Showing papers on "Productivity model published in 1997"

Agricultural Productivity Revisited

Abstract: This paper describes production accounts for agriculture. Output is defined as gross production leaving the farm as opposed to real value added. Inputs are not limited to capital and labor but include intermediate inputs as well. We derive index numbers of gross output, capital, labor, and intermediate inputs. These data are used to construct indexes of total factor productivity. We then compare the contributions of input growth and productivity growth to economic growth. The important role of productivity growth in agriculture becomes immediately apparent.

International Productivity Patterns: Accounting for Input Quality, Infrastructure, and Research

Abstract: In this paper, we present measures of land and labor productivity for a group of ninety-eight developed and developing countries using an entirely new data set with annual observations spanning the past three decades. The substantial cross-country and intertemporal variation in productivity in our sample is linked to both natural and economic factors. We extend previous work by dealing with multiple sources of systematic measurement error in conventional agricultural inputs. The mix of conventional inputs, indicators of quality of agricultural inputs, and the amount of publicly provided infrastructure are all significant in explaining observed cross-sectional differences in productivity patterns.

The impact of computers on manufacturing productivity growth: A multiple-indicators, multiple-causes approach

Abstract: An increase in computer usage could improve product and labor quality Unfortunately, many quality improvements are not incorporated in price indexes Thus, a quality bias could distort conventional estimates of the marginal productivity of computers, which are based on the assumption that prices are measured without error Using detailed industry data, we estimate a multiple-indicators, multiple-causes model that allows us to investigate this relationship, while controlling for measurement errors Our findings suggest that computers are an important source of quality change and that computers are positively related to productivity growth when adjustments are made for measurement errors

A DEA-based analysis of productivity change and intertemporal managerial performance

Abstract: DEA is typically applied to cross-section data to analyze productive efficiency. DEA is infrequently applied to panel data to analyze the variation of productive efficiency over time, but when it is, the technique of choice has been window analysis. Here, we adopt a different approach to the use of DEA with panel data. Following the lead of Fare and others, we use DEA to construct a Malmquist index of productivity change, and we provide a new decomposition of the Malmquist productivity index. Our new decomposition allocates productivity change to change in productive efficiency, the magnitude of technical change, and the bias of technical change. We then propose an evaluation of managerial performance, not on the usual basis of static efficiency, but on the intertemporal basis of change in efficiency and adaptation to the bias of technical change. We illustrate our approach with an examination of the recent productivity change experience in Spanish savings banks.

Capital input and total productivity management

Abstract: Provides an overview of total productivity, in definition, measurement and management. Discusses the challenges of evaluating input and output factors, highlighting the basis of capital input measurement and taking into consideration the issues of inflation, operational capacity and technological change. Places productivity in a performance‐measurement context. Explores the affinity of productivity and its various measures to management accounting with special focus on price recovery and profitability. Devises models for capital input within total productivity, based on replacement cost. Examines and analyses surveys relating to productivity practices and perceptions. Demonstrates the interrelationship of capital and labour inputs with total productivity and its relevance to managerial strategic decision making.

Uncertainty and the measurement of productivity

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirically implementable framework for the analysis of the effects of uncertainty on firm behavior. In particular, the paper provides a model which can be used to calculate productivity growth for firms facing uncertainty and to decompose the growth in total factor productivity into its various components. It can also be used to identify the contributions of uncertainty and risk aversion. Applying the model to the U.S. textile industry, we find that price uncertainty had a small effect on productivity growth. The refereeing process of this paper was handled through M. Brown.

Parametric analysis of cost inefficiency and the decomposition of productivity growth for regulated firms

Abstract: This paper examines the contributions of technical change, scale economies, regulation, and efficiency on productivity growth in the interstate natural gas pipeline industry. Following Bauer (1990) productivity growth for firms subject to regulation is decomposed into technical change, scale economies, regulation, and efficiency components. The data sample consists of 20 pipeline companies and covers the period 1977 to 1987. Results indicate that scale economies, cost inefficiency, and regulation on average accounted for 64%, 16%, and 4% of productivity growth respectively. Cost efficiency declined over the sample period, most of which can be attributed to technical inefficiency.

Incentives and Yield Management in Improving Productivity of Manufacturing Facilities

Abstract: In this paper, we develop a nonlinear programming (NLP) model to jointly determine the optimum financial incentives and price discount levels for each rate class. The model aims at maximizing net revenues. It includes nonlinear relationships representing the impact of incentives on productivity improvements and the effect of price discounts on customer demand in each market segment.

How fast have china's agricultural production and productivity really been growing? new measurement and evidence

Abstract: Output in Chinese agriculture has grown rapidly for the last several decades, as reported by the Statistical System in China. However, reported total output is aggregated using constant prices, which has been proven to be inappropriate by many economists. As a result, growth rates of output reported by the government may be biased. This bias can be large, particularly at a time when relative prices of agricultural products were changed substantially as part of the policy reforms during the 1980s and 1990s. A similar problem exists in the aggregation of total input. Consequently, estimates of total factor productivity, an index of output minus input, can also be biased. This study uses a more appropriate approach to measure growth in output, input and total factor productivity for Chinese agriculture. Using newly estimated production and productivity growth indexes, the impact of rural reforms are reassessed. The conventional approach overestimates the impact of the rural reforms on both production and productivity growth. Nevertheless, both production and productivity still grew at respectable rates during the reform period.

Direct and indirect impacts of information technology applications on productivity: a field study

Abstract: Assessing the productivity impact of information technology (IT) applications is an important research problem in electronic commerce and organizational computing in general. We study the impact of a toll collection system introduced in thirty-eight interchanges of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in 1987. We model labor productivity both before and after the new system implementation. In addition to transaction volumes, we include productivity factors in our models to account for differences in technology, labor, and traffic patterns across the turnpike. Our results show that IT may have two types of impact. First, it can directly affect the time to process a transaction. Second, it can indirectly affect the role of a productivity factor. For example, we found that the unfavorable effect of employee turnover on labor productivity diminished with the introduction of the new system because it reduced the learning time for replacement workers.

The Effects of Trade Orientation and Human Capital on Total Factor Productivity

Abstract: We study the effects of trade orientation and human capital on total factor productivity for a pooled cross-section, time-series sample of developed and developing countries. We first estimate total factor productivity from a parsimonious specification of the aggregate production function involving output per worker, capital per worker, and the labor force, both with and without the stock of human capital. Then we consider a number of potential determinants of total factor productivity growth including several measures of trade orientation as well as a measure of human capital. We find that a high degree of openness benefits total factor productivity and that human capital contributes to total factor productivity only after our measure of openness passes some threshold level. Before that threshold, increases in human capital actually depress total factor productivity. Finally, we also consider the issue of convergence of real GDP per worker and total factor productivity, finding more evidence of convergence for the latter than for the former.

Productivity Growth in UK Accountancy Departments 1989–96

Abstract: The study investigates productivity change in UK accountancy departments over the period 1989–1996, with this change being decomposed into ‘change in efficiency’ and ‘technical change’. Efficiency change is also decomposed into changes in scale efficiency, output congestion and purely technical efficiency. To empirically assess the relative efficiency of each department, in transforming its monetary budget into teaching and research outputs, DEA techniques are utilized so as to enable comparison with a ‘best practice’ frontier. In doing this, the results of the 1989, 1992 and 1996 Research Assessment Exercises are incorporated so as to take account of the quality of research output.

Cost benefits of ergonomic intervention in a hospital: a preliminary study using Oxenburgh's productivity model.

Abstract: This case study of absenteeism amongst nurses was carried out using the productivity model of Oxenburgh (1991). Data on absenteeism amongst nurses were collected from one private hospital. Areas of high risk of injury were identified and the presence of ergonomic risk factors determined. The productivity model was used to calculate the costs of absenteeism in terms of actual rates of pay and loss of productivity. Potential benefits resulting from ergonomic improvements to the work environment were estimated using the productivity model. The model predicted that even modest reductions in injury would justify the additional expenditure in a relatively short period of time. Further investigations of injuries to nurses in both State and Private Sector Hospitals seem to be justified.

Why Is the Productivity Analysis Misleading for Gauging State Enterprise Performance

Abstract: A large literature has documented impressive productivity growth in China's state enterprises during the reform. The evidence has been used to support the view that China's enterprise reform has been successful. We cast doubt on this view by arguing that productivity is not a reliable measure of state enterprise performance. A model is used to show that when firms are not profit maximizers, higher productivity may actually lead to greater allocative distortion, lower profits and lower economic efficiency. There is evidence this may be the case for many Chinese state enterprises during the reform.

The link between total factor productivity, prices and financial performance, with summary illustrations from air and rail transportation

Abstract: Total factor productivity has been a principal means of measuring performance both for monitoring performance improvement over time as well as performance comparisons across firms. Productivity compares output quantities with quantities of inputs (more specifically, the growth in outputs relative to the growth in inputs). However, strong productivity performance is not necessarily an indicator of strong financial performance; and the converse is true as well, for example, firms with market power can achieve profitability despite poor productivity performance. This paper will show how to take data from TFP studies to link changes in TFP with changes in the firm's financial condition. It does this by examining the changes in input price indices relative to output price indices; these are dual to the output and input quantity indices used for TFP measurement. This link between productivity, prices and financial performance has been utilized in the management literature but has found almost no application in the economics literature on performance measurement. Tracking TFP along with "total price performance" (TPP, the ratio of input price indices divided by the output price indices) reveals the sharing of productivity gains between firms and their customers and hence the change in financial condition of the firm. These data are compiled in TFP studies but appear to be not reported or not utilized in the manner shown here. Hence this paper will show a useful additional interpretation of existing TFP studies. The productivity and "total" price relationships are demonstrated with applications to rail transportation and major world airlines. Tracking TFP and TPP over time reveals the sharing of productivity gains and any shifts in market power.

Productivity shocks and business fixed investment

Abstract: Business fixed investment is shown to be related to productivity shocks more than profitability and q variable. The multifactor productivity index is used as a proxy.