A Dynamic Characterization of Efficiency

The definition and measurement of dynamic economic performance has been addressed obliquely in the literature with the notions of scope economies and capacity utilization measures, but little work has focused on develop the static theory analogs of efficiency measures into the dynamic context. This paper is an attempt to identify some of the conceptual and methodological issues to be addressed. A model allowing for dynamic production decisions in the face of inefficiency is presented to illustrate some of the issues and the extensions necessary to identify truly dynamic performance measures.

The Dynamics of Efficiency and Productivity Growth in U. S. Electric Utilities

This study recognizes explicitly the efficiency gain or loss as a source in explaining the growth. A theoretically consistent method to estimate the decomposition of dynamic total factor productivity growth (TFP) in the presence of inefficiency is developed which is constructed from an extension of the dynamic TFP growth, adjusted for deviations from the long-run equilibrium within an adjustment cost framework. The empirical case study is to U.S. electric utilities, which provides a measure to evaluate how different electric utilities participate in the deregulation of electricity generation. TFP grew by 2.26 percent per annum with growth attributed to the combined scale effects of 0.34 percent, the combined efficiency effects of 0.69 percent, and the technical change effect of 1.22 percent. The dynamic TFP grew by 1.66 percent per annum for electric utilities located within states with the deregulation plan and 3.30 percent per annum for those located outside. Electric utilities located within states with the deregulation plan increased the outputs by improving technical and input allocative efficiencies more than those located outside of states with deregulation plans.productivity growth, adjustment costs, dynamic duality, inefficiency, decomposition, deregulation, e

Productivity Growth and Efficiency under Leontief Technology: An Application to US Steam-Electric Power Generation Utilities

A theoretical framework is developed for decomposing partial factor productivity and measuring technical inefficiency when the underlying technology is characterized by factor non-substitution. With Farrell's (1957) radial index of technical inefficiency being inappropriate in this case, Russell's (1985; 1987) non-radial indices are adapted to measure technical inefficiency in a Leontief model. A system of factor demand equations with a regime specific technical inefficiency term is proposed and estimated allowing for dependence across inputs using a copula approach. Then the paper presents a complete decomposition of partial factor productivity changes using a dataset of U.S. steam-power electric generation utilities.

Managing Firm Competitiveness in Global Markets

The globalization profile of US food firms is mixed. US sales from foreign direct investment is now over six times the level of exports, while US processed food trade balance has moved from +$9 billion in 1995 to -$7 billion in 2004. Competitive forces drive firms to seek new areas of growth, with either portfolio expansion or penetration and expansion in new markets. Although the forces that weigh heavily on a firm are recognized, their influence in determining a firm’s action in choosing a particular strategy is not well understood. As the nature of food manufacturing is evolving and the operational scope of a food manufacturing firm has grown from local, to regional, national, and global, is there a new role for policy? What we do know is that a firm trades with other firms and that aggregate trade patterns do not fully reflect how firms view prospects, make decisions and factor in policies as they organize themselves for trade. Addressing the potential characterizations of competitiveness for the industry and the firm followed by the conflicting influences of R&D on competitiveness, we focus on what is meant by a global food firm with the use of the experiences of three industry case studies.Competitiveness, Food Manufacturing, Globalization, Case study