membership, innovations and human capital) are significantly related to TFP, but do not, on the whole, absorb much of firm TFP variance, implying that differences in productivity are due to notable yet unobservable firm characteristics. Secondly, as far the role of localization is concerned, we demonstrate that the country effect is more influential than region effect in explaining individual productivity. Net of the country effect, the localization in different European regions explains about 5% of TFP firm heterogeneity. When considering the case of three individual countries, France, Italy and Spain, location in different regions explains 5.3% of TFP heterogeneity in Italy, while this proportion is lower (3.6%) in France and higher (9.9%) in Spain.

Summary of General Discussion on “Globalization and Domestic Operations: Applying the JC/JD Method to Japanese Manufacturing Firms”

Summary of General Discussion on “Globalization and Domestic Operations: Applying the JC/JD Method to Japanese Manufacturing Firms”

Does Development Zone Have Spillover Effect in China?

We construct a new database of spatial relations between industrial firms and development zones using the Application Programming Interface (API) addressing and document the development zones’ spillover effect on firms’ Total Factor Productivity (TFP). Development zones significantly improve the TFP of surrounding firms, which attenuates with the distance from a development zone, and increases with the density of development zones in a given area. The spillover effect of national development zones decays more sharply than that of provincial ones. The rectification project improves firms’ TFP and the spillover effect of development zones. The establishment of development zones affects surrounding firms’ TFP, where TFP of firms that enter the zone for the first time decreases in the short term but soon rises rapidly.

The Spanish Productivity Puzzle in the Great Recession

While Spain had traditionally under-performed its European counterparts in terms of labor productivity, the trend is reversed after 2007. The evolution of aggregate productivity in Spain during the Great Recession largely responds to the adverse conditions in the labor market, but not only. Using a longitudinal sample of Spanish manufacturing and services companies between 1995 and 2012, we show that the recent increase in Spanish aggregate productivity also responds to the evolution of the total factor productivity (TFP) and to composition effects.By combining the information at the firm level on balance sheet items, collective agreements and imports-exports, we are able to establish that commitment to a collective agreement at the firm level and access to external markets are positively related to TFP performance during the whole period. In addition, we estimate that firm TFP was negatively correlated with the share of temporary workers during the expansion period, 1995-2007, whereas the sign of that correlation reversed completely during the crisis, 2008-2012. Finally, we relate this sign reversal with the changing composition of temporary workers in the labor market.

The Spanish Productivity Puzzle in the Great Recession

While Spain had traditionally under-performed its European counterparts in terms of labor productivity, the trend is reversed after 2007. The evolution of aggregate productivity in Spain during the Great Recession largely responds to the adverse conditions in the labor market, but not only. Using a longitudinal sample of Spanish manufacturing and services companies between 1995 and 2012, we show that the recent increase in Spanish aggregate productivity also responds to the evolution of the total factor productivity (TFP) and to composition effects. By combining the information at the firm level on balance sheet items, collective agreements and imports-exports, we are able to establish that commitment to a collective agreement at the firm level and access to external markets are positively related to TFP performance during the whole period. In addition, we estimate that firm TFP was negatively correlated with the share of temporary workers during the expansion period, 1995-2007, whereas the sign of that correlation reversed completely during the crisis, 2008-2012. Finally, we relate this sign reversal with the changing composition of temporary workers in the labor market.

The Impact of Part-Time Work on Firm Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from Italy

In this paper, we explore the impact of part-time work on firm productivity. Using a large panel data set of Italian corporations’ balance sheets for the period 2000-2010, we first estimate the total factor productivity (TFP) of each firm for each year. We use different approaches aimed at solving input simultaneity, including a version of Ackerberg et al.’s (2006) control function approach, which accounts for firm fixed effects. We then match the TFP estimates with rich information on the firms’ use of part-time work obtained from survey data and estimate the impact of part-time work on TFP at the firm level. We find that an increase of 1 standard deviation in the part-time share reduces TFP by 2.03%. The results suggest that this harmful effect stems from horizontal rather than vertical part-time arrangements. We also find that firms declaring that they use part-time work to accommodate workers’ requests suffer the most. Moreover, we show that the so-called ‘flexible’ and ‘elastic’ clauses are successful in reducing the negative impact associated with part-time work.

Does Financing Spur Small Business Productivity? Evidence from a Natural Experiment

We analyze how increased access to financing affects firm total factor productivity (TFP) by exploiting a natural experiment following interstate banking deregulations that increased access to bank financing. We find that firms' TFP increases after their states implement these deregulations. Using a regression discontinuity approach based on the Small Business Administration's funding eligibility criteria, we show that TFP increases following the deregulations are significantly greater for financially constrained firms. Our results suggest that greater access to financing allows financially constrained firms to invest in productive projects that may otherwise not be taken up.