Managing Innovation to Increase Manufacturing Productivity

Technological progress is a key factor for economic growth. However, innovation requires attention from management and decision making at the various stages of the innovation process. Manufacturing, being a major producer of tradables, is a driver of technological change. In this paper we test the impact of innovation and other determinants on manufacturing productivity for 2015-2019, using panel data for 1,333 Portuguese firms. We estimate a model linking Total Factor Productivity growth to innovation, by technological groups and regions. Results suggest that innovation is a driver of productivity, although its magnitude is small. By contrast, Information and Communication Technology appears to exert a negative effect on productivity growth, especially in scaleintensive industries. A possible explanation is that the Portuguese workforce in such industries does not have enough skills to deal with up-to-date ICT. This appears to be corroborated by the positive impact of human capital accumulation on the TFP growth only in the Northern region.N/

Determinants of labor productivity in manufacturing firms of Iran:Emphasizing on labor education and training

In an era of globalized competition, productivity has become a crucial factor determining profitability, competitiveness and the growth of a firm. High productivity means lower per unit cost and, therefore, ability of the firm to match prices on the global markets. Because of that, there has been an increasing interest recently in the literature on factors affecting productivity. This paper investigates the determinants of labor productivity at the firm level in the Iran’s manufacturing sector. The analysis is based on descriptive statistics and cross sectional regression models on a sample of 12299 Industrial firms. The results show that labor productivity is positively related to wage, fixed capital per employee, export orientation, R&D activity and Education of labor force

Determinants of Labor Productivity in Iran’s Manufacturing Firms: With Emphasis on Labor Education and Training

In an era of globalized competition, productivity has become a crucial factor determining profitability, competitiveness and the growth of a firm. High productivity means lower per unit cost and, therefore, ability of the firm to match prices on the global markets. Because of that, there has been an increasing interest recently in the literature on factors affecting productivity. This paper investigates the determinants of labor productivity at the firm level in the Iran’s manufacturing sector. The analysis is based on descriptive statistics and cross sectional regression models on a sample of 12299 Industrial firms. The results show that labor productivity is positively related to wage, fixed capital per employee, export orientation, R&D activity and Education of labor force

Determinants of Labor Productivity in Iran’s Manufacturing Firms: With Emphasis on Labor Education and Training

In an era of globalized competition, productivity has become a crucial factor determining profitability, competitiveness and the growth of a firm. High productivity means lower per unit cost and, therefore, ability of the firm to match prices on the global markets. Because of that, there has been an increasing interest recently in the literature on factors affecting productivity. This paper investigates the determinants of labor productivity at the firm level in the Iran’s manufacturing sector. The analysis is based on descriptive statistics and cross sectional regression models on a sample of 12299 Industrial firms. The results show that labor productivity is positively related to wage, fixed capital per employee, export orientation, R&D activity and Education of labor force

Small Firms as a Blind Spot in Greek Austerity Economics

This paper offers an interpretation of the Greek crisis focusing on the role of small firms. Most accounts of the crisis stress austerity resulting from macroeconomic conditions imposed from the outside. The paper argues that this is reductionist and ignores that the origin of the crisis lies in internal structural problems. Weaknesses in the productive structure explain why the Greek economy has not been able to recover. A key – but widely overlooked – feature of this productive structure is the preponderance of the small firms. Unpacking this small firm economy helps to understand the origin and persistence of the crisis and to see new ways forward. Analysing the Greek economy through this lens, we can offer an explanation spanning the entire period from the 1960s – the transformation of Greece from an emerging economy to EU member and ultimately to the EZ problem child. Far from being an obstacle to growth, dynamic small firms in the past showed resilience and withstood major shocks – entry into the EU, globalisation and EZ membership. The distinguishing feature of the present crisis – and the reason why exit is proving so difficult – is that small firms have been hit harder and have yet to recover. Moreover, misdiagnosing the crisis in exclusively macro terms, may make small firms’ situation worse. The paper attempts to fill the blind spot by proposing a scheme with two types of small firms – one dynamic and outward looking – aiming to compete – and another defensive and inward faced – looking to the state for protection. The latter were key players in clientelistic political economy, while propping them up imposed burdens on dynamic firms and required persistent borrowing. Dynamic firms were further burdened by a version of the ‘Dutch disease’ – the impact of capital inflows in marginalising efficient producers – providing a bridge between micro and macro considerations. Recovery in Greece without dynamic small firms is only possible in the presence of an external Deus Ex Machina – in the form of foreign investment, debt relief or both. Reading the crisis as a crisis of production and not exclusively one of public finance is a first step towards setting a viable exit strategy. Ending austerity may be a necessary, but certainly not a sufficient condition. Industrial policy towards small enterprise has a crucial role

Determinantes da produtividade das empresas têxteis portuguesas para o período de 2010-2017 e a sua situação financeira

Versão Final (Esta versão contém as críticas e sugestões dos elementos do júri)Atualmente, a produtividade é considerada um fator essencial no crescimento de uma empresa e consequente economia de um país, sendo também decisiva para determinar a rendibilidade e competitividade de uma empresa. Desta forma, é importante estudar os determinantes que poderão condicionar a produtividade empresarial e impulsionar a sua expansão. Assim, a presente dissertação tem como objetivo analisar os determinantes da produtividade aparente do trabalho das empresas do setor têxtil em Portugal, para um período compreendido entre 2010-2017. A análise efetuada, tem por base uma amostra de 562 empresas, para a qual se recorreu à aplicação dos métodos GMM (Generalized Method of Moments) e FE (Fixed Effects). Os resultados revelam que o nível salarial possui um impacto positivo no crescimento da produtividade aparente do trabalho das empresas do setor têxtil português. Por outro lado, o nível de endividamento possui um impacto negativo na produtividade aparente do trabalho, e determinantes como o investimento em I&D e a crise económica e financeira não demonstram influência sobre a produtividade aparente do trabalho. Com resultados divergentes nos dois modelos econométricos encontram-se o grau de internacionalização e o número de horas trabalhadas.Nowadays, productivity is considered an essential factor in the company’s growth and the economy of the country, it is also crucial to identify the productivity and competitiveness of the company. So, it’s important to study the determinants that can affect it and boost it’s expansion. Therefore, the present dissertation has the objective of analysing the determinants of labor productivity of companies in the Portuguese textile sector, for a period between 2010- 2017. The present analysis is based on a sample of 562 companies, which used the GMM method (Generalized Method of Moments) and FE (Fixed Effects). The results show that the salary has a positive impact on the labor productivity growth of Portuguese textile companies. On the other hand, debt has a negative impact on labor productivity, and the determinants like the investment in R&D and financial and economic crisis, don’t show an influence on labor productivity. With different results on the two models, there are the internationalisation rate and the number of work hours

Population growth and its effect on labour productivity in Ghana

This study analyzes population growth and its effect on labour productivity in Ghana. In addition to the main objective, the study looks at the various factors affecting overall labour productivity, labour productivity in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. The factors included in this study are government size, gross fixed investment, human capital, inflation, and trade openness. The study is founded on the data in Ghana from 1980-2019 by using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to define the long-run association between the variables. According to the empirical evidence, increased population growth would reduce overall labour productivity in Ghana’s economy in the long-run. No significant long-run impact was observed between population growth rate and labour productivity in the manufacturing sector. Finally, the research revealed that an increase in population growth would have more than a proportionate fall on agricultural labour productivity in the long-run