Technical Efficiency Measurement within the Ivorian Manufacturing Sector: a Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

The African industrial structure is characterised by a strong firm-size heterogeneity with a co-existence of small if not micro-enterprises of the informal sector and large formal organisations operating with a modern technology. In this paper, we investigate the technical efficiency of Ivorian manufacturing firms in four sectors of economic activity: textile and garment, metal products, wood and furniture, food processing. The DEA production frontier is the non-parametric methodology to which we refer to. Efficiency scores are calculated by following the four-stage procedure as presented by Fried, Schmidt and Yaisawarng (1999). In other words, the initial DEA scores are adjusted to take into account the impact of the external operating environment on the volume of the input use. Technical efficiency are then decomposed into three elements: the pure managerial effect, the impact of the production scale, but also a technological effect capturing the potential gain that could result from the adoption of the modern technology by small informal firms.formal-informal sectors, manufacturing sector, non parametric frontier, cote d'ivoire, Technical efficiency

Personal assets, access to credit and gender entrepreneurial disparities: the case of the South African informal sector

This article aims to analyze the nature of South African entrepreneurship and to assess the extent to which obstacles and especially liquidity constraints faced by women may differ from those met by men during the phase of firm settlement. This study shows that women in the informal sector who are less educated and more burdened by unemployment are more “necessity-based” or “push” entrepreneurs than their male counterparts. They appear to have greater difficulty in accumulating sufficient personal assets than their male counterparts. They thus rely more often on stokvel or money lenders to access credit than men

The Training of Jobseekers by Non-profit Organizations: An Analysis Based on Data from the Upper Normandy Region of France

International audienc

ÉDUCATION ET DÉVELOPPEMENT ÉCONOMIQUE : LE CAS DE 14 ÉTATS INDIENS (1970-1993)

International audienceThe object of this article is to with panel data (from 1970 to 1993) to identify the influence of education on economic growth in the main States of India. Using an augmented Solow function, we show that the levels of primary and secondary education contribute differently to growth according to the degree of technicity of the productive structure.Cet article tente d'identifier l'impact de l'éducation sur la croissance économique dans les principaux États de l'Union indienne. A partir d'une fonction de Solow augmentée, notre analyse montre, avec des données de panel (1970-1993), que les niveaux d'éducation primaire et secondaire apportent une contribution différenciée sur la croissance, selon le degré d'urbanisation, de développement et de technicité de la structure productive des régions

Productive efficiency in the Ivorian Manufacturing Sector: An Exploratory Study Using A Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

The African industrial structure is characterised by firm-size heterogeneity with the co-existence of small, if not micro, enterprises in the informal sector and large formal organisations operating with modern technology. In this paper, using the DEA production frontier methodology, we investigate the technical efficiency of Ivorian manufacturing firms in four sectors of economic activity: textiles and garments, metal products, food processing, and wood and furniture. Efficiency scores are calculated for each of the four sectors following the four-stage procedure presented by Fried, Schmidt and Yaisawarng [1999]. The initial DEA scores are adjusted to take into account the impact of the external operating environment on the volume of input use. Technical efficiency is then broken down into three elements: the purely managerial effect, the impact of the scale of production, and a technological effect capturing the potential gain that could result from the adoption of modern technology by small informal organizations. The results are interesting in several respects. For the four investigated sectors, on average, managerial efficiency is higher in the informal sector. This outcome is partly due to the operating environment, small informal enterprises facing fewer institutional constraints to adjust the level of their inputs to the optimal level that the output requires. However, formal activities are not only more efficient in scaling their production with a varying difference according sectors, but formal firms also benefit from a modern technology. This last element proves to be decisive on the explanation of the technical efficiency gap between both types of institutional status of productive organizations

What Factors Influence the Behaviour of Nonprofit Organisations? The Example of the Continuing Training Sector in France

International audienc

Is Non-Profit Entrepreneurship different from others? A survey data analysis on motivations and access to fund

International audienc

ÉDUCATION ET DÉVELOPPEMENT ÉCONOMIQUE : LE CAS DE 14 ÉTATS INDIENS (1970-1993)

International audienceThe object of this article is to with panel data (from 1970 to 1993) to identify the influence of education on economic growth in the main States of India. Using an augmented Solow function, we show that the levels of primary and secondary education contribute differently to growth according to the degree of technicity of the productive structure.Cet article tente d'identifier l'impact de l'éducation sur la croissance économique dans les principaux États de l'Union indienne. A partir d'une fonction de Solow augmentée, notre analyse montre, avec des données de panel (1970-1993), que les niveaux d'éducation primaire et secondaire apportent une contribution différenciée sur la croissance, selon le degré d'urbanisation, de développement et de technicité de la structure productive des régions

The Continuing Training Sector in France and the Role of Non-profit Organisations

In a context in which private firms are asserting their claims to social responsibility, the ability of non-profit organisations to provide a credible alternative is attracting increasing attention. Are the doubts that are emerging justified? In other words, are non-profit organisations losing their specificity? Drawing on an analysis of an original database relating to a key sector in the knowledge-based economy, we show that non-profit organisations do indeed differ in certain respects from for-profit organisations. In other respects, however, their behaviour does not demonstrate a particularly highly developed social conscience

What factors influence the behaviour of nonprofit organisations? The example of the continuing training sector in France

Most economic analyses, in line with received opinion, assume that nonprofit organisations are intrinsically different from private (for-profit) or public organisations. A substantial proportion of the literature has sought to characterise these differences. Nevertheless, a smaller number of studies champion the idea that there are factors that may influence the behaviour of nonprofit organisations and cause them to lose their specificity. The aim of our paper is empirically to assess the impact of these factors. Our analysis differs from existing studies in three ways: (1) we seek to measure the influence of all these factors and not that of one of them considered in isolation, as is generally the case; (2) we do so by analysing an original database rather than drawing on case studies as much existing research does; and (3) we base it on an investigation of a key sector in knowledge-based economies—namely, the continuing training sector.