Sofiane Ghali

FDI Contribution to Technical Efficiency in the Tunisian Manufacturing Sector

This paper investigates the contribution of FDI to firms’ technical efficiency by applying two empirical methodologies over the same sample of firms. Using a panel data for 674 firms belonging to the Tunisian manufacturing sector and observed over the period 1997-2001, we show statistically and econometrically that the robustness of FDI spillover effects is affected by the empirical methodology adopted. On the basis of TFP growth decomposition, our results also show that when spillover effects could be confirmed, they are, for a large proportion of firms, counterbalanced by internal technical inefficiency. This last result confirms the idea that FDI contribution to technical efficiency relies mainly on the firm’s internal organizational and absorptive capacities.

Restructuring and Economic Performance: the Experience of the Tunisian Economy

This paper aims at identifying the sources of comparative advantage and the bottlenecksof the Tunisian economy. By using an activity analysis model and yearly data on theinput-output structure and the factor endowments, the paper determines the evolution ofthe potential of the Tunisian economy between 1983 and 1996 and some of its keyaspects that the industrial restructuring program of 1996 could improve or reinforce. Theanalysis sheds light on the scarcity of various types of labor, in particular of qualifiedlabor.

FDI Contribution to Technical Efficiency in the Tunisian Manufacturing Sector: Evidence from Micro-panel Data

This paper investigates the contribution of FDI to firms’ technical efficiency based on a two-stage empirical method. Using panel data for 674 firms belonging to the Tunisian manufacturing sector and observed over the period 1997–2001, a bootstrap procedure is applied to correct for serial correlation affecting DEA technical efficiency scores estimated in a first stage. Results obtained from second-stage regressions show that FDI presence at the firm level has a positive effect on its technical efficiency. However, horizontal FDI spillovers are not evidenced while sectoral export activity represents a potential source of technology spillovers for local firms.

Effects of NTMs on the Extensive and Intensive Margins to Trade: The Case of Tunisia and Egypt

The last thirty years have witnessed a general liberalization process of merchandize trade flows. Indeed, tariffs have sharply decreased thanks to the multilateral, regional and/or bilateral trade integration agreements. However, concerns have been raised about the use of Non-Tariffs Measures (NTMs) as trade restriction policies. This paper aims to investigate the impact of NTMs on Tunisian and Egyptian imports. In addition to the distinction between different categories of NTMs (Sanitary and Phytosanitary, Technical Barriers to Trade, Export Related measures…), we study the impact of NTMs on the extensive and intensive margins to trade. The extensive margin has two dimensions: the number of varieties imported from each supplier and the number of supplying countries for each product. Using a traditional gravity model of international trade, we show that NTMs have been used more in Egypt than in Tunisia as a trade restriction measure. Moreover, they act on the intensive rather than the extensive margin.

Economic Restructuring and Total Factor Productivity Growth: Tunisia Over the Period 1983-2001

In this paper we aim to measure and decompose the growth of frontier total factor productivity (TFP) in Tunisia over the period 1983-2001. We define frontier TFP growth as the shift of the economy’s production frontier, which we obtain by solving for each year a linear program, a sort of aggregate DEA analysis. We then decompose this aggregate frontier TFP growth into changes in technology, terms of trade, efficiency and resource utilization. We can also attribute frontier TFP growth to its main beneficiaries: labor, decomposed into five types, capital, decomposed into two types, and the allowable trade deficit.We find that frontier TFP grew by about 1% a year after the introduction of the structural adjustment program of 1987. Labor, in particular unskilled labor, was the main beneficiary of frontier TFP growth. The Solow residual reflecting technological change was the main driver of frontier TFP growth. The terms of trade were not favorable to Tunisia. After 1992, while the Tunisian efficiency frontier moved outwards, the country moved away from its efficiency frontier.

Trade and R&D Externalities: Impact on the Cost of Production of the Tunisian Manufacturing Sector

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a suitable methodology for estimating the extent to which less developed countries — namely Tunisia — that hardly invest in research and development benefit from R&D that is conducted in industrial countries. In this study we use the imports of high-technology products as a proxy for the international spillovers measure and assess their impact on cost of production of the Tunisian manufacturing sector. Estimation results confirm the overall positive effect of trade as a channel of spillovers at the sectoral level. More precisely, imports of high-technology products and equipment enable recipient countries to benefit from foreign R&D. We demonstrated that foreign R&D spillovers decrease the demand for non-qualified labor and intermediate inputs, that physical capital and foreign R&D spillovers are complementary, and the interaction between capital formation and technological advances also applies to the international R&D spillovers effects.

Trade, Transaction Costs and TFP: Evidence from Tunisia and Egypt

Increases in total factor productivity (TFP) are commonly associated with accumulation of knowledge through technological innovation and investment in R&D. However, organizational innovations also improve productivity through the reduction of transaction costs. The main purpose of the paper is to assess the effect of trade innovations (aiming at decreasing transactions costs related to trade), labor qualification levels (or R&D) on the growth rate of TFP in Tunisian and Egyptian manufacturing industries. Empirical results show that trade innovations reduce transactions costs and lead to increases in TFP. Trade innovations and labor qualifications are more significant than investments in R&D. However, for the case of Tunisia, this growth rate is positively associated to trade innovations when the reduction of transaction costs is important enough.

TFP and Economic Potential of the Tunisian Economy

In this paper we try to measure and to explain total factor productivity (TFP) growth in Tunisia over the period 1983-1996. We do not measure TFP growth by the conventional Solow residual. Instead we define TFP as the shift of the economy?s production frontier, which we obtain year by year by a linear programming method, a sort of aggregate DEA analysis. We then decompose this aggregate TFP growth into a Solow residual, a terms of trade effect, and a shift in demand composition. We also proceed to a decomposition of TFP growth into individual factor productivity growth rates: those of labor, decomposed into five types, of capital and of the allowable trade deficit. We find that potential TFP has grown by 0.4 percent per year over the whole period. But, it is especially after 1991 that TFP has grown. Before that, it tended to display negative growth rates. Labor turns out to be the most important contributor to total factor productivity growth. Only in the last period did capital play an important role. The Solow residual was the main driver of TFP growth. Changes in the terms of trade and demand composition were detrimental to TFP growth.