Does the selection process of firms favour economic efficiency growth?

The paper examines the impact of firms exit on the long-term efficiency growth. It is argued that, contrary to the generally established effect in the literature of industrial organisation, the natural selection process hinders economic efficiency growth. Indeed exit of firms causes losses of knowledge and therefore have a negative effect on efficiency. Furthermore, if one takes account of technological spillovers, the exit of firms reduces efficiency by limiting the number of active firms and, thus, the aggregate stock of knowledge. Our model also shows that individual efforts of R&D allow increasing the levels of firms' efficiency. Such efficiency gains are in addition amplified by the technological spillovers.

Technical change in Developing Countries: A dynamic model of adoption, learning and industry evolution

This paper develops and analyses a dynamic model, which combines both the adoption and the industry evolution theories. We model the decision of adoption, learning entry and exit of firms. These decisions depend on the interaction of technology characteristics ((effectiveness, machinery and information costs…) and other economic indicators (firm’s size, technology capability, competition concentration, returns of scale,…). We use the model’s theoretical results to analyze simultaneously the effects on the structure and the average efficiency of the industry and to develop a framework for understanding the effect of competitive policy reform and public policy action necessary to enhance adoption and average productivity. The model we suggest also analyses effects on industry evolution and social welfare.Adoption, learning, efficiency, entry , exit, industrial dynamics, evolution, developing countries

The impacts of technological change, industry structure and Plant entry/exit on industry efficiency growth

In this paper, we provide a theoretical framework combining both the theory of adoption and industry evolution to explore the different sources of industry efficiency growth. The objective is to investigate which of the explanatory variables can explain inefficiency. The theoretical and simulation results of this study show that the inter-firms efficiency variance exerts a substantial impact on industry efficiency. Productivity change within individual plant (via adoption and learning) is a major source of efficiency growth in the industry. Exit usually improves aggregate efficiency as less efficient plants leave industries. The impact of entry is less clear since it depends on the efficiency levels of entrants. Finally, the role of competition in generating economic efficiency is strongly confirmed. Our theoretical findings confirm and extend others in the empirical studies.Technological Change; Industry Structure; Plant Entry/Exit; industry efficiency growth

Education and economic growth: the role of public expenditures allocation

We show in this paper that GDP per-capita growth is more likely affected by the accumulation of education at the higher schooling levels in both OECD and DCs. However, in terms of the public funds allocation, this result does not prevent public education expenditures to be reallocated from higher toward basic schooling levels in DCs. Indeed, such a reallocation would improve the quality of education at the basic stages of education, which should be, in turn, accompanied by a faster accumulation of human capital at the higher schooling stages and faster economic growth.expenditures allocation, economic growth

Human capital investment and growth: A dynamic education model

The paper aims to explicitly determine the distribution of human capital across hierarchic educational stages along the transition process, and to analyse the determinants of its evolution. We apply optimal control principles in a model of endogenous growth with two successive stages of education. We show that with initial relative scarcity of advanced human capital, the duration of studies at the advanced level should increase until reaching its equilibrium level. We also find that, by raising the duration of studies at the advanced schooling level, improvements in the quality of education at this level also enhances the economy’s growth rate, both in the transition and in the long-run.Human capital investment; growth; a dynamic model

Labor-Use Efficiency in Saudi Manufacturing Sectors

This paper seeks to examine the process of adjustment in labor and to measure labor-use efficiency in Saudi manufacturing sectors. The theoretical framework is based on a dynamic flexible adjustment model applied to a panel of seven Saudi industries observed from 2007 to 2015. It investigates the process of adjustment in labor Saudization level toward a desired level. The adjustment process is both industrial and time-specific, and is expressed in terms of factors affecting the speed of adjustment. The empirical results show that, in the long run, labor Saudization responds greatly to gross domestic product, followed by unit Saudi wage and least by non-Saudi labor. In addition, labor over-use in Saudi manufacturing sectors is reduced after application of Nitaqat program

Le mécanisme de sélection des firmes est-il efficace? Une approche en termes de coût d’opportunité

La littérature récente a toujours attribué au phénomène dit de « sélection naturelle » – selon lequel, seules les firmes les plus efficientes survivent alors que les autres sont éliminées par le jeu de la concurrence – un rôle crucial dans la croissance de l’efficience agrégée. En supposant, dans le cadre d’un modèle théorique que les firmes différent non seulement par leurs niveaux d’efficience mais aussi par leurs valeurs de réservation, nous montrons ici que le rôle du mécanisme de sélection dans la croissance de l’efficience agrégée peut être remis en cause notamment lorsque les sortants sont plutôt les firmes les plus efficientes. Un autre résultat important consiste à montrer, qu’à l’équilibre stationnaire, les firmes efficientes et inefficientes peuvent coexister. Ce faisant, le modèle développé permet de rendre compte de la persistance des firmes inefficientes et de la grande dispersion des niveaux d’efficience constatée dans plusieurs études empiriques.The recent literature has always attributed to the natural selection mechanism – along which only efficient firms can survive while inefficient ones are eliminated by market competition – a crucial role in the aggregated efficiency growth. By assuming that firms differ not only by their efficiency levels but by their opportunity costs too, our model shows that the selection mechanism can reduce aggregated efficiency especially when exiting firms are the most efficient ones. Our model also shows that both efficient and inefficient firms can coexist in the stationary equilibrium. This result can interpret some empirical findings such as the persistence of inefficient firms and the high dispersion of firms’ efficiency levels

A la basurita con los metales: Estudio de materiales metálicos de un basurero de la ciudad de Rosario a finales de siglo XIX

Hacia la segunda mitad del siglo XIX se identifica en Rosario un proceso acelerado de urbanización, único en Argentina e inclusive en América Latina. Esto se debió a la incorporación de la ciudad al modelo agroexportador, tras decretarse el Reglamento de la Libre Navegación de los Ríos, habilitando a la ciudad como principal puerto de la Confederación, produciendo profundos cambios en los estilos de vida. Pero a pesar de ser un período histórico clave para el desarrollo de Rosario como ciudad, el mismo ha sido muy poco estudiado por los historiadores y otras disciplinas afines al conocimiento del pasado. Así, tratando de contribuir a llenar ese vacío en el conocimiento de la historia de la ciudad, este trabajo busca aportar información valiosa sobre la vida de los pobladores de la ciudad hacia fines del siglo XIX. En él se presentan los lineamientos teórico-metodológicos generales planteados para el estudio y análisis de los materiales metálicos provenientes del sitio La Basurita (MCU1- Rosario).Towards the second half of the XIXth century, Rosario city experienced an accelerated process of urbanization that was unique in Argentina and Latin America. This was due to the incorporation of the city into the agro-export model, after the enactment of the Reglamento de Libre Navegación de los Ríos. This allowed the city to become the major port of the Confederation, producing deep changes in its population’s lifestyle. Despite being a key historic period for the urban development of Rosario, it has not been studied in depth by historians and scholars from other disciplines. Trying to contribute to filling in that gap in the city’s history knowledge, this paper presents the general theoretical and methodological guidelines for the study of the metallic materials recovered from La Basurita site (MCUI- Rosario). This aims to provide valuable information on the life of the inhabitants of the city of Rosario in the late nineteenth century.Fil: Raies, Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Luján. Departamento de Ciencias Sociales; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Humanidades y Artes. Escuela de Antropología. Departamento de Arqueología; Argentin

Technical change in Developing Countries: A dynamic model of adoption, learning and industry evolution

This paper develops and analyses a dynamic model, which combines both the adoption and the industry evolution theories. We model the decision of adoption, learning entry and exit of firms. These decisions depend on the interaction of technology characteristics ((effectiveness, machinery and information costs…) and other economic indicators (firm’s size, technology capability, competition concentration, returns of scale,…). We use the model’s theoretical results to analyze simultaneously the effects on the structure and the average efficiency of the industry and to develop a framework for understanding the effect of competitive policy reform and public policy action necessary to enhance adoption and average productivity. The model we suggest also analyses effects on industry evolution and social welfare