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Total Factor Productivity of Manufacturing Firms: Pakistan, 2022 Scenario
Get PDFTotal Factor Productivity (TFP) represents the efficiency with which capital and labor inputs are utilized in the production process. It captures the impact of elements beyond mere increases in the quantity of inputs and represents factors such as technological progress, innovation, improvements in organizational efficiency and institutional quality.
This study estimates TFP of manufacturing firms in Pakistan using latest available firm level data collected and compiled for the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) of 2022. Data of the WBES of 2007 is also employed to estimate comparative TFP magnitudes. The research also evaluates the impact of few organizational characteristics of firms on the current level of TFP for the year 2022.
The study indicates low level of TFP with the deteriorating trend. These results are consistent with the findings of earlier research on TFP in the context of Pakistan. This study estimates close to 9 percent decline in the magnitude of TFP during the period of 2007 and 2022. However, the extent of deterioration varies across provinces and across industrial sectors. The largest decline (25 percent) in TFP magnitude is estimated in Baluchistan province, followed by KPK (10%). In terms of industrial sectors, the notable sectors where TFP magnitude has declined are Food (43%) and Leather and Leather product (45%). In contrast, sectors in which TFP has improved during 2007-2022 include; Machinery and Equipment (56%), Chemical and Chemical Products (47%) and Wearing Apparels (27%).
The econometrical results related with the determinants of productivity suggest that factors which enhance the firms’ performance and level of productivity include; use of information and communication technology, formal training programs for employees, access to international market, proportion of skilled production workers and the presence of competitive market environment.
The TFP literature suggests that to increase TFP in Pakistani manufacturing firms, a multifaceted approach focused on improving efficiency, technology, human capital, and the overall business environment is required
Financial Technology and Financial Stability: Evidence from Emerging Market Economies
No full textThis study explores the influence of financial technology adoption on financial stability across 35 emerging market economies over the period 2015–2024. A fintech adoption index is constructed using data from the GSMA mobile money metrics, World Bank database, and Bank for International Settlements Fintech Statistics, including indicators such as mobile payment transactions, transaction volumes, and the number of fintech startups. Principal component analysis is employed to reduce dimensionality and enhance the validity and comparability of the index across countries and time. To assess the relationship between fintech adoption and financial stability, this study applies the cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag model, which is particularly suitable for panel datasets with mixed integration orders and cross-sectional dependence features commonly observed in macroeconomic analyses of emerging economies. Regulatory quality, measured using the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators, is examined as a moderating factor. The results reveal that higher levels of fintech adoption improve financial stability, especially in environments with stronger regulatory frameworks. Robustness is confirmed through several diagnostic checks, including the CIPS unit root test, alternative model specifications, and interaction term analysis
Startup Noncompetes in the Shadow of Acquihiring
No full textNon-compete agreements (NCAs) restrict employee mobility and often play important roles in startups, such as preventing leakage of intellectual property. In this article, I propose an additional role of NCAs in startups as a potential countermeasure to acquihiring by developing a model of labor market competition between a potential acquirer and a startup. In the model, the potential acquirer has two options to hire the startup's employee, direct hiring (poaching) and acquihiring — the acquisition of a company to hire its talented employees. NCAs may either induce or prevent acquihiring by affecting the profitability from each hiring strategy for the potential acquirer. I identify the conditions under which NCAs prevent acquihiring and demonstrate that stricter NCA regulation may distort worker allocation and/or reduce worker welfare. This result indicates that, in the context of high-tech industries where acquihiring is relatively prevalent, increased regulation of NCAs could hurt startups, facilitate acquihiring by Big Tech firms, and ultimately reinforce their market power
The effects of Basel III on the intermediation and market activities of WAEMU banks
Get PDFThis paper analyzes the effect of Basel III adapted to WAEMU on the behavior of banks in the zone (intermediation and market activities). After having developed a model for optimizing the return on bank equity, under various constraints (balance sheet constraints, Basel III regulatory constraints), we resort to linear programming via the Danzig simplex algorithm and to a structure of reasonable rates to obtain the optimal values of the various bank balance sheet items. The results, obtained by comparing these theoretical values with the values observed before Basel III (before January 1, 2018), show an increase in the supply of loans, obtained not only from deposits and bank refinancing but also via resources from the financial markets. We can also observe the intuitive result of an increase of bank reserves in line with the constraint that Basel III imposes on banks to increase their liquidity. In short, Basel III tends to strengthen bank financing in the zone, while improving the soundness of banks through the constitution of larger reserves
Exploring the Link Between Economic Growth and GHG Emissions: Insights from BRICS+ and Beyond
Get PDFThe transition from fossil fuels to sustainable solutions remains a significant challenge, primarily due to path dependence which affects many economies. This calls for a new approach to economic growth that fully accounts for environmental costs. Consequently, understanding the factors that influence GDP growth is essential for achieving sustainable economic development. This study contributes to the existing literature by examining how greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, and urbanization impact GDP growth across various economic contexts. Employing a balanced panel comprising the US, EU27 and the BRICS economies from 1990 to 2022, it is among the first ones to incorporate the expanded BRICS+ economies into the analysis. Key empirical results are the following: First, Greenhouse gas emissions have a unidirectional effect on GDP growth across all panels, driven by emissions-intensive sectors like manufacturing; Second, in BRICS+ countries, urbanization and GDP are strongly interconnected, with emissions-driven growth posing future sustainability challenges; Third, the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis is supported, indicating that while economic growth initially leads to greater pollution, higher incomes eventually promote investment in renewable sources.
Hence, policies promoting the energy transition underscore the importance of integrating the economic growth and environmental sustainability in pursuing multidimensional well-being
Volatilité et régulation des cryptomonnaies : approche monétaire orthodoxe versus approche monétaire hétérodoxe
Get PDFThis article analyzes the factors explaining the volatility of cryptocurrency prices and the regulatory pathways aimed at the stability of these prices. Considering cryptocurrency as a social innovation and a total social fact, the social economy approach distinguishes two essential components in the value of cryptocurrencies: an intrinsic value which ensures the stability of this encrypted currency, and a value resulting from a balance of power between ethical users and speculative users with different logics. The extreme volatility of cryptocurrencies is explained by the prevalence of extractive (speculative) logic over collaborative (ethical) logic and is reinforced via their spatial (decentralized) logic. The study recommends “negotiated” and democratic regulation of cryptocurrencies, taking into account the interaction between ethics and technique at the heart of the blockchain, and implemented on a national and supranational scale. Such regulation requires configuring blockchain protocols compatible with limited volatility and cryptocurrencies backed by projects of concrete utility
Digital markets: formative components, regulation, challenges and insights from the EU Digital Markets Act
Get PDFThere has been very little policy or academic discussion or debate about the value of digital markets in the literature. Most debates in the literature focus on the large technological companies that operate in digital markets, but there are no discussions or debates in the literature about the value proposition and formative components of digital markets. This study examines digital markets, their formative components, regulation and challenges. It also presents a concise definition of “digital markets” and suggests a link between digital markets and digital financial inclusion. It analyses the regulation of digital markets, particularly the recent EU Digital Markets Act, and show that regulation focus mostly on large technological companies. The study also shows the benefits of digital market regulation for users of digital markets and the demerits of the large technological companies who own the world’s largest digital transactional platforms in digital markets. The criticisms of regulating large technological companies are also identified
Управление на снабдяването с работна сила в земеделските стопанства
Get PDFThe goal of this article is to identify contemporary modes and factors of labor supply in Bulgarian farms. Interdisciplinary New Institutional Economics methodology is incorporated and analysis made of new representative micro data collected from the managers of farms of different type and locations. There has been enormous development in labor supply governance in Bulgarian farms during the last two decades. The permanent employment is major form for labor supply in farms, flowed by the seasonal and the part-time employments. Owners and family members accounts for the largest share of the total workforce. Different forms are used (high recurrence of contract between with same person, output-based compensation, use of service supply or inputs contracts, etc.) to reduce transaction costs of labor and overall governance of farms. The reasons for using employment contracts and importance of different labor supply and governance modes, intensity of transactions, types of partners, and kinds of remuneration varies considerably depending on juridical type, size, specialization, and locations of holdings. The most important problems in hiring labor are the lack of labor in the labor market, the high price of hired labor, requirement to pay social payments, pay-holidays, etc., big turnover of workers, high costs for adapting official labor standards, high costs for controlling of hired labor (cheating, stealing, etc.), high costs for negotiating conditions of employment, high costs to find good workers, low qualification of hired labor, advance age of hired labor, requirement for signing a written contract, and insufficient initiatives of workers. For a significant number of Bulgarian farms, the amount of costs for finding needed labor, and the amount of costs for managing the hired labor and workers in the farm are factors strongly restricting development of their enterprise. The latter is particular important for a good proportion of major commercial farms like cooperatives, physical persons, and corporations, a to a lesser extent to sole traders. Other critical factors strongly restricting development of Bulgarian farms at present stage of development are: legislation and regulation environment in the country and sector, the amount of costs for finding needed lands and natural resources, amount of costs for finding needed short-term and long-term assets, amount of costs for finding needed finance for the farms, amount of costs for finding needed innovations, amount of costs for marketing of output, amount of costs for registration, certification, etc., existence of informal and gray sector in agriculture, and socio-economic situation in the region and in the country
Common Ownership with Unlisted Suppliers of Perfectly Complementary Inputs
Get PDFSince unlisted firms’ shares are not publicly traded, common ownership only affects listed firms and has no direct impact on unlisted ones. We investigate the welfare implications of this asymmetry between listed and unlisted upstream suppliers of perfectly complementary inputs. This study considers a vertically related market with S perfectly complementary inputs, in which L sole listed upstream suppliers and S-L sole unlisted upstream suppliers sell each input through linear wholesale prices to the two listed downstream manufacturers that compete à la Cournot. We find that the input price of each listed supplier is higher than that of each unlisted supplier only when the number of listed suppliers is small. The key factor contributing to this result is the price sensitivity of listed suppliers. We also find that an optimal rate of common ownership may exist for consumers and society, depending on the proportion of listed suppliers in the supply chain
Impact of monetary policy on financial stability in good times
Get PDFLittle attention has been paid to the role of central bank interest rate and monetary aggregates in influencing financial stability in good times. This study examines the impact of monetary policy on financial stability in good years. It focuses on the impact of three monetary policy tools on financial stability. The study used the median quantile regression method to analyze 22 countries during the 2011 to 2018 period – a period which isolates the shock from the COVID-19 pandemic and the shock from the global financial crisis. The financial stability indicator is the country-level bank nonperforming loans ratio. The monetary policy indicators are broad money growth, broad money to GDP ratio and the central bank interest rate, while controlling for the inflation rate, total unemployment rate, efficiency ratio, institutional governance quality and economic growth rate. The findings reveal that high central bank interest rates impair financial stability by increasing the bank nonperforming loans ratio in African countries and developing countries. In contrast, high central bank interest rates improve financial stability in developed countries and emerging market countries. Furthermore, higher broad money growth improves financial stability in European banks while broad money growth, broad money to GDP ratio and central bank interest rate do not have a significant effect on the NPL ratio of Asian banks