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The quality of accounting information determines whether such information can serve as an effective basis for rational macroeconomic regulation and investment decisions. Studying accounting conservatism is crucial because it plays a pivotal role in shaping the macroeconomic landscape. This study examines the impact of accounting conservatism on the speed and quality of macroeconomic growth in emerging markets. Our findings indicate that regional accounting conservatism can hinder the speed of macroeconomic growth but enhance its overall quality. This effect is channelled primarily through aggregate corporate profits, total factor productivity level, and dispersion. Further analysis reveals that this relationship is more pronounced in regions characterised by high financial marketisation, weak government intervention, and well-developed intermediary markets. This study significantly enriches our understanding of the macroeconomic consequences of accounting conservatism in emerging markets and provides valuable insights into future macroeconomic trends at both the quantitative and qualitative levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an effective means of addressing environmental externalities, market-based environmental regulation inevitably has potential effects on the economy. Based on Porter's theory, we investigate how emission charges affect firms' total factor productivity and explore the moderating role of firms' breakthrough technological innovation. Our findings reveal the moderating effect of breakthrough technological innovation on the total factor productivity enhancement of the emission fee by looking at Chinese A-share listed firms with heavy pollution from 2011 to 2020. Our mechanism tests suggest that emission fees and breakthrough technological innovation increase firms' total factor productivity by enhancing firms' green innovation. In addition, our heterogeneity analysis shows that emission charges and breakthrough technology innovation effectively increase total factor productivity only for state-owned firms, and the effect on total factor productivity of non-state-owned firms is insignificant. Our findings suggest that implementing market-based environmental regulations and incentives for firms to embark on breakthrough technological innovation effectively increases firms' total factor productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adopts a novel institutional perspective—environmental centralisation—to examine its impact on firm productivity in developing countries. In 2008, China's State Environmental Protection Administration was upgraded to the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP). This administrative reform strengthened the central government's ability to protect the environment, enabling it to address more environmental affairs and concentrate on environmental rights. Based on the quasi‐natural experiment of the establishment of the MEP, this study takes a new perspective on the impact of environmental centralisation on productivity. The difference‐in‐difference‐in‐difference approach is used for the first time to estimate the impact of environmental centralisation on productivity. We find that environmental centralisation caused by the establishment of the MEP significantly increased the productivity of heavily polluting companies, and a series of robustness tests confirm that the results are credible. We identify three possible mechanisms, namely, facilitating innovation, curbing rent‐seeking behaviour and inhibiting over‐investments. The policy implication of this study is that the effectiveness of environmental policy depends not only on the policy itself but also on the allocation of environmental rights among different levels of government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Economics, Business & Politics (UEIP) is the property of International Journal of Economics, Business & Politics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Water resources are a fundamental natural and strategic economic resource and are closely related to high-quality economic and societal development. This paper uses the pilot implementation of the water resource tax reform to explore the impact of that reform on the green innovation and total factor productivity of enterprises. The study sample includes data for high water-consuming A-share listed enterprises in Shenzhen and Shanghai, China, from 2007 to 2021; the double-difference method was used for the analysis. Study findings indicate that replacing water resource fees with taxes significantly improves the green innovation level and total factor productivity of enterprises. Green innovation has a significant partial mediating effect between the water resource tax reform and total factor productivity. The water resource tax reform promotes green innovation in enterprises, enhancing total factor productivity. When considering different types of enterprise property rights, the economic effect of the water resource tax reform is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, compared to state-owned enterprises. This paper provides empirical evidence for expanding the pilot scope of the water resource tax reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy saving and emissions reduction of the construction industry are crucial for China to achieve the "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" goals. In order to promote the green development of the life cycle of the construction industry and improve the efficiency of emissions reduction. This paper examines the spatial-temporal distribution of life cycle carbon emissions in China's construction industry (LCCECI) from 2004 to 2018. It uses the SBM-Malmquist total factor productivity (TFP) index to measure technological progress and establishes the spatial econometric model based on the STIRPAT model. The study investigates the driving factors of the LCCECI at the provincial and regional levels, aiming to provide suggestions for low-carbon development in the construction industry. The research results are as follows. © The growth in the SBM-Malmquist TFP index of the construction industry distinctly curbs the LCCECI. © Total population and urbanization level are not the primary driving factors for the LCCECI. The growth of per capita GDP significantly induces the LCCECI, while concurrently exhibiting a notable inhibitory effect on the LCCECI of neighboring regions. © The improvement of the SBM-Malmquist TFP index is conducive to the reduction of the LCCECI in the three major regions. The per capita GDP has the largest positive driving effect of the LCCECI in the eastern region, and the urbanization level the urbanization rate only significantly inhibits the growth of the LCCECI in the central region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the green transformation of the pig industry has made significant progress. In order to understand the variation in the efficiency of green development in the pig industry and the relevant influencing factors, the study first used the DEA model to assess the efficiency of green development in the pig industry, evaluating the changes in efficiency during the sample period. The study then utilized a panel Tobit model to analyze the influencing factors of the efficiency of green development in the pig industry. The results indicate that, from the time dimension, the green development efficiency of the pig industry showed a fluctuating upward trend during the study period, and after 2019, this trend tended to be stable and continued to rise. From the perspective of space, nine provinces, such as Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang, have improved the green development efficiency of the pig industry most significantly. Further analyzing the dynamic efficiency, we find that scale efficiency plays a key role in promoting the green development efficiency of the pig industry. In addition, resource endowment, economic development level, environmental regulation, openness, traffic accessibility and scale level have a significant positive impact on the green development efficiency of the pig industry, providing a powerful driving force for its promotion. Therefore, it is recommended to enhance the efficiency of green development in the pig industry by tapping into regional resource endowments, implementing differentiated environmental regulations, and promoting the scale of the pig industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the methodology to examine the impact of foreign ownership on firm productivity using firm-level data of Japanese manufacturing firms from 2000 to 2016, which include 1,458 listed companies in Japan. Firm productivity is represented by total factor productivity (TFP), which is estimated by the Olley–Pakes semiparametric estimation method to minimize the simultaneity problem in production function estimation. In the estimation of the impact of foreign ownership on firm productivity, system GMM estimation is applied to address a possible reversal causality problem between foreign ownership and firm productivity. Based on the case of the manufacturing firms in Japan, this article shows that 1 percentage point increase in foreign ownership increases the firm productivity by 0.06 percent. The evidence of this article supports the positive impact of foreign ownership on firm productivity and further implies that the promotion of foreign investment could be a policy option to improve firm productivity. This study analyzes the impact of foreign ownership on firm productivity. Firm-level data of the Japanese manufacturing firms from 2000 to 2016 are analyzed. The result supports the positive impact of foreign ownership on firm productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the evidence of productivity spillover from foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) to local firms through horizontal, backward, and forward spillover channels, using establishment-level data from Vietnam in 2006–2017. The paper also considers the effects of foreign ownership types on the existence and magnitude of the productivity spillover. In addition, the paper examines whether the involvement of domestic firms in global production networks (GPNs) impacts on the nature of the spillover. The findings indicate that productivity from FIEs spills over to local firms through backward and forward channels, but not horizontal channels. Ownership structures of FIEs serve as an important determinant of productivity spillover: joint ventures tend to generate more significant positive productivity spillover to domestic firms than fully owned foreign firms. Lastly, local firms operating within GPNs benefit more from the presence of FIEs compared to those involved in horizontal specialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the annual sample from 1984 to 2019 in a panel dataset of 20 emerging economies (i.e. Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey) given by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), to explore the effects of trade and financial globalization on total factor productivity (TFP) growth. It considers domestic credit to the private sector by banks as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), labor force, and total gross fixed capital formation as a percentage of GDP as control variables in the total factor productivity function. The article considers the direct effects of trade and financial globalization. It also checks the moderating impact of domestic credit on TFP. The long-run estimation shows that domestic credit, labor force, and financial globalization reduce TFP growth, whereas investments and trade globalization enhance it. Interestingly, their moderating effect enhances TFP in the long run. The policy implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few, if any, studies have examined the dual relationships between integration of developing countries into world technology markets and total factor productivity. This study uses a panel of 18 emerging markets and another of 20 developing economies to examine the bidirectional causal relationships between the growth rates of low, medium, and high technology exports, which represent integration into the world technology markets, and total factor productivity growth rates or productivity. The study uses data from 1990 to 2019 and the Granger causality panel data approach. Our empirical results confirm the following: First, there is a dual relationship between integration into the three world technology markets and total factor productivity growth rates at the level of both panels. At the country level, integration into the three world technology markets is the cause of productivity growth in emerging markets, but not in developing economies. Moreover, integration into higher technology markets leads to productivity gains in more emerging markets than integration into lower technology markets. On the other hand, total factor productivity growth rates does not cause the integration of emerging and developing countries into the three world technology markets. This study has two important policy implications. First, policy makers in developing countries need to develop the external technology sectors as key instruments to increase domestic productivity. Second, the accumulation of knowledge and know-how, without using them to integrate into world markets, would have little or no impact on productivity or sustaining economic growth in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interplay between financial technology (FinTech) and real economy firms has garnered considerable attention. This paper explores the relationship and mechanism between FinTech and corporate zombification using the data of Chinese A-share listed firms in China from 2011 to 2021. The research findings reveal that FinTech significantly inhibits firm zombification, and FinTech breadth and depth both play a significant role in restraining firm zombification. Mechanism exploration indicates that, on the one hand, FinTech reduces friction in the financial market, inhibiting firm zombification by improving firm investment efficiency, especially alleviating under-investment. On the other side, FinTech indirectly affects the technological investment, production, and operation of firms, thereby inhibiting firm zombification by increasing their total factor productivity. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that the inhibitory effect of FinTech on corporate zombification is more pronounced for non-stateowned firms and small-sized firms, as well as those in manufacturing industries and highly competitive industries. This paper provides some novel evidence on evaluating the effect of FinTech on firms and also offers new insights for efficient governance of zombie firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Total factor productivity is the goal pursued by many countries in the development process. Despite the fact that total factor productivity plays a very important role in the transformation and development of enterprises, there is little literature that incorporates the digital transformation of individual microenterprises into the analytical framework of enterprises’ innovative behavior and economic impact. This paper empirically analyzes the impact of enterprise digital transformation on total factor productivity using the data of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed enterprises from 2010 to 2021. It is found that enterprise digital transformation has a significant positive effect on the improvement of total factor productivity, and breakthrough innovation plays a positive role in the impact of digital transformation on total factor productivity of enterprises. This study provides important empirical support for enterprises to promote digital transformation and enhance their total factor productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous advancement of the economy, the issues of resource scarcity and environmental damage are becoming increasingly severe. For example, in terms of water resources, the problems of environmental pollution and ecological imbalance in the water caused by industrial and agricultural wastewater are becoming more serious. In order to reduce water pollution, protect water resources, promote ecological balance, and reduce environmental risks, it is necessary to strengthen water environment management. This study uses the Malmquist DEA model to conduct a study on the green technology innovation efficiency (GTIE) of 24 water environment governance companies from 2019 to 2022. Corporate Research & Development investment and employee compensation are used as the input indicators, while the number of color patents obtained and operating income are employed as the output indicators. The evaluation criteria include pure technical efficiency, comprehensive technical efficiency, scale efficiency, and total factor productivity. The results show that there is significant room for improvement in the GTIE of the listed Chinese water environment governance enterprises, and there are considerable differences among different enterprises. The GTIE is significantly influenced by technological progress, the enterprise size, and the equity ratio. Therefore, water environment management enterprises should enhance their efforts in technological research and development and talent training, optimize resource allocation, improve the efficiency of green technology innovation, and effectively fulfill their social responsibilities. These measures will promote the efficient utilization of ecological water, the restoration of the water environment, and the establishment of a clean ecological environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study estimates changes in productivity and profitability and their respective components for two major Indian sse crops, pigeon peas and chickpeas. Results show that average profitability declined during the period under consideration (2009-2014) for both pulse crops. Lower profits are driven by increases in input prices and decreases in total factor productivity, output growth, and output (constant) prices. The reduction in total factor productivity is primarily due to a slow increase in output. Finally, the technical efficiency estimates are lower than for cereal crops like rice and wheat: 72% for chickpeas and 71% for pigeon peas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on identifying the level and evolution of total factor productivity (TFP) and determining its role as a qualitative source of economic growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. This is an issue of particular importance because of the recent increases in external global crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, and large fluctuations in oil prices. In addition, there are existing internal challenges in the GCC countries, such as high rates of population growth, labor market pressures, a large-sized public sector, and an inefficient private sector. These challenges require achieving a qualitative improvement in the sources of economic growth by raising the efficiency of the use of available productive resources through relying on the growth of TFP as a primary driver of sustainable economic growth. The results of the study showed that the growth rates in TFP were generally negative and below the average international levels. This can be attributed to several reasons such as weak innovation and the adoption of a stagnant development model. The study presents some recommendations to address these challenges. IMPACT STATEMENT: Productivity plays a crucial role in the economic and social progress of nations. Economic growth in the GCC countries faces numerous challenges, including fluctuating oil prices, the rapid growth of the working-age population, stagnant productivity in the public sector, and geopolitical risks in the region. These challenges have made it increasingly difficult for these countries to rely heavily on oil revenues, highlighting the importance of transitioning to an economic model that emphasizes sustainable sources of growth. This shift involves raising productivity to create new economic dynamism, diversify income sources, and respond effectively to current and future market changes. In this study, we focus on Total Factor Productivity (TFP) analysis for several reasons: TFP is often interpreted as a measure of technological progress or innovation; it reflects better management practices; it can be used to assess the impact of various policies on economic efficiency; changes in TFP can help in understanding the sources of economic fluctuations and resilience; and it indicates the quality of policies and institutions that are fundamental to economic growth. By emphasizing TFP, the GCC countries can align their strategies with long-term visions such as Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and the UAE's Centennial 2071. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper defines total factor productivity as a function of a nation's intellectual capital. By developing a simple model, it explored the long-run relationship between intellectual capital and total factor productivity. The value of total factor productivity for each country was computed from Penn World Tables 10 using the residual method, and an index of intellectual capital was constructed from several indicators taken from world development indicators. Using a common correlated effect approach, a panel of 29 countries over 31 years was estimated using various dynamic macro panel models. The result confirmed the existence of a positive and significant link between total factor productivity and intellectual capital index. This implies that a potential source of productivity difference lies with a nation's research and development, human capital, processing, and marketing capabilities in boosting the general innovation process. Thus, national and regional development policies need to consider ways to improve broader innovation. Future research on total factor productivity needs to consider things outside the box. IMPACT STATEMENT: The essential causes of productivity has been a formidable question since enlightenment. In classical and pre-classical periods, the difference in productivity was attributed to differences in geographical and people's attitude to work and luxury. In neoclassical, productiveness was an effect of natural force inside material objects and hence, consider differences in material accumulation as cause of productivity difference. Following the failure of material accumulation, the difference was considered as residual or total factor productivity by exogenous growth models and later confined to technological ideas and its spillover effects by the new endogenous growth models. However, none of these could explain the twin productivity puzzles. In this paper, intellectual capital was hypothesized as an integral factor underlying the scatteredly presumed drivers of differences in productivity across countries. It also provided an empirical justification for an existence of consistent link between total factor productivity and intellectual capital across nations at all levels of development in all economic regions. This implies, the previously fragmented concepts and factors are now the characteristics of intellectual capital. The new insight could simplify the theoretical complexities and empirical inconsistencies in productivity literature. It could also beneficial for national and regional policy makers to broader their view beyond technological innovation in order to improve productivity and catch-up process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective digital strategy provides multifaceted benefits for firms of all sizes, including operational oversight, learning, and effective market interactions. Yet, despite the burgeoning evidence that digitalization provides essential resources for firms, disparate observations on the link between SME performance and digitalization across regions are noted in the literature. There remain concerns about whether SMEs enact effective digital strategies to reap the rewards, especially given that some SMEs have reported entirely forgoing digital activities due to resource constraints and exogenous forces in the market. In light of the varying global observations, it is crucial to understand how regional and multi-layered institutional settings influence SMEs to adopt, implement, and utilize digital resources to form solid policies and appropriate facilitative mechanisms. Therefore, this study compiled 11,485 observations of SME digital activities and performance from 88 distinctive institutional regions within Latin America and the Caribbean from 2006 to 2018. The study used data from the World Bank's Enterprise Survey (WBES) and World Development Indicators (WDI) to reveal various institutional factors influencing SMEs' adoption of technologies and subsequent performance via multilevel regressions. The findings suggest institutional barriers become insignificant when firms use digital technologies and suggest that it may insulate SMEs from exogenous shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There exist many examples of countries that have seriously reduced, over the past 150 years, the development gap vis-à-vis economic leaders. The decisive factor was the rapid increase of the total factor productivity (TFP), possible due to the technological progress. In the article, the author verified 6 important hypotheses underlying the Productivity Strategy 2030 published by the Polish government, on the basis of the experience of 96 countries around the world over the last 60 years. Most of these hypotheses were positively verified. However, when implementing the Strategy, one should remember that the increase in the aggregate productivity observed throughout the economy is only the combined effect of the increase in productivity occurring at the enterprise level. Therefore, the pursuit of more developed countries requires, first of all, the creation of appropriate conditions for the development of enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic Science / Jingji Kexue is the property of Economic Science Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We examine the impact of media coverage on firm‐level productivity and find that firms with higher media coverage are associated with higher productivity. Using the launch of Barron's Online as a quasi‐shock to media coverage, we document that this relationship is causal. Further exploration shows that the positive media–productivity relationship is stronger for firms with weaker governance mechanisms and for those with higher levels of information asymmetry. We also identify an increase in reputational and career concerns and a reduction in managerial shirking as channels through which media coverage affects firm‐level productivity. The results are robust to alternative explanations and endogeneity concerns. Overall, our findings suggest that media coverage reduces managerial opportunism, and thus enhances resource deployment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital economy drives the increase in total factor productivity (TFP) of tourism enterprises. The Spatial Durbin Model is used to analyse the influence of digital economy on TFP of tourism enterprises based on the market competition theory. The findings suggest that the digital economy promotes the TFP of tourism enterprises with spatial diffusion effect in China. Heterogeneity tests indicate that the digital economy has contributed to the growth of TFP of travel agency and the TFP of tourism enterprises in the eastern and central regions. Additionally, the spatial diffusion effect of the digital economy lags behind its direct effect. The digital economy promotes TFP growth of tourism enterprises by improving the market environment. The convergence effect of digital economy and market competition on TFP becomes significant with the growth in TFP of tourism enterprises. These findings are an extension and complement to the effective competition theory and optimal competitive intensity theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the effects of FDI spillovers on the productivity of domestic firms by relying on unconditional quantile regression. Using panel data of Vietnamese enterprises over the period 2000–2012, we find evidence of positive spillovers for firms at the lower tails and negative spillovers for those at the upper tails of the productivity distribution. Time and the firm's legal status are other factors determining the effect of FDI spillovers. Notably, only low productivity state-own enterprises benefit from positive horizontal spillovers, but in the long run rather than in the short run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the heterogeneous responses of firms to monetary policy shocks and the possible adverse effect of expansionary monetary policy on resource reallocation. Using Chinese firm‐level data, we find that when expansionary monetary shock hits the economy, less productive firms are more responsive than productive firms in terms of resource accumulation. We identify two mechanisms for this effect. First, less productive firms accumulate net worth more slowly. They have higher leverage ratio and are more sensitive to monetary policy changes (the intensive margin). Second, monetary expansion relaxes borrowing constraints, which enables unproductive firms to survive. The congestion effect prevents resources from allocating to more productive firms. Our finding is robust even if we use private firm subsamples or avoid the massive fiscal stimulus in China around 2009. We provide a simple model of firm dynamics to capture these effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Museums are critical in safeguarding cultural heritage and cultivating community educational opportunities. This research aims to evaluate operational efficiency (OE), the impact of technological change on total factor productivity change (TFPC), and the regional heterogeneity of museum performance in three regions and 31 provinces across China. To this end, the study employed DEA-SBM and the Malmquist Productivity Index to gauge OE, TFPC, and determinants of TFPC (efficiency change or emerging technologies change) across 31 provinces for 2012–2021. Results reveal that the average OE of the Chinese Museum is 0.8394. It shows a 16.06 % growth potential in the operational efficiency of Chinese Museums. Further, the OE of Chinese Museums declined over the study period from 0.8965 in 2012 to 0.8088 in 2021. Beijing, Fujian, and Hunan are ranked top with a Museum's OE Score of 1. The average MI score of Chinese Museums is 0.9744, and technology change is the main determinant of Decline in productivity change as EC = 0.9992 is greater than TC = 0.9846. The MI of Liaoning, Shanghai, Ningxia, Jiangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guangdong, and Tianjin is over 1, indicating growth in total factor productivity over the study period. The eastern region of China shows higher operational efficiency and total factor productivity scores of museums than the central and western regions. The results of the Kruskal-Wallis test proved that a statistically significant difference exists among different regions of China for the OE, MI, EC, and TC of museums.

Food security and livelihood vulnerability are important issues for the economic sustainability of developing countries like Bangladesh. This study examines the influence of total factor productivity (TFP) on the livelihood vulnerability and food security of rice farming households in Bangladesh. Data from 1,841 rice farming households were extracted from the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (2015 and 2018) conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute. Various statistical methods, such as the stochastic frontier model, principal component analysis, path analysis using structural equation modeling, and multivariate regression, were employed to analyze the data. The study utilizes a multivariate modeling approach that combines the stochastic frontier model to determine TFP and sophisticated methodologies to estimate the livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) and women’s empowerment in agriculture index (WEAI). The LVI, household dietary diversity Score (HDDS), TFP, and WEAI scores were 0.454, 10.72, 0.703, and 0.717, respectively. The results indicate a significant relationship between TFP and both LVI and HDDS. Higher TFP is associated with lower LVI and higher HDDS among rice farming households, suggesting that improving TFP can enhance food security and reduce vulnerability. The multivariate regression analysis reveals that TFP, household wealth index, women’s empowerment in agriculture index, per capita food expenditure, household level welfare, and household size have a positive significant impact on HDDS, while TFP is negatively associated with LVI, per capita food expenditure and household size. The findings underscore the importance of increasing TFP to improve food security, reduce livelihood vulnerability, and achieve sustainable development goals in countries like Bangladesh. Higher TFP yields positive outcomes regarding household dietary diversity and livelihood vulnerability, highlighting the need for agricultural policies that prioritize TFP enhancement. Policymakers and professionals can use these findings as a roadmap to implement advanced agricultural policies to achieve food security and reduce livelihood vulnerability. Improving household dietary diversity and reducing livelihood vulnerability can be achieved by focusing on increasing TFP, enhancing household wealth, women’s empowerment, per capita food expenditure, household welfare, and household size. Therefore, increasing TFP should be considered in the design of policies aiming to achieve SDGs Goal 2.

We present evidence that technological advancement can attenuate the harmful effect of financial outreach on environmental sustainability among 58 Middle-Income countries for the period between 2004 and 2021 inclusively. We reached the conclusion after employing the two-step System General Method of Moment Estimation technique to deal with endogeneity due reverse causality. The findings indicate that factors like bank branches, ATMs, credit to the private sector, credit bureaus, and bank depositors have a negative influence on environmental sustainability. The study also highlights a favourable relationship between TFP and environmental sustainability. In the end, we found that TFP plays a crucial role in offsetting the adverse effects of financial outreach on the environmental sustainability. Based on the results, it is recommended that MICs assess their financial outreach activities to prevent compromising sustainability goals. Furthermore, promoting technological advancement is essential in achieving sustainability and mitigating the negative impacts of financial outreach on environmental sustainability.

Productivity rise as a source of growth has high potential to uplift millions out of poverty. Mitigating the productivity gap can play vital role in helping developing countries to offset with developed countries. In this regard, present study attempts to scrutinize the relationship and significance of various determinants of total factor productivity (TFP) in India for the period 1990–1991 to 2019–2020. To this end, autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing approach has been utilized. The results pinpoint that trade openness and unemployment have a positive impact on total factor productivity. On the other hand, inflation has a negative but insignificant relationship with total factor productivity, both in the short and long run. The results imply that exports need to be diversified, and import of capital goods should be encouraged to enhance TFP in the long run. Further, foreign-owned business entities need to be encouraged to hire domestic workers, which would result in enhanced TFP in the long run.

The paper is mainly aimed at identifying the sources of total factor productivity (TFP) growth within the framework of convergence for the Republic of Srpska (RSRP). The main research question is what it is that drives technological progress for a small transition country. The current study focuses on the RSRP, as the follower, and the Republic of Serbia (RSRB), as the technological leader. The analysis carried out in this research study confirms the presence of convergence at the industry level, which means that the farther away from the technological frontier a country is, the higher the TFP growth rate. The research results enable policymakers to design and implement policies capable of enhancing domestic development and increase productivity growth.

Purpose – The paper aims to investigate the difference in total factor productivity (TFP) among those firms with and without outsourcing in a developing country like Vietnam. Also, it explores the effect of outsourcing activities on total factor productivity with a specified concentration on the Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach – The panel data set of SMEs used in this study was originated from biannual surveys conducted under the collaboration between educational organizations and government agencies: Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), Department of Economics – the University of Copenhagen, the Institution of Labor Studies and Social Affairs (ILSSA) in the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA). In this study, the model is developed based on the production function in accordance with the model of Girma and Görg (2004). The firms’ TFP is the difference between the actual and the predicted output as with the approach by Levinsohn and Petrin (2003). Findings – This study finds out that firms with outsourcing have higher total factor productivity than those without outsourcing activities. In addition, the more firms spend on outsourcing, the higher total factor productivity they can gain. Outsourcing to SMEs in a developing country can significantly increase its TFP by means of either maintaining core competencies or searching external resources in conducting some internal activities. Originality/value – Although outsourcing has been widely applied by large firms, the research studying its impact on productivity at firm level is limited. Especially, this study can shed light on the impact for the case of SMEs in a developing economy.

In the current tough business environment, improving total factor productivity (TFP) is essential to the survival and development of China’s thermal power industry. On the basis of a network production structure, this research uses a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach with cross-efficiency to measure the overall and two-stage (power generation and pollutant treatment) TFPs of this industry in China’s 30 provinces. Moreover, the Tobit regression method is introduced to recognize the impact factors on TFP changes. Empirical results reveal that: (1) The overall TFP of the eastern region is the highest (0.6269), and the TFP levels of the central and western regions are relatively close (0.5182 and 0.5378, respectively). (2) Generally, the TFP of the power generation stage is higher than that of the pollutant treatment stage. The mean values of the two stages are 0.5765 and 0.3998, respectively. (3) Economic development and fuel prices are positively associated with the TFP level, whereas technological progress is surprisingly negatively associated. (4) Major policy directions recommended include establishing the power auxiliary service market, implementing the flexibility transformation of small and medium thermal power units, reducing the cross-subsidy to household electricity consumption, removing interregional barriers of electricity transmission, reforming the electricity price system to mitigate the rebound effect, and reducing inefficient investment in pollution treatment retrofit of thermal power plants.

The digital economy (DE) is a new driver for enhancing total factor productivity (TFP). Using panel data from 30 provinces in China between 2011 and 2022, this study measures DE and TFP using the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method and the Global Malmquist–Luenberger method and further examines the impact of DE on the TFP of industries. The main findings are as follows: (1) DE can significantly improve TFP, though the extent of improvement varies. DE has the greatest impact on the TFP of the service industry, followed by the manufacturing industry, with the weakest effect on the agricultural industry. (2) The enhancement effect of DE on agriculture and the service industry is more pronounced in the central and western regions, while the improvement effect on manufacturing is more evident in the eastern region. (3) DE has facilitated the improvement of TFP in manufacturing industries such as textiles and special equipment manufacturing, as well as in service industries like wholesale and retail. However, it has not had a significant impact on the TFP of industries such as pharmaceutical manufacturing and real estate. This study has significant theoretical value and policy implications for China and other developing countries in exploring DE and achieving high-quality industrial development.

Abstract Agriculture is a major source of food and income for poor and rural households living in developing countries; yet, agricultural systems are increasingly threatened by changing climate conditions that compromise their productivity and resilience. Over time, international aid has provided support to the agricultural systems of recipient countries, though the literature is not unanimous in confirming their effectiveness. To shed light on this issue, the purpose of this work is to assess the efficacy of these aid in increasing the agricultural productivity of recipient nations, employing original approaches. First, to adopt a climate change perspective, we conduct our analysis using a recent classification adopted by the Official Development Assistance—the Rio Markers—which distinguishes aid between adaptation and mitigation to climate change. Second, taking into account that the starting conditions of recipient countries can significantly impact aid effectiveness, we classify 115 developing countries into four subgroups according to their vulnerability and readiness to climate change, as evaluated by the ND-Gain indicators. We perform a two-stage instrumental variable approach within the context of panel models to investigate the potential growth-enhancing impact that different types of agricultural aid may exert on the agriculture Total Factor Productivity in recipient countries. Our findings show that aid to agriculture, especially adaptation aid, has a positive impact on agricultural productivity growth. We also observe that countries with a higher climate readiness benefit the most from aid, whereas countries highly vulnerable and heavily dependent on the agricultural sector are less able to leverage the aid received to the same extent. Overall, our analysis confirms the importance of international aid to the agricultural sector and suggests that accurate impact assessment analyses should also consider a climate perspective to distinguish adaptation from mitigation aid.

Abstract Tourism industry has become a breakthrough point for China’s economic growth. As of 2019, the tourism economy has been maintaining a faster growth than the GDP growth rate, the entry and exit market has been developing steadily, the structural reform on the supply side has been effective, and the per capita income of China’s residents has grown significantly. In this context, this paper selects fifteen listed tourism companies in China as samples, uses the Malmquist index method in DEA to measure the total factor productivity of these fifteen companies in China as samples, analyzes their resource allocation efficiency, and tests the robustness of the empirical results. Three conclusions are obtained: from the overall perspective, the total factor productivity of fifteen listed companies as a whole shows an upward trend during the 5-year period, mainly due to the technological progress; from the year perspective, the Malmquist productivity index of China’s tourism industry shows a turnaround change during the 5-year period, and the operational efficiency shows regional differences; the fluctuations of various listed tourism companies in China are influenced by the environment and policies.