Lorenzo Serrano

Productivity, efficiency and technical change in the European railways: A non-parametric approach

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the evolution of productivity in the European railways in the period 1970–95. We use a non-parametric approach that enables changes in productivity to be broken down into variations in efficiency and technical change. The results indicate that the productivity growth is concentrated in the last period (1985–95), when the majority of the companies undertook processes of reforms. This increase in productivity is mainly due to technical progress. We also analyse the determinants of efficiency and, unlike other papers, the technical change, finding that the greater the degree of autonomy and financial independence, the higher the efficiency levels and technical change.

Total factor productivity measurement and human capital in OECD countries

Abstract This paper analyses the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) evolution in OECD countries by breaking down productivity gains into technical change and efficiency change. To avoid biases, Malmquist indices of productivity, including human capital, are estimated. The results indicate that, in fact, the inclusion of human capital has a significant effect on the accurate measurement of TFP.

- Convergence In Oecd Countries: Technical Change, Efficiency And Productivity

The aim of this study is to analyse labour productivity convergence in the OECD countries over the period 1975-90. A nonparametric frontier approach is used to calculate the Malmquist productivity index. By breaking it down, the contribution in the growth of labour productivity of technical progress, of changes in efficiency, and of the accumulation of inputs per worker are quantified. Unlike other studies, the results obtained show that technical change has worked against labour productivity convergence, since it has always been greater in the countries with higher labour productivity.

EFFICIENCY, ENDOGENOUS AND EXOGENOUS CREDIT RISK IN THE BANKING SYSTEMS OF THE EURO AREA *

The implantation of the Euro in 11 of the EU states has driven the big banks to expand their presence in other European countries, which may have negative consequences on their credit risk in view of the disadvantages involved in entering new markets. The aim of this study is to analyse the efficiency and the credit risk of the banks of the most important countries of the Euro area, using a one-stage parametric stochastic procedure that allows one to identify whether the behaviour towards risk of the banks analysed was more cautious or more reckless during the period analysed. The results indicate that adjustments for risk are important in the case of profit efficiency but not in the case of cost efficiency.

Human capital in OECD countries: Technical change, efficiency and productivity

The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of human capital in the productivity gains of the OECD countries in the period 1965-90, breaking down the productivity gains into technical change and gains in efficiency. For this purpose we use both a stochastic frontier approach and a non-parametric approach (DEA) and calculate Malmquist indices of productivity. The results obtained indicate the existence of both a level effect (a higher level of human capital raises labour productivity) and a rate effect (a higher level of human capital affects positively the rate of technical change) associated with human capital. The differences among countries in endowments of human capital have worked against labour productivity convergence, since the richer countries, thanks to their greater endowment of human capital, have experienced higher rates of technical change.

COST AND REVENUE INEFFICIENCIES IN THE EUROPEAN RAILWAYS

This study analyses cost and revenue inefficiencies for a sample of European railway companies. On the basis of a DEA model we calculate cost and revenue inefficiencies, decomposing them into inefficiencies of a technical or allocative type. It is observed that inefficiencies in revenues are greater than those in costs, indicating that the study of inefficiencies in costs is only a partial analysis of the problem. Also, technical inefficiencies are greater than the allocative type. Finally, the most independent companies, with least external intervention in their decisions, are also the most efficient in both costs and revenue. Este trabajo analiza las ineficiencias en costes y en ingresos de una muestra decompanias ferroviarias europeas. Los indicadores de eficiencia en costes y en ingresosse calculan utilizando la tecnica DEA y se descomponen en sus en ineficiencias tecnicasy asignativas. Los resultados indican que las ineficiencias en ingresos son mayores quelas ineficiencias en costes, indicando que el estudio de las ineficiencias en costesconstituye un analisis parcial del problema. Asimismo, las ineficiencias tecnicas sonmayores que las de tipo asignativo. Finalmente, las companias mas independientes, conmenor intervencion externa en sus decisiones, son tambien las mas eficientes en costes yen ingresos.

The Effect of Specialisation on Banks' Efficiency: An International Comparison

Abstract This study analyses the effects of specialisation on the cost efficiency of a set of banking systems of the European Union over the period 1992–1998. Unlike in the established literature in which specialisation differences are not considered, in this paper cost inefficiencies are decomposed into two different components: the first is related to the inefficiency associated with the composition of specialisations in each banking system and the second is related to specific inefficiencies of banks within their specialisation. The results show the existence of high cost inefficiencies. However, the intra‐specialisation inefficiencies indicate that the inefficiencies of the European banking systems are much smaller when the effect of productive composition (specialisation) is discounted. This effect is much more evident in those banking systems specialised in the more costly types of business (retail banking) because their composition inefficiency is higher.

EFFICIENCY MEASURES AND OUTPUT SPECIFICATION: THE CASE OF EUROPEAN RAILWAYS

This study analyzes the sensitivity of the efficiency indicators of a sample of European railway companies to different alternatives in output specification. The results vary according to the specification selected. Investigating the causes of these differences reveals that the efficiency indicators obtained with different specifications can be brought substantially closer, particularly when the efficiency indicators obtained by considering freight and passenger train kilometers as output variables are corrected to account for the impact of the load factor.

Spain and Italy: Catching-up and Falling Behind – Two Different Tales of Productivity Slowdown

The paper presents a first set of results for Spain and Italy using the EUKLEMS database. It emphasizes the different paths followed by the two countries over the last thirty five years, even though they still have many features in common. The motivation behind this paper is the poor productivity performance that the two countries have shown recently. The general overview details the factors underlying the process of per capita income convergence. Productivity performance is highlighted as the driving factor of convergence, deserving the greatest attention from different perspectives: the contributions of the different sources of productivity growth, which make use of the growth accounting framework; the impact of the structural change undergone by the two countries while moving from economies with still important shares of the agricultural sector to a more modern one; or the responsibility of poor productivity improvements in given industries. The changing composition of labour also deserves a detailed analysis because of its importance in productivity over the period analyzed.

On convergence accounting

This paper analyses a simple and direct way to break down the convergence for labour productivity into contributions from different sources by running separate convergence regressions of the contribution to growth of each factor on the initial labour productivity level. This is because the total convergence parameter is simply the sum of parameters of convergence in such separate regressions. An application for OECD countries over the period 1965-90 shows that TFP growth is the main factor in explaining OECD labour productivity convergence. Physical investment was an important source of convergence, but only until 1980. Finally human capital accumulation had little effect throughout the period, with a minor positive effect in the last years.