IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/tufwps/200413.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

What causes cross-industry differences of technical efficiency? An empirical investigation

Author

Listed:
  • Fritsch, Michael
  • Stephan, Andreas

Abstract

Using micro-level panel data of about 35,000 firms from the German Cost Structure Census, we analyze the differences of technical efficiency across industries. Technical efficiency is estimated by firms' fixed effects. One striking result is that the distribution of technical efficiency across industries is positively skewed. This is because the efficiency distribution is truncated at the lower end due to the least efficient firms which exit the market. We investigate the causes of technical efficiency differences across industries. Our econometric analyses provide evidence that capital and human capital intensity, the degree of vertical specialization as well as new firm formation rate are important for explaining the average technical efficiency of an industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Fritsch, Michael & Stephan, Andreas, 2004. "What causes cross-industry differences of technical efficiency? An empirical investigation," Freiberg Working Papers 2004/13, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:tufwps:200413
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/48369/1/483169323.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard B. Freeman & Lawrence F. Katz, 1995. "Introduction and Summary," NBER Chapters, in: Differences and Changes in Wage Structures, pages 1-22, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Fritsch, Michael & Falck, Oliver, . "New firm formation by industry over space and time: a multi-level analysis for Germany," Chapters in Economics,, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    3. Winter, Sidney G., 1984. "Schumpeterian competition in alternative technological regimes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 5(3-4), pages 287-320.
    4. Cubbin, John & Geroski, Paul A, 1987. "The Convergence of Profits in the Long Run: Inter-firm and Inter-industry Comparisons," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 427-442, June.
    5. repec:diw:diwwpp:dp322 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Michael Fritsch & Andreas Stephan, 2006. "Measuring performance heterogeneity within groups - a two-dimensional approach," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 17-20.
    7. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    8. Schmidt, Peter & Sickles, Robin C, 1984. "Production Frontiers and Panel Data," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 2(4), pages 367-374, October.
    9. repec:diw:diwwpp:dp453 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. repec:diw:diwwpp:dp309 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Bernd Görzig & Andreas Stephan, 2002. "Outsourcing and Firm-level Performance," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 309, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    12. Albach, Horst, 1980. "Average and Best-Practice Production Functions in German Industry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 55-70, September.
    13. Michael Fritsch & Andreas Stephan, 2004. "The Distribution and Heterogeneity of Technical Efficiency within Industries: An Empirical Assessment," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 453, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    14. David B. Audretsch, 1995. "Innovation and Industry Evolution," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011468, April.
    15. Boozer, Michael A., 1997. "Econometric Analysis of Panel DataBadi H. Baltagi Wiley, 1995," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(5), pages 747-754, October.
    16. Richard E. Caves, 1992. "Industrial Efficiency in Six Nations," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262031930, April.
    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. Joachim Wagner, 2006. "Politikrelevante Folgerungen aus Analysen mit wirtschaftsstatistischen Einzeldaten der Amtlichen Statistik," Working Paper Series in Economics 16, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    2. Badunenko, Oleg & Fritsch, Michael & Stephan, Andreas, 2008. "Allocative efficiency measurement revisited--Do we really need input prices?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 1093-1109, September.
    3. Vigenina, Denotes & Kritikos, Alexander S., 2004. "The individual micro-lending contract: is it a better design than joint-liability?: Evidence from Georgia," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 155-176, June.
    4. Bialkowski, Jedrzej & Gottschalk, Katrin & Wisniewski, Tomasz, 2006. "Political orientation of government and stock market returns," MPRA Paper 307, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Nov 2006.
    5. Kozhan, Roman, 2006. "Multiple Priors And No-Transaction Region," Working Paper Series 2006,4, European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), The Postgraduate Research Programme Capital Markets and Finance in the Enlarged Europe.

    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. repec:diw:diwwpp:dp453 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Michael Fritsch & Andreas Stephan, 2004. "The Distribution and Heterogeneity of Technical Efficiency within Industries: An Empirical Assessment," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 453, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Almas Heshmati, 2003. "Productivity Growth, Efficiency and Outsourcing in Manufacturing and Service Industries," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 79-112, February.
    4. Michael Fritsch, 2004. "Entrepreneurship, entry and performance of new business compared in two growth regimes: East and West Germany," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 14(5), pages 525-542, December.
    5. Michael Fritsch & Udo Brixy & Oliver Falck, 2006. "The Effect of Industry, Region, and Time on New Business Survival – A Multi-Dimensional Analysis," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 28(3), pages 285-306, May.
    6. repec:diw:diwwpp:dp322 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Michael Fritsch & Pamela Mueller, 2004. "Effects of New Business Formation on Regional Development over Time," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(8), pages 961-975.
    8. Henrekson, Magnus & Johansson, Dan, 2010. "Firm Growth, Institutions and Structural Transformation," Ratio Working Papers 150, The Ratio Institute.
    9. Tavassoli, Sam, 2015. "Innovation determinants over industry life cycle," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 18-32.
    10. Ghosal, Vivek & Nair-Reichert, Usha, 2009. "Investments in modernization, innovation and gains in productivity: Evidence from firms in the global paper industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 536-547, April.
    11. Chengguang Li & Rodrigo Isidor & Luis Alfonso Dau & Rudy Kabst, 2018. "The More the Merrier? Immigrant Share and Entrepreneurial Activities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(5), pages 698-733, September.
    12. Ortega-Argilés, Raquel & Piva, Mariacristina & Vivarelli, Marco, 2011. "Productivity Gains from R&D Investment: Are High-Tech Sectors Still Ahead?," IZA Discussion Papers 5975, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Rui Baptista & Murat Karaöz & João Correia Leitão, 2020. "Diversification by young, small firms: the role of pre-entry resources and entry mistakes," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 103-122, June.
    14. Fındık, Derya & Tansel, Aysit, 2013. "Intangible investment and technical efficiency: The case of software-intensive manufacturing firms in Turkey," MPRA Paper 66165, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Aug 2014.
    15. Tran, Hien Thu, 2019. "Institutional quality and market selection in the transition to market economy," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1-1.
    16. Michael Fritsch, 2002. "Measuring the Quality of Regional Innovation Systems: A Knowledge Production Function Approach," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 25(1), pages 86-101, January.
    17. Cefis, Elena, 2003. "Is there persistence in innovative activities?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 489-515, April.
    18. Christopher Bowdler & Luca Nunziata, 2007. "Inflation Adjustment and Labour Market Structures: Evidence from a Multi‐country Study," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 109(3), pages 619-642, September.
    19. Stephan, Michael, 2013. "Theorien der Industrieevolution," Discussion Papers on Strategy and Innovation 13-03, Philipps-University Marburg, Department of Technology and Innovation Management (TIM).
    20. Michael Fritsch & Sandra Kublina, 2015. "Entrepreneurship,Growth, Regional Growth Regimes," Jena Economics Research Papers 2015-002, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    21. Koski, Heli & Sierimo, Carolina, 2003. "Entry and Exit in the ICT Sector - New Markets, New Industrial Dynamics?," Discussion Papers 847, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    22. Kurt Dopfer, 2012. "The origins of meso economics," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 133-160, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Technical efficiency; cross-industry study; efficiency distribution; Technische Effizienz; Branchenunterschiede; Effizienzverteilung;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms

    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:zbw:tufwps:200413. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fwfrede.html .

    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.