IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/lrc/larijb/v3y2013i4p50-64.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Comparative Study on Timber Productivity by Timber Firms in Ghana as Influenced by Ownership

Author

Listed:
  • Dr. Martin Amoah

    (Senior Lecturer/ Dean Faculty of Technology and Vocational Education,University of Education Winneba,Kumasi, Ghana)

  • Alexander Fianko Otchere

    (Department of Information Systems and Decision Science, School of Business,Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology Kumasi,Kumasi, Ghana)

Abstract

Some of the major problems that confront the timber industry in Ghana are: The industries inability to diversify value-added products for export as well as decline in export volumes, prices, and number of sawmills which are actively engaged in the production and exportation of wood products especially the locally-owned. Furthermore, the capacity of forest sector has also reduced. These developments present a challenge to the local entrepreneurs in the face of globalization; and for that matter, the need to conduct an empirical comparative study into the issues to find solutions to mitigate them is now.The average number of products exported ware 3 and 4 by the locally- and foreign-owned firms respectively. In general, both categories of firms showed declines in eight low export prices of wood products from 2000 to 2008. Air-dried and kiln-dried lumber were the dominant products exported by both categories of firms. The foreign-owned timber firms exported ten high-priced timber products and eight by their counterparts; this makes the foreign-owned firms more diversified than the locally-owned firms. It is also worthy of note that, more than half (59%) of the foreign-owned firms exported between 4 and 6 products while less than one-fourth (23%) of the locally-owned firms exported the same number of products. Only one foreign owned firm exported products of 10 and above. Again the foreign owned - firms concentrated more on value added products while the locally-owned - firms specialized on primary products. This suggests that the foreign-owned firms are more efficient than their local counterparts.Statistical analysis conducted on all the products using (Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test) indicated that the differences were not statistically significant. Finally, the timber firms in Ghana should take innovative measures to diversify and maximize the recovery rate of volume and value of timber products especially the locally owned–firms so that they can compete globally.

Suggested Citation

  • Dr. Martin Amoah & Alexander Fianko Otchere, 2013. "A Comparative Study on Timber Productivity by Timber Firms in Ghana as Influenced by Ownership," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 3(4), pages 50-64, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:lrc:larijb:v:3:y:2013:i:4:p:50-64
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://thejournalofbusiness.org/index.php/site/article/view/29/28
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Baldwin & Wulong Gu, 2003. "Export-market participation and productivity performance in Canadian manufacturing," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 36(3), pages 634-657, August.
    2. Michael Gort, 1962. "Diversification and Integration in American Industry," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gort62-1.
    3. James Benhin & Edward Barbier, 2004. "Structural Adjustment Programme, Deforestation and Biodiversity Loss in Ghana," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 27(3), pages 337-366, March.
    4. John R. Baldwin & Richard E. Caves & Wulong Gu, 2005. "Responses to Trade Liberalization: Changes in Product Diversification in Foreign- and Domestic-Controlled Plants," Chapters, in: Lorraine Eden & Wendy Dobson (ed.), Governance, Multinationals and Growth, chapter 10, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Rama, Ed & Sabourin, David & Baldwin, John R., 1999. "Growth of Advanced Technology Use in Canadian Manufacturing During the 1990's," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 1999105e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    6. Baldwin, John R. Gu, Wulong, 2003. "Participation in Export Markets and Productivity Performance in Canadian Manufacturing," Economic Analysis (EA) Research Paper Series 2003011e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    7. Alexander Fianko Otchere & Jonathan Annan & Emanuel Kwabena Anin, 2013. "Achieving Competitive Advantage through Supply Chain Integration in the Cocoa Industry: A Case Study of Olam Ghana Limited and Produce Buying Company Limited," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 3(2), pages 131-145, February.
    8. Beckstead, Desmond & Caves, Richard & Baldwin, John R., 2002. "Changes in the Diversification of Canadian Manufacturing Firms and Plants (1973-1997): A Move to Specialization," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2002179e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. John Baldwin & Wulong Gu, 2009. "The Impact of Trade on Plant Scale, Production-Run Length and Diversification," NBER Chapters, in: Producer Dynamics: New Evidence from Micro Data, pages 557-592, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. John R. Baldwin & Richard E. Caves & Wulong Gu, 2005. "Responses to Trade Liberalization: Changes in Product Diversification in Foreign- and Domestic-Controlled Plants," Chapters, in: Lorraine Eden & Wendy Dobson (ed.), Governance, Multinationals and Growth, chapter 10, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Marc J. Melitz & Daniel Trefler, 2012. "Gains from Trade When Firms Matter," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(2), pages 91-118, Spring.
    4. Alla Lileeva, 2008. "Trade liberalization and productivity dynamics: evidence from Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(2), pages 360-390, May.
    5. Lileeva, Alla, 2008. "Trade Liberalization and Productivity Dynamics: Evidence from Canada," Economic Analysis (EA) Research Paper Series 2008051e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    6. John Baldwin & Beiling Yan, 2021. "Globalization, Productivity Performance, and the Transformation of the Production Process," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(4), pages 1088-1115, October.
    7. Gu, Wulong Sawchuk, Gary, 2006. "How Are Canadian Regions Adjusting to a Larger and More Integrated North American Market?," Economic Analysis (EA) Research Paper Series 2006039e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    8. Sourafel Girma & Holger Görg, 2022. "Productivity effects of processing and ordinary export market entry: A time‐varying treatments approach," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 836-853, August.
    9. Ergun Dogan & Koi Nyen Wong, 2020. "Sources and Channels of International Knowledge Spillovers in ASEAN‐5: The Role of Institutional Quality," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 470-486, May.
    10. Holger Breinlich & Patrick Nolen & Greg C Wright, 2020. "Is publicly-reported firm-level trade data reliable? Evidence from the UK," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-10, November.
    11. Bronwyn Hall & Francesca Lotti & Jacques Mairesse, 2009. "Innovation and productivity in SMEs: empirical evidence for Italy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 13-33, June.
    12. Jingfang Zhang & Emir Malikov, 2023. "Detecting Learning by Exporting and from Exporters," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 1-19, August.
    13. Pei Liu & Wei-Chiao Huang & Hao Chen, 2020. "Can the National Green Industrial Policy Improve Production Efficiency of Enterprises?—Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-17, August.
    14. Flora Bellone & Patrick Musso & Lionel Nesta & Michel Quere, 2008. "The U-Shaped Productivity Dynamics of French Exporters," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(4), pages 636-659, December.
    15. Gustavo Crespi & Chiara Criscuolo & Jonathan Haskel, 2008. "Productivity, exporting, and the learning‐by‐exporting hypothesis: direct evidence from UK firms," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(2), pages 619-638, May.
    16. Ricardo A. López, 2005. "Trade and Growth: Reconciling the Macroeconomic and Microeconomic Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(4), pages 623-648, September.
    17. Johannes Van Biesebroeck & Emily Yu & Shenjie Chen, 2015. "The impact of trade promotion services on Canadian exporter performance," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(4), pages 1481-1512, November.
    18. Mercè Sala-Ríos & Mariona Farré-Perdiguer & Teresa Torres-Solé, 2020. "Exporting and Firms’ Performance—What about Cooperatives? Evidence from Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-22, October.
    19. Wulong Gu & Michael Willox, 2023. "The Post-2001 Productivity Growth Divergence between Canada and the United States," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 45, pages 27-60, Fall.
    20. Roberto Alvarez & Ricardo López, 2005. "Exporting and performance: evidence from Chilean plants," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 38(4), pages 1384-1400, November.

    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:lrc:larijb:v:3:y:2013:i:4:p:50-64. 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: Al Hossain (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.thejournalofbusiness.org .

    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.