Search results for "Productivity"
showing 10 items of 618 documents
Spain: A Success Story Shadowed Only by a Poor Productivity Performance
2007
Since joining the European Union in 1986, the performance of the Spanish economy has been quite remarkable, acting as a good example for new entrants of what can be accomplished in twenty years. Its ability to generate employment has been astonishing. Departing from an environment of very high unemployment (close to 25 per cent), Spain has become the country of destination most preferred by immigrants. However, it has also had a scant productivity performance. The main burden on productivity growth lies with the construction sector and almost all private service sectors with the unique exception of the financial sector. Most likely, over the next years, the continuity of the Spanish success…
Determinants of Access to Academic Careers in France
2010
International audience; The recruitment of young PhD graduates in the academic sector is associated with great uncertainty regarding their potential teaching and research productivity. Thus, in order to recruit the best PhD graduates for permanent positions, employers (universities or research institutions in France) select according to signals sent by the applicants in their curriculum vitae: publications, post-doc position, host research institution.... In our paper, we analyse the factors affecting the access duration to a permanent job in three academic fields in France, using a sample of PhDs graduated in 2001. A discrete-time model, controlling for post-doc participation, is used to a…
New paradigm of ICT productivity – Increasing role of un-captured GDP and growing anger of consumers
2015
Abstract The dramatic advancement of the Internet has led all nations to an information communication technology (ICT) driven development trajectory. This trajectory has resulted in bi-polarization between ICT growing economies and ICT advanced economies. While the former enjoys a virtuous cycle between ICT advancement and productivity increase, the later has fallen into a trap of a vicious cycle between ICT advancement and productivity decrease. This paper identifies that this trap can be attributed to the two-faced nature of ICT in which advancement of ICT contributes to price increases due to functionality development while dramatic advancement of the Internet has resulted in price decre…
Contemporary Role of SMEs in Employment in Manufacturing and Service Industries
2017
Abstract. Analysis made in the article allows to conclude that the SME sector of high-tech manufacturing industries plays growing role in solving the problems of employment in developed countries. However, the major problem is that it is capable for only partial compensation of the loss of jobs in labour intensive sectors of the economy. Accumulation of knowledge of the population in industrialized countries together with high levels of computer literacy contributes to the revitalization of business services sellers that are mainly small sized businesses. In the era of fast growing technology industries, in particular related to IT sector, the role of SMEs in economy is increasing as they a…
Trade in final goods and the impact of innovation
2011
Abstract This paper analyses how innovations in imported final goods impact via terms of trade effects upon welfare growth in the domestic economy. It is shown that the impacts, although differing across countries, are quantitatively significant and worthy of further consideration.
Trade Liberalization and Heterogeneous Technology Investments
2015
We propose a trade model where heterogeneous firms decide on a productivity-enhancing technology investment. The model analyzes the impact of multilateral trade liberalization on firm- and industry-level productivity. Freer trade increases the incentives to invest in technology by raising export profits. It also dampens these incentives, however, as profits stemming from domestic sales are reduced. Only exporters benefit from the former positive effect. The shape of the distribution of efficiency draws, the level of trade costs and the technology intensity of the industry are key elements removing the ambiguities regarding the net impact of trade liberalization.
Unbundling technology adoption and tfp at the firm level. Do intangibles matter?
2012
We use a panel of European firms to investigate the relationship between intangible assets and productivity. We distinguish between total factor productivity (tfp) and technology adoption, whereas standard estimations consider only a notion of productivity that conflates the two effects. Although we are unable to address simultaneity, we allow for the existence of multiple technologies within sectors through a mixture model approach. We find that intangible assets have nonnegligible effects that both push firms toward better technologies (technology adoption effects) and allow for more efficient exploitation of a given technology (tfp effects).
Performance assessment of water companies: A metafrontier approach accounting for quality of service and group heterogeneities
2021
Abstract The assessment of water companies’ efficiency, productivity and quality of service is part of the process to set water tariffs and therefore, is relevant for regulators and customers. However, the water industry involves several heterogeneous water companies. Following a pioneering approach, this study estimates productivity change and its drivers considering the non-homogeneous nature of the water companies and incorporating quality of service variables as undesirable outputs. In doing so, the metafrontier Malmquist Luenberger productivity index was estimated for a sample of English and Welsh water and sewerage companies (WaSCs) and water only companies (WoCs) over the years 2001–…
Complementarities in innovation strategy: do intangibles play a role in enhancing firm performance?
2017
This article assesses the role of investments in intangible capital and their potential complementarities as a way to improve firm productivity. We focus on the three intangible resources that, according to the literature, have the greatest strategic importance: research and development (R & D), advertising, and human capital. To test our hypotheses, we use a large sample of Spanish manufacturing firms and consider estimates of total factor productivity through a generalized method of moments approach. Our results show evidence of complementarities between R & D and advertising investments and between advertising and human capital. However, they are not conclusive in the case of R & D and h…
Foreign sourcing and exporting
2020
The aim in this paper is analysing the role of sourcing intermediate inputs internationally on export decisions, distinguishing whether intermediate are sourced from firms belonging to the same business group or from independent suppliers. To analyse firm’s export decision, we use a specification that also accounts for sunk costs and the accumulated experience in export markets (i.e., foreign markets learning). We consider that importing intermediates might have direct and indirect effects (operating through productivity) on the export participation decision. The direct effects on exporting are isolated once we control for productivity and the effects of belonging to an international group.…