The change in productivity of Chinese state enterprises, 1983–1987

This study estimates the change in productivity of Chinese state enterprises during 1983–1987 using a panel data set of 403 firms. A new approach to productivity measurement is used. Under this approach, the production functions can differ arbitrarily across firms, important given the heterogeneity of the sample. The resulting coefficients estimate the marginal products of each factor as well as overall productivity growth. The results suggest Chinese productivity increased by 4.6% per year, with about half of this growth due to the rapidly improving education of the labor force.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47564/1/11123_2005_Article_BF01073492.pd

Diversifikationsmaße im Praxistest – Ergebnisse auf der Grundlage von amtlichen Mikrodaten für Deutschland

Die Wahl zwischen Diversifikation und Spezialisierung ist eine lange und kontrovers diskutierte Frage in der industrieökonomischen Forschung. Inzwischen ist es möglich, anhand von Mikrodaten auf Unternehmensebene die Gestaltung der Produktpalette von Unternehmen zu untersuchen. In dieser Studie werden die in der empirischen industrieökonomischen Forschung vorherrschenden Diversifikationsmaße einem Praxistest unterzogen. Die Frage ist, was die zur Verfügung stehenden Maße tatsächlich messen, wie sie bei real existierender, also beobachtbarer Diversifikation reagieren und ob sie in Querschnitt- und Längsschnittanalysen zu vergleichbaren Ergebnissen führen. Gleichzeitig wird damit eine Beschreibung der empirisch beobachtbaren Diversifikation sowie ihrer Entwicklung im Zeitverlauf für das verarbeitende Gewerbe in Deutschland gegeben. Abstract The choice between diversification and specialization has been a matter of controversial debate in the field of industrial economics for years. By now, it is possible to analyze the composition of the array of products using micro data on the firm level. This study applies the diversification indexes being used in the empirical research on industrial economics and tests their implications and results. The questions arising are: what do the indexes measure, how do they depict observable diversification and do they lead to comparable results for cross section and longitudinal data analysis. Furthermore, a description of the observed diversification and its trend is provided for manufacturing firms in Germany. JEL Classification: L60, D21, O1

The effect of deregulation on environmental research by electric utilities

This paper analyzes the impact of deregulation and restructuring on public-interest environmental research conducted by electric utilities in the US from 1990 to 2001. I find that deregulation has had a substantial negative impact on such expenditures, which have declined by 40%. However, restructuring has had no significant impact. In addition, the 1990 Clear Air Act Amendments have adversely affected such expenditures, contrary to the positive impact these regulations had on pollution abatement R&D as shown in the literature. Results also suggest that state and firm characteristics and regulator preferences play a strong role in the conduct of such research. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007Electricity deregulation, Environmental R&D, Clean Air Act, O32, L94, L51,

Environmental policy and profitability: evidence from Swedish industry

CO 2 tax, Factor demands, Technological progress, Porter hypothesis,