1,721,017 research outputs found
Sectoral Productivity and Economic Growth in Japan, 1970-98: An Empirical Analysis Based on the JIP Database
Get PDFProductivity, Markup, Scale Economies, and the Business Cycle: Estimates from firm-level panel data in Japan
Get PDFThis paper examines the relationship between productivity, markup, scale economies, and the business cycle. The paper contributes to the literature by presenting a simple econometric framework that permits simultaneous estimation of the changes in productivity, markup, and scale economies from a panel of firm-level data. The framework is then applied to Japanese firm-level data for 1994-2006. The results indicate that productivity is procyclical even after the changes in markup and scale economies are controlled for. However, both markup and scale economies are neither procyclical nor countercyclical once the changes in productivity are taken into account.
Quality of Labor, Capital, and Productivity Growth in Japan: Effects of employee age, seniority, and capital vintage
Get PDFAn aging population, low fertility rate, and suppressed corporate investment have left Japan with an older workforce and older vintages of fixed capital. To restore economic dynamism, Japan must encourage productivity growth. Using panel data of listed Japanese firms in FY 1977-2008, this paper demonstrates how both employee age and capital vintage affect the quality of labor and capital that influence productivity. Our research contributes three significant findings. (1) The older the average age of a firm's employees or the longer their seniority, the higher the firm's productivity growth, but it is unclear if the effects peak at specific ages. (2) The positive effects of employees' increasing age and seniority and the negative effect of older capital on Japan's productivity growth have declined since the 1990s. (3) These effects have been larger among manufacturers than non-manufacturers. Negative effects of increasing non-regular workers should be addressed, and it is further important for Japanese firms to organize and manage labor skills and enhance knowledge, rather than depend on technology accumulated over time.
The Internationalization of Japanese Firms: New Findings Based on Firm-Level Data
Get PDFUsing firm-level data for the Japanese manufacturing sector, we examine characteristics of internationalized firms, i.e., firms engaging in export and/or foreign direct investment (FDI), and compare these characteristics with those for selected European countries. We find that internationalized firms are a few and that their productivity is higher than that of non-internationalized firms, confirming the findings of existing studies on Japan and other countries. In addition, we find that productivity differences between non- internationalized firms, exporters, and FDI firms are substantially smaller in Japan than in the European countries. This evidence suggests that productivity differences alone cannot determine export or FDI behavior of Japanese firms.
Estimation Procedures and TFP Analysis of the JIP Database 2006 Provisional Version
Get PDF(Introduction) The purpose of this paper is to explain the preliminary version of the newly compiled Japan Industrial Productivity Database (JIP 2006) and report some results of our growth accounting analysis based on this database. The JIP 2006 contains information on 108 sectors from 1970 to 2002 that can be used for total factor productivity analyses. These sectors cover the whole Japanese economy. The JIP Database was compiled as part of the RIETI (Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry) research project "Study on Industry-Level and Firm-Level Productivity in Japan." The original version of the JIP Database (ESRI/Hi-Stat JIP Database 2003) was compiled in a collaboration between ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan) as part of its research project on "Japan's Potential Growth" and Hitotsubashi University as part of its Hi-Stat project (A 21st-Century COE Program, Research Unit for Statistical Analysis in the Social Sciences). The authors are grateful to ESRI and members of the Hi-Stat team for the support and cooperation provided for our present RIETI project. At this moment, the major data available are sectoral capital service input indices and labor service input indices, including information on real capital stocks and the nominal cost of capital by type of capital and by industry, the nominal and real values of sectoral gross output and intermediate input, as well as some supplementary tables, such as statistics on trade, inward and outward FDI, and Japan's industrial structure. All real values are based on 1995 prices. For growth accounting, nominal labor costs and nominal capital services for 108 industries are also estimated. The sum of these two values for each industry is not adjusted to be equal to the value added of that industry at factor cost base. The final version of the JIP 2006 is scheduled to be released by November, 2006. The final version will include nominal and real annual input-output tables, detailed information on ICT capital services and some additional statistics, such as R&D stocks and capacity utilization rates at the detailed sectoral level. For scholars familiar with the JIP 2003, we here briefly summarize the main differences between and the main similarities of the 2006 and 2003 versions of the JIP. 1. The JIP 2003 is based on the 1968 SNA, while the JIP 2006 is based on the 1993 SNA. The capital stock of the JIP 2006 includes order-made software, plant engineering, and assets accumulated by the search for minerals. The JIP 2003 uses SNA statistics as control totals. Following Japan's present SNA statistics, capital stock in the preliminary version of the JIP 2006 does not include prepackaged and in-house software. However, the final version of the JIP 2006 will include two sets of statistics, one in which capital stock does not include prepackaged and in-house software and one in which it does. 2. In the case of the JIP 2006, labor input data include detailed information on labor input cross-classified by categories of labor. The paper is organized as follows: In the next section, we report the estimation procedures of our annual input-output tables. In Sections 2 and 3, we explain the capital service input data and the labor input data of the JIP 2006, respectively. Finally, in Section 4, we analyze Japan's sectoral and macro TFP growth.
Capital Accumulation, Vintage, and Productivity:The Japanese Experience from 1980 to 2007
Get PDFIn this paper we quantitatively examine the relationships between capital accumulation and vintage, as well as productivity of industries in Japan between 1980 and 2007. We based this analysis on a detailed measurement of capital stock as reported in financial data of firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and several secondary markets, like Mothers, We measured the vintage index and total factor productivity and carried out preliminary work required during empirical analysis. Subsequently, we conducted different kinds of estimations. Based on the empirical analyses, we confirmed that vintage had an effect on productivity in all industries studied. This effect was notable in the material, general machinery and transport equipment industries. In addition, by observing chronological changes of the vintage effect, we confirmed that vintage exerted a significant influence during the period of economic expansion,.particularly during the economic upturn which started in 2000, where strong vintage effects were generally observed in all the industries. It was clear that the rejuvenation of capital equipments during that period resulted out of the existence of a strong productivity effect. On the other hand, during the bubble period of late 1980s, vintage exerted no observable effects on productivity despite vivacious increases in investment.This shows that investment during this period was not necessarily productive and was likely to produce just a temporary boom. In light of this, we reconfirmed that the relationship between vintage and productivity changed in subtle ways in response to the phases of economic cycles.Capital Accumulation, Vintage, Business Cycle
Physical and Human Capital Deepening and New Trade Patterns in Japan
Get PDFThis paper investigates the deepening of the international division of labor and its effect on factor intensities in Japan, mainly focusing on the manufacturing sector. In the first half of the paper, we analyze the factor contents of trade and find that Japanfs factor content net-exports of capital and non-production labor grew rapidly while net-exports of production workers fell by a large amount during the period from 1980-2000. Interestingly, the decline in the factor content of net-exports of production workers was almost entirely caused by Japanfs trade with China and Hong Kong. According to our decomposition analysis, however, most of the macro-economic change in the capital-labor ratio and the change in the skilled-labor ratio is attributable to a gwithin-industryh shift rather than a gbetween-industryh shift. Although we clearly see a drastic increase in VIIT and outsourcing to foreign countries, particularly to Asian countries, our empirical analysis provides only weak evidence that the deepening international division of labor contributes to changes in factor intensities in each industry. Our results suggest that specialization in the export of skilled-labor-intensive products may have contributed to the increase in the relative demand for skilled (professional, technical, managerial, and administrative) labor within industry. However, our results suggest that changes in trade patterns (specialization in capital-intensive production) cannot explain the rapid growth of capital-labor ratios in Japan.
Physical and Human Capital Deepening and New Trade Patterns in Japan
Get PDFThis paper investigates the deepening of the international division of labor and its effect on factor intensities in Japan, mainly focusing on the manufacturing sector. In the first half of the paper, we analyze the factor contents of trade and find that Japan's factor content net-exports of capital and non-production labor grew rapidly while net-exports of production workers fell by a large amount during the period from 1980-2000. Interestingly, the decline in the factor content of net-exports of production workers was almost entirely caused by Japan's trade with China and Hong Kong. According to our decomposition analysis, however, most of the macro-economic change in the capital-labor ratio and the change in the skilled-labor ratio is attributable to a "within-industry" shift rather than a "between-industry" shift. Although we clearly see a drastic increase in VIIT and outsourcing to foreign countries, particularly to Asian countries, our empirical analysis provides only weak evidence that the deepening international division of labor contributes to changes in factor intensities in each industry. Our results suggest that specialization in the export of skilled-labor-intensive products may have contributed to the increase in the relative demand for skilled (professional, technical, managerial, and administrative) labor within industry. However, our results suggest that changes in trade patterns (specialization in capital-intensive production) cannot explain the rapid growth of capital-labor ratios in Japan.
Does Material and Service Offshoring Improve Domestic Productivity? Evidence from Japanese manufacturing industries
Get PDFAn increasing number of manufacturers are shifting some stages of the production process offshore. This study investigates the effects of offshoring on productivity in Japanese manufacturing industries for the period 1988-2004. Material offshoring, as measured by an import share of intermediate material inputs, has steadily increased during the period, with a pronounced increase in offshoring to Asian countries. In a wide range of specifications, we find significantly positive correlations between material offshoring and productivity at the industry level. The estimates are particularly robust for offshoring to Asia. These results suggest that Japanese manufacturing firms have developed an extensive international division of labor in East Asia, which in turn may have enhanced domestic productivity. In contrast, service offshoring, as measured by an import ratio of service inputs, is not associated with industry-level productivity. We find a positive correlation between offshoring and productivity only for information services, suggesting that in this segment, offshoring offers potential benefits.
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