Investments in Modernization, Innovation and Gains in Productivity: Evidence from Firms in the Global Paper Industry

Ghosal, Vivek and Nair-Reichert, Usha (2007): Investments in Modernization, Innovation and Gains in Productivity: Evidence from Firms in the Global Paper Industry. Unpublished.

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of investments in modernization and innovation on productivity in a sample of firms in the global pulp and paper industry. This industry is important because it has traditionally accounted for significant amounts of employment and capital investment in North America and Europe. In contrast to much of the existing literature which focuses on the impact of R&D and patents on firms’ performance and productivity, we examine data on actual investment transactions in four main areas of operations: (i) mechanical, (ii) chemicals, (iii) monitoring devices and (iv) information technology. We find that firms which made decisions to implement a greater number of investment transactions in modernization achieved higher productivity, and these estimated quantitative effects are greater than the impact of standard innovation variables such as patents and R&D. Investment transactions in the information technology and digital monitoring devices imparted a particularly noticeable boost to productivity. These results are obtained after controlling for other firm-specific variables such as capital-intensity and mergers and acquisitions. Two broad messages emerge from our study. First, firms’ decisions to undertake investments in modernization and various forms of incremental innovations appear to be critical for achieving gains in productivity. While these may typically generate small gains on a year-to-year basis, they can compound to form meaningful differences in performance, productivity and competitive position across firms in the longer-run. Second, for some of the traditional industries like pulp and paper, R&D and patents seem to be particularly poor indicators of innovation and, more generally, how firms go about achieving gains in productivity. While this paper focuses on the pulp and paper industry, our broad framework and methodology is general and can be applied to understanding firms’ strategies related to enhancing performance and productivity in a variety of industries.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Additional Information: This study was funded by a 2004-2006 grant from the Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies, an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Industry Research Center. The grant was to examine “The Role and Value of Innovation in the Pulp and Paper Industry” and is part of the Sloan Foundation’s initiatives to gain an understanding of innovation, productivity and competition issues in important traditional industries.
• Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology
• Language: English
• Keywords: Pulp and paper industry; investment; modernization; innovation; productivity; organizational behavior
• Subjects: M - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting > M1 - Business Administration > M10 - General; D - Microeconomics > D2 - Production and Organizations > D20 - General; L - Industrial Organization > L6 - Industry Studies: Manufacturing > L60 - General; L - Industrial Organization > L2 - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior > L20 - General

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