IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jproda/v43y2015i1p1-12.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The contribution of physical and human capital accumulation to Italian regional growth: a nonparametric perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Simone Gitto
  • Paolo Mancuso

Abstract

This paper examines changes in the labor productivity, efficiency, technology, and physical and human capital experienced by different regions in Italy between 1980 and 2006. Cobb-Douglas and translog production specifications are not supported by the data. Thus, non-parametric methods are used to compute the Malmquist indices and their components. Moreover, the bootstrap technique allows us to determine the confidence intervals of all components of the labor productivity decomposition. The results suggest that the contributions of efficiency, technology, and physical and human capital accumulation to labor productivity growth differ significantly between Southern Italy and the remainder of the country. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Simone Gitto & Paolo Mancuso, 2015. "The contribution of physical and human capital accumulation to Italian regional growth: a nonparametric perspective," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 1-12, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jproda:v:43:y:2015:i:1:p:1-12
    DOI: 10.1007/s11123-013-0362-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11123-013-0362-y
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11123-013-0362-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

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

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Léopold Simar & Paul W. Wilson, 1998. "Sensitivity Analysis of Efficiency Scores: How to Bootstrap in Nonparametric Frontier Models," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(1), pages 49-61, January.
    2. Zelenyuk, Valentin, 2006. "Aggregation of Malmquist productivity indexes," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 174(2), pages 1076-1086, October.
    3. Vincenzo Scoppa, 2007. "Quality of Human and Physical Capital and Technological Gaps across Italian Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 585-599.
    4. Maffezzoli Marco, 2006. "Convergence Across Italian Regions and the Role of Technological Catch-Up," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-43, August.
    5. Rolf Färe & Emili Grifell‐Tatjé & Shawna Grosskopf & C. A. Knox Lovell, 1997. "Biased Technical Change and the Malmquist Productivity Index," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(1), pages 119-127, March.
    6. Oleg Badunenko & Daniel J. Henderson & Valentin Zelenyuk, 2008. "Technological Change and Transition: Relative Contributions to Worldwide Growth During the 1990s," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 70(4), pages 461-492, August.
    7. Quah, Danny, 1997. "Empirics for growth and distribution," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 2138, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Maurizio Conti, 2009. "The Italian Productivity Decline: Evidence from Regional Data," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 68(3), pages 269-309, July.
    9. Rolf Färe & Shawna Grosskopf & Dimitri Margaritis, 2006. "Productivity Growth and Convergence in the European Union," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 111-141, April.
    10. Subodh Kumar & R. Robert Russell, 2002. "Technological Change, Technological Catch-up, and Capital Deepening: Relative Contributions to Growth and Convergence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(3), pages 527-548, June.
    11. Lucio Picci, 1999. "Productivity and Infrastructure in the Italian Regions," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 58(3-4), pages 329-353, December.
    12. Bronzini, Raffaello & Piselli, Paolo, 2009. "Determinants of long-run regional productivity with geographical spillovers: The role of R&D, human capital and public infrastructure," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 187-199, March.
    13. Joseph Byrne & Giorgio Fazio & Davide Piacentino, 2009. "Total Factor Productivity Convergence among Italian Regions: Some Evidence from Panel Unit Root Tests," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 63-76.
    14. Daniel J. Henderson & R. Robert Russell, 2005. "Human Capital And Convergence: A Production-Frontier Approach ," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 46(4), pages 1167-1205, November.
    15. Davide Piacentino & Erasmo Vassallo, 2011. "Exploring the sources of labour productivity growth and convergence in the Italian regions: some evidence from a production frontier approach," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 46(2), pages 469-486, April.
    16. Basile, Roberto, 2001. "Export behaviour of Italian manufacturing firms over the nineties: the role of innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1185-1201, October.
    17. Li, Qi & Maasoumi, Esfandiar & Racine, Jeffrey S., 2009. "A nonparametric test for equality of distributions with mixed categorical and continuous data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 148(2), pages 186-200, February.
    18. Ceccobelli, M. & Gitto, S. & Mancuso, P., 2012. "ICT capital and labour productivity growth: A non-parametric analysis of 14 OECD countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 282-292.
    19. Danny Quah, 1997. "Empirics for Growth and Distribution," CEP Discussion Papers dp0324, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    20. Quah, Danny, 1997. "Empirics for Growth and Distribution: Stratification, Polarization, and Convergence Clubs," CEPR Discussion Papers 1586, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. Adriana Di Liberto & Francesco Pigliaru & Roberto Mura, 2008. "How to measure the unobservable: a panel technique for the analysis of TFP convergence," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 60(2), pages 343-368, April.
    22. Camilla Mastromarco & Ulrich Woitek, 2006. "Public Infrastructure Investment and Efficiency in Italian Regions," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 57-65, April.
    23. Raquel Ortega‐Argilés & Mariacristina Piva & Lesley Potters & Marco Vivarelli, 2010. "Is Corporate R&D Investment In High‐Tech Sectors More Effective?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 28(3), pages 353-365, July.
    24. Simar, Leopold & Wilson, Paul W., 1999. "Estimating and bootstrapping Malmquist indices," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 115(3), pages 459-471, June.
    25. P. Montanaro, 2003. "Lo stock di capitale pubblico: una stima per regione e per tipologia di bene," Rivista economica del Mezzogiorno, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 423-462.
    26. Quah, Danny T, 1997. "Empirics for Growth and Distribution: Stratification, Polarization, and Convergence Clubs," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 27-59, March.
    27. Daniel J. Henderson & Subal C. Kumbhakar, 2006. "Public and Private Capital Productivity Puzzle: A Nonparametric Approach," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 73(1), pages 219-232, July.
    28. Brunello, Giorgio & Miniaci, Raffaele, 1999. "The economic returns to schooling for Italian men. An evaluation based on instrumental variables1," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 509-519, November.
    29. Kneller, Richard & Andrew Stevens, Philip, 2003. "The specification of the aggregate production function in the presence of inefficiency," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 223-226, November.
    30. Hsiao, Cheng & Li, Qi & Racine, Jeffrey S., 2007. "A consistent model specification test with mixed discrete and continuous data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 140(2), pages 802-826, October.
    31. Wilson, Paul W., 2008. "FEAR: A software package for frontier efficiency analysis with R," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 247-254, December.
    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. Kashif Munir & Shahzad Arshad, 2018. "Factor accumulation and economic growth in Pakistan: incorporating human capital," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 45(3), pages 480-491, March.
    2. Min Zhang & Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo & Abraham Ayobamiji Awosusi & Muhammad Ramzan & Caner Otrakçı & Dervis Kirikkaleli, 2024. "Toward sustainable environment in Italy: The role of trade globalization, human capital, and renewable energy consumption," Energy & Environment, , vol. 35(4), pages 2058-2086, June.
    3. Manh Pham & Léopold Simar & Valentin Zelenyuk, 2024. "Statistical Inference for Aggregation of Malmquist Productivity Indices," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 72(4), pages 1615-1629, July.
    4. Simone Gitto, 2017. "Efficiency change, technological change and capital accumulation in Italian regions: a sectoral study," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(2), pages 191-207, March.
    5. Mauro Mussini & Biancamaria Zavanella, 2015. "Measuring bipolarization in labour productivity in Italy: a new index and its decomposition by sectors and regional factors," RIVISTA DI ECONOMIA E STATISTICA DEL TERRITORIO, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(3), pages 29-55.
    6. Nicky Rogge, 2019. "Regional productivity growth in the EU since 2000: something is better than nothing," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 423-444, February.
    7. Maroto, Andrés & Zofío, José Luis, 2016. "Accessibility gains and road transport infrastructure in Spain: A productivity approach based on the Malmquist index," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 143-152.
    8. Xu, Bin & Lin, Boqiang, 2016. "Differences in regional emissions in China's transport sector: Determinants and reduction strategies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 459-470.
    9. Magdalena Cyrek & Barbara Fura, 2019. "Employment for Sustainable Development: Sectoral Efficiencies in EU Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 277-318, May.
    10. Khan, Zeeshan & Malik, Muhammad Yousaf & Latif, Kashmala & Jiao, Zhilun, 2020. "Heterogeneous effect of eco-innovation and human capital on renewable & non-renewable energy consumption: Disaggregate analysis for G-7 countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    11. Emanuele Felice & Iacopo Odoardi & Dario D’Ingiullo, 2023. "The Chinese Inland-Coastal Inequality: The Role of Human Capital and the 2007–2008 Crisis Watershed," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(2), pages 761-788, July.

    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. Ceccobelli, M. & Gitto, S. & Mancuso, P., 2012. "ICT capital and labour productivity growth: A non-parametric analysis of 14 OECD countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 282-292.
    2. Barnabé Walheer, 2016. "Multi-Sector Nonparametric Production-Frontier Analysis of the Economic Growth and the Convergence of the European Countries," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 498-524, October.
    3. Oleg Badunenko & Daniel J. Henderson & Valentin Zelenyuk, 2008. "Technological Change and Transition: Relative Contributions to Worldwide Growth During the 1990s," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 70(4), pages 461-492, August.
    4. Walheer, Barnabé, 2016. "Growth and convergence of the OECD countries: A multi-sector production-frontier approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 252(2), pages 665-675.
    5. Francesco Aiello & Camilla Mastromarco & Angelo Zago, 2011. "Be productive or face decline. On the sources and determinants of output growth in Italian manufacturing firms," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 787-815, December.
    6. Oleg Badunenko & Daniel Henderson & R. Russell, 2013. "Polarization of the worldwide distribution of productivity," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 153-171, October.
    7. Jakub Growiec, 2012. "The World Technology Frontier: What Can We Learn from the US States?-super-," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 74(6), pages 777-807, December.
    8. Walheer, Barnabé, 2018. "Labour productivity growth and energy in Europe: A production-frontier approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 129-143.
    9. Jesús Peiró-Palomino, 2016. "European regional convergence revisited: the role of intangible assets," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 57(1), pages 165-194, July.
    10. Valentin Zelenyuk, 2023. "Productivity analysis: roots, foundations, trends and perspectives," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 229-247, December.
    11. Andreas Eder & Wolfgang Koller & Bernhard Mahlberg, 2024. "The contribution of industrial robots to labor productivity growth and economic convergence: a production frontier approach," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 157-181, April.
    12. Álvarez, Antonio & del Corral, Julio, 2006. "Separating Catch-up and Technical Change in Stochastic Frontier Models. A Monte Carlo Approach," Efficiency Series Papers 2006/03, University of Oviedo, Department of Economics, Oviedo Efficiency Group (OEG).
    13. Camilla Mastromarco & Léopold Simar, 2021. "Latent heterogeneity to evaluate the effect of human capital on world technology frontier," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 71-89, April.
    14. Daniel J. Henderson & Christopher F. Parmeter & R. Robert Russell, 2008. "Modes, weighted modes, and calibrated modes: evidence of clustering using modality tests," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(5), pages 607-638.
    15. Dimitris Margaritis & Rolf Färe & Shawna Grosskopf, 2007. "Productivity, convergence and policy: a study of OECD countries and industries," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 87-105, October.
    16. Oleg Badunenko & Diego Romero‐Ávila, 2013. "Financial Development And The Sources Of Growth And Convergence," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 54(2), pages 629-663, May.
    17. Laurens Cherchye & Wim Moesen, 2003. "Institutional Infrastructure and Economic Performance: Levels versus Catching Up and Frontier Shifts," Public Economics Working Paper Series ces0314, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centrum voor Economische Studiën, Working Group Public Economics.
    18. Haupt, Harry & Schnurbus, Joachim & Semmler, Willi, 2018. "Estimation of grouped, time-varying convergence in economic growth," Econometrics and Statistics, Elsevier, vol. 8(C), pages 141-158.
    19. Robert G. Chambers & Simone Pieralli & Yu Sheng, 2020. "The Millennium Droughts and Australian Agricultural Productivity Performance: A Nonparametric Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(5), pages 1383-1403, October.
    20. Daniel J. Henderson, 2010. "A test for multimodality of regression derivatives with application to nonparametric growth regressions," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(3), pages 458-480.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Total factor productivity (TFP); Regional convergence; Human capital; Bootstrap; Data envelopment analysis (DEA); Italian regions; C14; 047; R11;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    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:kap:jproda:v:43:y:2015:i:1:p:1-12. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.