IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecmode/v23y2006i6p967-977.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A re-examination of the technological catching-up hypothesis across OECD industries

Author

Listed:
  • Boussemart, Jean-Philippe
  • Briec, Walter
  • Cadoret, Isablelle
  • Tavera, Christophe

Abstract

This study re-examines the catching-up hypothesis at the industry level across the main OECD countries, using panel data econometric models involving technological gap indicators calculated with a nonparametric distance function suggested by Färe et al. [Färe, R.S., Grosskopf, M.N., Norris, M., Xhang, Z., 1994. Productivity growth, technical progress, and efficiency change in industrialized countries. American Economic Review 84, 66–83]. The results show that there is statistical evidence of a catching-up process at the industry level. Moreover, both tradables and nontradables sectors exhibit catching-up effects and technology adoption from abroad. This result complements the findings by Bernard and Jones [Bernard, A.B., Jones, C.I., 1996a. Comparing apples to oranges: productivity convergence and measurement across industries and countries. American Economic Review 86(5), 1216–1238., Bernard, A.B., Jones, C.I., 1996b. Productivity across industries and countries: Time series theory and evidence. Review Of Economics and Statistics 78, 135–146], Gouyette and Perelman [Gouyette, C., Perelman, S., 1997. Productivity convergence in OECD services industries. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics 8, 279–295] and Hansson and Henrekson [Hansson, P., Henrekson, M., 1997. Catching up, social capability, government size and economic growth, in V. Bergström, eds, Government and Growth, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 61–126] that there is no (or even a slow) catching-up effect in the manufacturing sector. Moreover, social capability indicators evaluated for each country show that "Non-European" and "Central European" tradables sectors have a rather similar degree of inefficiency while "North European" countries are less efficient for both tradables and non-tradables. Lastly, both the cross country and the cross sectors dispersions of inefficiency levels are smaller for tradables sectors than for non-tradables.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Boussemart, Jean-Philippe & Briec, Walter & Cadoret, Isablelle & Tavera, Christophe, 2006. "A re-examination of the technological catching-up hypothesis across OECD industries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 967-977, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:23:y:2006:i:6:p:967-977
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264-9993(06)00048-4
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patrick T. Hultberg & M. Ishaq Nadiri & Robin C. Sickles, 1999. "An International Comparison of Technology Adoption and Efficiency: A Dynamic Panel Model," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 55-56, pages 449-474.
    2. Bernard, Andrew B & Jones, Charles I, 1996. "Productivity across Industries and Countries: Time Series Theory and Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(1), pages 135-146, February.
    3. Abramovitz, Moses, 1986. "Catching Up, Forging Ahead, and Falling Behind," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(2), pages 385-406, June.
    4. Taskin, Fatma & Zaim, Osman, 1997. "Catching-up and innovation in high- and low-income countries," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 93-100, January.
    5. Fare, Rolf & Shawna Grosskopf & Mary Norris & Zhongyang Zhang, 1994. "Productivity Growth, Technical Progress, and Efficiency Change in Industrialized Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(1), pages 66-83, March.
    6. Gouyette, Claudine & Perelman, Sergio, 1997. "Productivity convergence in OECD service industries," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 279-295, August.
    7. Bernard, Andrew B & Jones, Charles I, 1996. "Comparing Apples to Oranges: Productivity Convergence and Measurement across Industries and Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1216-1238, December.
    8. repec:adr:anecst:y:1999:i:55-56:p:18 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    10. David Dollar & Edward N. Wolff, 1993. "Competitiveness, Convergence, and International Specialization," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262041359, April.
    11. Miller, Stephen M. & Upadhyay, Mukti P., 2002. "Total factor productivity and the convergence hypothesis," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 267-286, June.
    12. Nazrul Islam, 1995. "Growth Empirics: A Panel Data Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(4), pages 1127-1170.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jaap W. B. Bos & Bertrand Candelon & Claire Economidou, 2016. "Does knowledge spill over across borders and technology regimes?," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 63-82, August.
    2. Autant-Bernard, Corinne & Guironnet, Jean-Pascal & Massard, Nadine, 2011. "Agglomeration and social return to R&D: Evidence from French plant productivity changes," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(1), pages 34-42, July.
    3. Boussemart, Jean-Philippe & Leleu, Hervé & Mensah, Edward & Shitikova, Karina, 2020. "Technological catching-up and structural convergence among US industries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 135-146.
    4. Jean-Philippe Boussemart & Walter Briec & Christophe Tavera, 2011. "More evidence on technological catching-up in the manufacturing sector," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(18), pages 2321-2330.
    5. Molinos-Senante, María & Maziotis, Alexandros & Sala-Garrido, Ramón, 2014. "The Luenberger productivity indicator in the water industry: An empirical analysis for England and Wales," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 18-28.
    6. Hugo Erken & Piet Donselaar & Roy Thurik, 2018. "Total factor productivity and the role of entrepreneurship," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(6), pages 1493-1521, December.
    7. Vouldis, Angelos T. & Michaelides, Panayotis G. & Tsionas, Efthymios G., 2010. "Estimating semi-parametric output distance functions with neural-based reduced form equations using LIML," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 697-704, May.
    8. Bos, J.W.B. & Economidou, C. & Koetter, M., 2010. "Technology clubs, R&D and growth patterns: Evidence from EU manufacturing," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 60-79, January.
    9. Korap, Levent, 2010. "OECD ülkeleri için ekonomik yakınsama öngörüsünün zaman serisi panel birim kök yöntemleri ile sınanması [An essay upon testing economic convergence hypothesis with time series panel unit root metho," MPRA Paper 29644, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Managi, Shunsuke & Kumar, Surender, 2009. "Trade-induced technological change: Analyzing economic and environmental outcomes," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 721-732, May.
    11. Vatthanamixay Chansomphou & Masaru Ichihashi, 2013. "Structural change, labor productivity growth, and convergence of BRIC countries," IDEC DP2 Series 3-5, Hiroshima University, Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation (IDEC).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peter Mulder & Henri Groot, 2007. "Sectoral Energy- and Labour-Productivity Convergence," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 36(1), pages 85-112, January.
    2. Miketa, Asami & Mulder, Peter, 2005. "Energy productivity across developed and developing countries in 10 manufacturing sectors: Patterns of growth and convergence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 429-453, May.
    3. Peter Mulder & Henri Groot, 2007. "Sectoral Energy- and Labour-Productivity Convergence," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 36(1), pages 85-112, January.
    4. Carree, M. A. & Klomp, L. & Thurik, A. R., 2000. "Productivity convergence in OECD manufacturing industries," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 337-345, March.
    5. Markus Eberhardt & Francis Teal, 2011. "Econometrics For Grumblers: A New Look At The Literature On Cross‐Country Growth Empirics," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 109-155, February.
    6. Jean-Philippe Boussemart & Walter Briec & Christophe Tavera, 2011. "More evidence on technological catching-up in the manufacturing sector," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(18), pages 2321-2330.
    7. Julie Le Gallo & Sandy Dall'erba, 2008. "Spatial and sectoral productivity convergence between European regions, 1975–2000," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 87(4), pages 505-525, November.
    8. Rachel Griffith & Stephen Redding & John Van Reenen, 2004. "Mapping the Two Faces of R&D: Productivity Growth in a Panel of OECD Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(4), pages 883-895, November.
    9. John Ssozi & Simplice A. Asongu, 2016. "The Comparative Economics of Catch-up in Output per Worker, Total Factor Productivity and Technological Gain in Sub-Saharan Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 28(2), pages 215-228, June.
    10. Markus Eberhardt & Francis Teal, 2008. "Modeling Technology and Technological Change in Manufacturing: How do Countries Differ?," CSAE Working Paper Series 2008-12, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    11. Joaquin Maudos & Jose Manuel Pastor & Lorenzo Serrano, 2000. "Convergence in OECD countries: technical change, efficiency and productivity," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(6), pages 757-765.
    12. Victoria Shestalova, 2003. "Sequential Malmquist Indices of Productivity Growth: An Application to OECD Industrial Activities," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 211-226, April.
    13. Çınar Tuğrul, 2017. "Spatial Dimensions of Sectoral Labor Productivity Convergence in Turkey: A Spatial Panel Data Approach," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, April.
    14. Amjad Naveed & Nisar Ahmad, 2016. "Labour productivity convergence and structural changes: simultaneous analysis at country, regional and industry levels," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 5(1), pages 1-17, December.
    15. Bos, J.W.B. & Economidou, C. & Koetter, M., 2010. "Technology clubs, R&D and growth patterns: Evidence from EU manufacturing," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 60-79, January.
    16. Joaquin Maudos & Jose Pastor & Lorenzo Serrano, 2000. "Efficiency and Productive Specialization: An Application to the Spanish Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(9), pages 829-842.
    17. Van Dijk, Michiel, 2013. "Productivity growth at the sectoral level: measurement and projections," Conference papers 332295, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    18. Smolny, Werner, 1999. "International Sectoral Spillovers: An Empirical Analysis for German and U.S. Industries," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 135-154, January.
    19. Cornwell, Christopher Mark & Wächter, Jens-Uwe, 1999. "Productivity convergence and economic growth: A frontier production function approach," ZEI Working Papers B 06-1999, University of Bonn, ZEI - Center for European Integration Studies.
    20. Tahir Mahmood, 2012. "Labour Productivity Convergence in 52 Industries: A Panel Data Analysis of Some European Countries," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 2(3), pages 320-339.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:23:y:2006:i:6:p:967-977. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30411 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.