Yuichiro Uchida

Privatisation and economic growth in developing countries

This article re-examines the relation between privatisation and economic growth. Previous studies that have attempted to measure this relationship have concluded that privatisation has had a sizeable positive effect on economic growth. Our study uses data for 63 developing countries over the time period 1988–97. It uses the framework of an extreme-bounds analysis (EBA) to conduct a cross-country growth regression analysis. Our findings contradict earlier results, but reaffirm the view that effective competition and its regulation may need to accompany privatisation to make a positive impact on economic growth.

Productivity growth in east Asia: A reappraisal

In recent years there has been considerable disagreement over the extent to which productivity growth has accounted for the success of the east Asian economies. Empirical evidence, based on forms of growth accounting or direct estimation of a production function, is inconclusive so that the debate appears to be at a stalemate. This article applies an alternative approach, using the Malmquist productivity indices, to investigate the contribution of productivity to the longer term growth. The results support the view that over the longer term, the east Asian economies were input driven but interesting differences arise between countries when shorter periods are analysed.

The Performance of Privatised Enterprises in Developing Countries

Abstract Privatisation has been advocated as the predominant way to solve the problems facing ailing public enterprises in developing countries. Despite this, the policy remains controversial. The available empirical evidence on the operational and financial performance of enterprises after privatisation has often painted a rosy picture. This paper reassesses the situation using a larger sample of enterprises and a comparative perspective between privatised utilities, non-utilities and private enterprises that have never been state owned. The results of our analysis point to there being differences in the performance across the three groups of enterprises and, in particular, to a deterioration in performance among privatised utilities. This suggests that the earlier optimism over the efficacy of privatisation may have been premature.

Innovation and Market Structure in the Manufacturing Sector: An Application of Linear Feedback Models

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the relationship between market structure and innovation activities at an industry level. The paper examines the relationship between these for the manufacturing sector in a sample of 33 countries. It applies a recently developed method, based on linear feedback models, and uses cross-country time-series data. Despite the relatively small number of observations, the results indicate that domestic competition, external market share, and research and development have a positive effect on innovation activities. The results also suggest that the introduction of the foreign competition may have an initial positive effect on innovation activities, but over time this becomes dissipated.

Domestic Competition and Technological and Trade Competitiveness

The book discusses competition from different theoretical perspectives and examines the implications these viewpoints have for policy. The contributors assess competitiveness in domestic markets and the impact of foreign competition. They also review the experiences of a range of countries in developing competition policy and examine both the strengths and weaknesses of these policies.