Working papers

Abstract

There has been a lively discussion about measures of social welfarebeyond GDP induced by Stiglitz Report (Stiglitz et al, 2009) which can be viewed as a summation of the earlier efforts to deal with those challenges. Environmental indicators constitute one important dimension to be taken into account in assessing the welfare along with the economic and social indicators. Employing non-parametrical approach, the Data Envelopment Analysis SBM model is extended for environment to measure the so called eco-efficiency. Resulting scores and benchmarks are used to decompose eco-productivity into factors attributable to changes in efficiency, technology, extensive factors of production, and emissions. Results suggest that in European countries in the span 2000 – 2010, an environment-saving rather than input-saving technology change has been taking place.

Abstract

Over the last decades, theoretical work has come up with a significant amount of concepts how the income inequality and economic growth may affect each other. The recent literature identifies many channels through inequality may have positive, negative or even both effects on economic performance, but in different time dimensions.The relationship has been researched from the both perspective: the impact of income inequality on economic growth, and how the economic growth and efficiency are related to income inequality. Despite of the amount of theoretical and empirical work, the relationship between efficiency and equality is far from being well understood.

Abstract

The present paper provides first empirical evidence on the relationship between market size and the number of firms for a transition economy. We estimate size thresholds required to support different numbers of firms for seven retail and professional service industries in a large number of distinct geographic markets in Slovakia. The empirical analysis is carried out for three time periods (1995, 2001 and 2010) characterizing different stages of the transition process. Our results suggest that the relationship between market size and the number of firm has changed substantially over time. While entry threshold ratios tend to be larger than one and decline with the number of firms in most professions in 1995, the estimation results obtained for 2010 suggest entry threshold ratios much closer to one. This finding is consistent with observations suggesting a significant decline in entry barriers as well as an intensification of competition over time.

Abstract

We measure eco-efficiency of an economy by means of an augmented Leontief input-output model extended by constraints for primary inputs. Using a multi-objective optimization model the eco-efficiency frontier of the economy is generated. The results of these multi-objective optimization problems define eco-efficient virtual decision making units (DMUs). The eco-efficiency is obtained as a solution of a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model with virtual DMUs defining the potential and a DMU describing the actual performance of the economy. In this paper the procedure is extended to an intertemporal approach in the spirit of the Luenberger productivity indicator. This indicator permits decomposing eco-productivity change into eco-efficiency change and eco-technical change. The indicator is then further decompounded in a way that enables us to examine the contributions of individual production factors, undesirable as well as desirable outputs to eco-productivity change over time. For illustration purposes the proposed model is applied to investigate eco-productivity growth of the Austrian economy.

Abstract

The present paper provides first empirical evidence on the effects of entry on market conduct for a transition economy. We estimate size thresholds required to support different numbers of firms for seven retail and professional service industries in a large number of distinct geographic markets in Slovakia. Our results suggest a differential impact of entry on market conduct: while market conduct is unaffected by entry in the north-western parts of Slovakia, competition tends to kick in slowly in most professions in the south-east. This latter region suffers from infrastructure bottlenecks and competitors require a larger increase in the number of customers to come in.

Abstract

Recent discussions on the definition of growth in terms of welfare beyond GDP suggest that it is of urgent need to develop new approaches for measuring the economic performance of the firms and national economies. The new concepts should take into account simultaneously economic as well as social and environmental goals. We first discuss several approaches to productivity measures. Then we extend the Data Envelopment Analysis models for environment to measure the so called eco-efficiency and for social indicators to take into account the social performance. For an illustration, we perform the analysis of 30 European countries in the year 2010. In the last section we discuss the possibilities of inter-temporal analysis of proposed models and of their use in ex-ante evaluation of different policy scenarios.

Abstract

Neoclassical growth accounting is a methodology used to measure the contribution of different production factors to economic growth and to indirectly compute the rate of technological progress. This model assumes constant returns to scale and perfectly competitive factor markets, which implies that factor prices are equal to marginal products – something that is only satisfied if factor markets are cleared, and external effects and distortions are absent. However, these conditions are usually not satisfied in real economies. Moreover, growth accounting assumes efficiency on factor and commodity markets, and consequently does not distinguish between efficiency change and technical change. In this paper, we estimate total factor productivity growth without recourse to data on factor input shares or prices. In the proposed model, the economy is represented by the Leontief input-output model, which is extended by the constraints of primary inputs. A Luenberger productivity indicator is proposed to estimate productivity change over time; this is then decomposed in a way that enables us to examine the contributions of individual production factors and individual outputs to productivity change. The results allow the inference of which inputs or outputs of an economy are the drivers of the overall productivity change– this is then decomposed into efficiency change and technical change components. Using input-output tables of the US economy for the period 1977 to 2006, we show that technical progress is the main source of productivity change. Technical progress, in turn, is mostly driven by capital whereas low-skilled labor contributes negatively.