Being efficient to stay strong in a weak economy. The case of calabrian manufacturing firms

Aiello, Francesco and Castiglione, Concetta (2014): Being efficient to stay strong in a weak economy. The case of calabrian manufacturing firms.

Abstract

The aim of this work is to study the efficiency of firms operating in Calabria, a small and economically-lagging Italian region. The analysis is carried out by estimating a stochastic production frontier for an unbalanced panel of manufacturing firms which are observed over the 1998-2006 period. Results show that the efficiency score is, on average, about 60%. A declining trend is observed over the last three-year period, 2004-2006. Moreover, firm efficiency increases with firm age and when firms export. Inconclusive evidence is found for the role of investments in ICT and R&D. This is not very surprising given that private effort in technological activities is extremely low in Calabria (private R&D intensity was less than 0.075% of regional GDP in 2010).

The paper has been submitted for publication in Technology and Investment.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Efficiency; ICT, R&D, Stochastic Frontier, Calabria, Manufacturing firms
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D2 - Production and Organizations > D22 - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis; D - Microeconomics > D2 - Production and Organizations > D24 - Production ; Cost ; Capital ; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity ; Capacity; L - Industrial Organization > L6 - Industry Studies: Manufacturing > L63 - Microelectronics ; Computers ; Communications Equipment; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences ; Diffusion Processes; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R12 - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity

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