Measurement of productivity growth, efficiency change and technical progress of selected capital-intensive and labour-intensive industries during reform period in India.
Manjappa, D.H. ; Mahesha, M.
Abstract
This study examines the total factor productivity growth (TFPG) and
its components TE (technological progress) and TEC (technical efficiency
change) in ten manufacturing industries, classified them into
capital-intensive and labour-intensive industries (five in each segment)
using annual time series data for the period 1994 to 2004. The TFP growth is estimated by applying Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) on
the panel data of aforesaid segments separately. The study finds that
the average TFP growth in the capital-intensive industry segment grew at
a moderate rate of 1.7 per cent per annum during the entire study
period, whereas, its counterpart, selected labour-intensive industries
have shown a productivity regress, it is -0.9per cent. The decomposition of TFP improvement into technical efficiency change (catching-up effect)
and technological progress (frontier shift) reveals that the TFP growth
is primarily contributed by technological progress rather than by
technical efficiency change in capital-intensive industries whereas in
labour-intensive industries low growth of technical efficiency (0.5 per
cent) has been offset by a higher rate of decline in technological
progress. The results are, by and large, useful for policy makers in
designing industrial policies.
I. INTRODUCTION
Industrial performance has been a subject of debate in India since
the early 1950s. The Assessment of industrial performance after,
adoption of new liberalized policies since 1991, in view of linkages
between trade liberalization and productivity growth has gained
important among academicians and policy makers. Theoretically, trade
liberalization could have both a positive as well as negative impact on
productivity (Tybout, 2000) (1), but recent surveys by Tybout (2000) and
Epifani (2003) enlighten that the empirical literature generally support
a positive effect of trade liberalization on productivity. Thus the
effect of trade liberalization on productivity is an empirical question.
Therefore, the present paper explores the impact of trade liberalization
on Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and it sources in selected Indian
manufacturing industries.
The extent of impact of liberalization may vary across different
industries. In fact, different forms of industries could demonstrate
different reactions to environmental changes. Hence, the impact of trade
liberalization could vary across industries. Therefore, whether all
industries benefited or suffered equally from the new economic
environment is an important issue to be investigated. In this study we
made an attempt to find out sources of productivity growth by using Data
Envelop Analysis (DEA) based Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) to
estimate TFP growth and its decomposition into technical efficiency
change and technological progress.
The productivity growth is considered as an indicator of sustained
economic growth and improvement in standard of living. A reasonable
standard of living, typically, defined as real GDP per capita, can be
influenced by a number of factors including; changes in
employment/population ratio, changes in terms of trade and or changes in
productivity. While improvement in either of these factors result in a
higher standard of living, employment/population ratio and, to a lesser
extent, terms of trade have upper limits and therefore can impact living
standard only in the short run. In the long run, the only sustained
manner to increase per capita GDP is by increasing the amount of output
produced by a given quantity of inputs, that is raising Total Factor
Productivity (TFP). Higher levels of output relative to given inputs
generally translate into higher returns to factors of production. An
improvement in living standard is the most well-kwon benefit of
productivity gain and productivity growth that can also provide to an
economy as well. More competitive business and higher employment level
can result from increasing productivity.
At the industry and firm level, productivity gains relative to it
competitors enhances an industry's or a firm's competitive
position allowing it to increase profit margins or sell products
cheaper. Lower products prices relative to its competitors would allow
it to expand production and gain market share. For industries producing
products in highly competitive market conditions, productivity gains are
often crucial just to survive. Industries are all striving to obtain a
competitive edge and those industries do not pursue productivity gains
are unlikely to survive in the long run. Another potential benefit of
increasing productivity is expanding economic activity and employment
growth. If a company or industry has higher rates of productivity growth
relative to other competitors, it is likely that the industry or company
develops a competitive advantage over time. Such a competitive advantage
may likely attract new investment as industry expands output to take the
advantage.
Technological progress and technical efficiency change are the two
sources of productivity growth. A study of these sources are crucial for
identifying the factor that are responsible for productivity stagnation and for adopting appropriate measures at company, industry or government
levels to improve productivity.
This study is organised as follows. Section II briefly discusses
productivity measurement approaches and section III describes the data
and methodology. The empirical results are interpreted and discussed in
section IV. Concluding remarks are made in section V.
II. PRODUCTIVITY MEASUREMENT APPROACHES
There are two measures of productivity, namely, partial or single
factor productivity (SFP) and total factor productivity [TFP]. Partial
factor productivity is calculated by dividing the total output by the
quantity of an input. The main problem of this measurement of
productivity is that it ignores the fact that the productivity of an
input also depends upon the levels of other inputs used. For example, a
higher dose of capital application may increase the productivity of
labour even when other inputs including labour remain constant. The TFP
approach over come from this problem by take into account the level of
all inputs used in the production of output. TFP is defined as the ratio
of weighted sum of output to the weighted some of inputs. In other
words, the TFP approach measures the amount of aggregate output produced
by a unit of aggregate inputs. MFP is deemed to be the broadest measure
of productivity and efficiency in resource use. It aims at decomposing
changes in production due to changes in quantity of inputs used and
changes in all the residual factors such as change in technology,
capacity utilisation, quality of factors of production, learning by
doing, etc. An increase in TFP, therefore, implies a decrease in unit
cost of production. Since TFP incorporates all the residual factors, it
has also been dubbed as an 'index of ignorance' [Abramovitz,
1956]. However, the concept of TFP scores over SFP. It is observed that
all factors affecting the production process are captured in the former
concept unlike that in the latter. Therefore, the study used TFP as a
measure of productivity.
Over the last three decades, researchers have developed several
theories and method of TFP measurement. The two main approaches applied
for the estimation of growth in TFP are the Production Function Approach
(PFA) and the Growth Accounting Approach (GAA). Before the
mid-1990's most studies estimated TFP growth by growth accounting
approach (Ahluwalia, I.J. 1991, Balakrishnan, P. and K. Pushpangadan
1994, ICICI Limited 1994, Rao, J. M. 1996a, Rao, J. M. 1996b and Pradhan
G. and K. Barik 1998) in India. But both approaches have some
limitations. One of the major disadvantages of using PFA is the problem
of identification of production function due to the simultaneity in
determination of input intensities and output levels. The problems of
autocorrelation and multicollinearity encountered in the use of PFA
vitiate the empirical estimates obtained by this approach. To massaging
the data in order to take care of these statistical problems render it
difficult to interpret the empirical results. The assumption of
'well-behaved' production function takes away flexibility and
the ability of Translog production function to approximate a
non-homothetic production structure. On the other hand, the limitation
of GAA is that, if the share of capital is treated as a residual, it
implies the assumption of constant returns to scale. Moreover, if output
elasticities are proxies by the observed factor shares, it implies the
assumption of a competitive market structure. It is also assumes that an
industry operates on its production frontier, implying that it has 100
per cent technical efficiency. Thus, TFP growth measured through this
approach is due to technical change, not due to technical efficiency
change (Mawson et al., 2003). It has been well documented in the
literature [Rao, 1996a] that both PFA and GAA assumed a well-behaved
production function, stability of the production function over time and
cost minimisation, which is a sub-goal of profit maximisation. In recent
years, stochastic frontier analysis and Data Envelop Analysis (DEA)
-based Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI), which uses panel data, have
become popular approaches for estimation of TFP growth. These approaches
do not assume that all production units operate at 100 per cent
technical efficiency.
Among these, the most popular approach to measuring productivity
changes is based on using Malmquist Productivity Indexes-a method
originated by Caves et al. (1982). According to MPI approach, TFP can
increase not only due to technical progress (shifting of production
frontier) but also due to improvement in technical efficiency
(catching-up). According to Grifell-Tatje Lovell [1996], the Malmquist
index has three main advantages. First, it does not require the profit
maximization, or cost minimization, assumption. Second, it does not
require information on the input and output prices. Finally, if the
researcher has panel data, it allows the decomposition of productivity
changes into two components (technical efficiency change, or catching
up, and technical change, or changes in the best practice). Its main
disadvantage is the necessity to compute distance functions. However,
the Data Envelop Enalysis (DEA) technique can be used to solve this
problem.
Another important advantage of Malmquist index is that, it allows
us to distinguish between shifts in the frontier (technology change, TC)
and improvements in efficiency relative to the frontier (efficiency
change, TEC), which are two mutually exclusive and exhaustive sources of
total factor productivity change (TFPC). It is also possible to
decompose efficiency change into its distinct components with Malmquist
index; changes in management practices (pure efficiency change, PTEC)
and changes in production scales (scale efficiency change, SEC). This
treatment ideally improves analytical efforts while tracing the
underlying sources of productivity developments.
MPI is Data Envelop Approach (DEA)--based approach but unlike DEA
that is static in nature as it assesses the productivity of a firm or an
industry in ration to the best practice industries in the given year, it
also accounts for the shift of production frontier over time. Since it
is capable of decomposing productivity growth into technical efficiency
change and technological progress, it is able to shed light on the
mechanism of productivity change (Ma, et al., 2002). The DEA-based MPI
method was initially introduced by Caves, Christensen and Diewert (CCD)
in 1982 and was empirically used by Fare, Grosskopf, Lindgren and Roos
(FGLR) in 1992 and Fare, Grosskopf, Norris and Zhing (FGNZ) in 1994.
Since then several versions of MPI have been developed.
III. DATA AND METHODOLOGY
The study is based on panel data collected from various issues of
Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government
of India, New Delhi, for the period 1994 to 2004. In this study output
is measured in gross value added, labour is measured in terms of the
total number of persons employed and capital is measured in gross fixed
capital.
Malmquist Productivity Index is explained by distance or technical
efficiency functions. One feature of distance functions is that these
allow description of multi-input, multi-output production technology
without the need to specifying a behavioural objective, such as profit
maximization or cost minimization. Distance functions are two types; the
input distance functions and the output distance functions. Input
distance functions look for 'by how much can input quantities be
proportionally reduced without changing the output quantities
produced?' On the other hand output distance functions addresses
'by how much can output quantities be proportionally expanded
without altering the input quantities used?' The Malmquist method
is most commonly used for output comparisons. Hence, in this paper we
adopt an output-oriented distance function approach.
In order to specify the Malmquist index using output-oriented
distance functions, the paper first define the relevant technology. Let,
[y.sub.t][epsilon][R.sub.+.sup.m] and [x.sub.t] [epsilon][R.sub.+.sup.n]
denote an (Mx1) output vector and an (Nxl) input vector, respectively.
Then the diagram of the production technology in period t is the set of
all feasible input-output vectors given as, [GR.sub.t] = {([y.sub.t],
[x.sub.t]): [x.sub.t], can produce [y.sub.t]} (1)
Where, the technology is assumed to have the standard set of
properties, such as convexity and strong disposability of outputs.
The output set, [P.sub.t]([x.sub.t]), which represents the set of
all output vectors, y, are defined in terms of [GR.sub.t] as follows,
[P.sub.t]([x.sub.t]) = {[y.sub.t]: ([y.sub.t],
[x.sub.t]{([y.sub.t], [x.sub.t])[epsilon][GR.sub.t]} (2)
The output distance functions for period t technology is defined on
the output set [P.sub.t]([x.sub.t]) as,
[d.sup.t.sub.o]([y.sub.t], [x.sub.t]) = inf {[[partial
derivative].sub.t]: [[y.sub.t] / [[partial
derivative].sub.t]][epsilon][p(x)} (3)
where the subscript '0' indicates
'output-oriented' measure. The notation [d.sup.t.sub.o]([y.sub.t], [x.sub.t]) stands for the distance from
period t observation to the period t technology. In other words, this
efficiency function represents the smallest factor, [[partial
derivative].sub.t], by which an output vector ([y.sub.t]) is deflated so
that it can be produced with a given input vector ([x.sub.t]) under
period t technology. Similarly, [d.sub.o.sup.t+1]([y.sup.t+1],
[x.sup.t+1]) would indicate distance from period t observation to the t
+ 1 technology.
Using these definitions, the following Malmquist TFP index can be
constructed to measure productivity change between periods t and t + 1,
based on t technology,
[m.sup.t.sub.o]([y.sub.t], [x.sub.t][y.sup.t+1],[x.sup.t+1] =
[d.sup.t.sub.o]([y.sup.t+1], [x.sup.t+1]) / [d.sup.t.sub.o]([y.sub.t],
[x.sub.t])(4)
A similar output oriented Malmquist index can be obtained, based on
the t + 1 technology as follows,
[m.sup.t+1.sub.o]([y.sub.t], [x.sub.t][y.sup.t+1], [x.sup.t+1]) =
[d.sup.t+1.sub.o]([y.sup.t+1], [x.sup.t+1]) /
[d.sup.t+1.sub.o]([y.sub.t], [x.sub.t]) (5)
Equations (4) and (5) imply that estimation of TFP change between
the two periods could depend on the choice of technology. In order to
avoid the effect of any arbitrarily chosen technology, one has to
measure change between two data points relative to a common technology.
Thus, following Fare et al. (1994) the output oriented TFP could be
estimated as the geometric mean of the indices based on period t and t +
1 technologies as given by equations (4) and (5) respectively. Hence we
have,
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (6)
When the value of [m.sub.o] exceeds one indicates a positive total
productivity growth from period t to t + 1 and a value of the index less
than unity indicates a decline in TFP growth. If the value is equal to
unity indicates no change in TFP.
To measure source of TFP growth, technical efficiency chance and
technological change, the equation (6) can be written as,
[MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (7)
The ratio outside the square brackets measures the change in the
technical efficiency change (TEC) between periods, t and t + 1, i.e.,
moving closer to frontier or 'catching-up'. In other words,
efficiency change is equivalent to the ratio of Farell technical
efficiency in period t + 1 to the Farell technical efficiency in time t.
the remaining part of the index that appears inside the square brackets
indicates the technological change (TC) or shift in frontier between two
periods, evaluated at [x.sub.t] and [x.sub.t+1]. Hence the Malmquist
Index given by equation (7) shows that productivity growth is the
product of technical efficiency change (catching-up) and technological
change. Hence, TFP change can be written as:
TFPC = TEC x TC
Both the above indices can be interpreted as progress, no change
and regress when their values are greater than one, equal to one and
less than one, respectively.
Farell et al. (1994) illustrated how the distance function can be
estimated using DEA based on Malmquist Productivity Index can decomposed into technical efficiency change and technological change. TEC is
further decomposed into (PTEC) and (SEC). To measure Malmquist TFP
Growth between any two periods as defined in equation (7), four distance
functions have to calculated, which would involved four Linear Programms
(LPs).They are as follows:
[[[d.sup.t.sub.o]([y.sub.it], [x.sub.it])].sup.-1] = max [phi],
[lambda][phi]
subject to - [phi][y.sub.it] + [Y.sub.t][lambda][greater than or
equal to] 0, - [x.sub.it] + [X.sub.t][lambda][greater than or equal to]
0, [lambda] [greater than or equal to] 0, (8)
[[[d.sup.t+1.sub.o]([y.sub.it+1], [x.sub.it+1])].sup.-1] = max
[phi], [lambda][phi]
subject to - [phi][y.sub.it+1] + [Y.sub.t+1][lambda][greater than
or equal to] 0, - [x.sub.it+1] + [X.sub.t+1][lambda][greater than or
equal to] 0, [lambda][greater than or equal to] 0, (9)
[[[d.sup.t.sub.o]([y.sub.t+1], [x.sub.t+1])].sup.-1] = max [phi],
[lambda][phi]
subject to - [phi][y.sub.it+1] + [Y.sub.t+1][lambda][greater than
or equal to] 0, - [x.sub.it+1] + [X.sub.t][lambda][greater than or equal
to] 0, [lambda][greater than or equal to] 0, (10)
[[[d.sup.t+1.sub.o]([y.sub.it], [x.sub.it])].sup.-1] = max [phi],
[lambda][phi]
subject to - [phi][y.sub.it] + [Y.sub.t+1][lambda][greater than or
equal to] 0, - [x.sub.it] + [X.sub.t+1][lambda][greater than or equal
to] 0, [lambda][greater than or equal to] 0, (11)
where [y.sub.it] and [x.sub.it] represent an (Mx1) vector of output
and an (Nx1) vector of input, respectively, of the i-th industry in the
t-th period (t = 1, 2,.... T), and [Y.sub.t] and [X.sub.t] represent an
(M x K)output matrix and (N x K) input matrix in period t, respectively
for all K industries in the t-th period. Lastly, [lambda] =
[[lambda].sub.1][[lambda].sub.2]....... [[lambda].sub.k] is a (K x 1)
vector of constants representing weights and [phi] is a scalar.
Among the above four PLs, equations (8) and (9) are standard DEA
LPs, which measure technical efficiency of the i-th firm in the t-th and
t + 1 -th year, respectively. In equations (10) and (11) production
points are compared to technologies from different time periods.
Therefore, in these two LPs the value of [phi] parameter need not be
greater than or equal to one, if technical regress or progress has
occurred.
The above four LPs are required for each pair of adjacent years.
Thus, if there are T time periods, then a total of (3T-2) LPs must be
calculated for each industry. Since the sample used in this study
consists of 11 years (from 1993-94 to 2003-2004), 31 LPs must be solved
for each industry. The above LPs can be extended by decomposing
technical efficiency change into pure technical efficiency change and
scale efficiency change components. This requires the calculation of the
distance functions with Variable Returns to Scale (VRS) technology,
which could be done repeating LPs (8) and(9) and adding the convexity
constraint KI' [lambda] = i to each of these LPs. The K1 is a K x 1
vector of ones and that the convexity constraint essentially ensures
that an inefficient firm is only benchmarked against firms of a similar
size (Colli, Rao and Battese, 1998). The values obtained with Constant
Return to Scale (CRS) and VRS technology ear be used to calculate the
scale efficiency residually. This would increase the total number of LPs
to (4T-2), for our sample it became 42 for each industry.
Classification of Industries
Since we are examining the TFP growth in selected capital-intensive
and labour-intensive industries of India during reform period, we have
classified manufacturing industries as capital-intensive and
labour-intensive by the following procedure. We have calculated
capital-labour ratio (K/L) for all manufacturing industries and K]L
ratio for whole manufacturing sector. Then industries are ranked on the
basis of their K/L values. We were chosen five industries above the mean
K/L of whole manufacturing sector and classified them as
capital-intensive, and five from below mean value called
labour-intensive industries. Selecting five industries from each
segment, in addition to K/L ratio, we also considered the share of value
added of selected industries to total manufacturing and their export
intensity (export/sales), which shows competitiveness of these
industries in international market. Since the competitiveness of an
industry primarily depends on productivity in the long period.
Industries Selected for Analysis
On the basis of above criteria the following industries have been
selected for empirical analysis: (A) Capital-intensive industries--(1)
Chemicals, (2) Drugs and pharmaceuticals, (3) Dyes and Pigments, (4)
Metal and Metal Products, and (5) Passenger Car and Multi Utility
Vehicles. (B) Labour-intensive industries--(1) Readymade Garments, (2)
Gems and Jewelry, (3) Leather Products, (4) Coffee and Tea, and (5)
Cotton Textiles.
IV. EMPIRICAL FINDING
As mentioned earlier, this study applies Malmquist Productivity
Indices to measure TFP change and its sources using Data Envelope
Approach. We used the computer software DEAP (Coelli, 1996) to compute
these indices. Table 1 demonstrates average estimates (geometric mean)
of Malmquist indices of total factor productivity change (TFPC),
decomposed into technical efficiency change (TEC) and technological
change (TC) in capital-intensive industries. TEC is further decomposed
into pure technical efficiency change (PTEC) and scale efficiency change
(SEC). The industries are arranged in descending order of their
Malmquist productivity indices (TFPC). The value of TFPC greater than
one reveals productivity growth, value equal to one indicates no change
and lower than unity indicates regress in productivity growth. To
estimate percentage change in productivity, one in subtracted from the
TFPC index and then value is multiplied by 100, [(TFPC-1) x 100]. The
rule applies to the other indices presented in the table.
Our results reveal that four out of five industries have recorded
productivity growth over the years. The highest productivity growth is
recorded by passenger cars and multi utility vehicle industry (5.3 per
cent) followed by drugs and pharmaceuticals (4.6 per cent), chemical
(4.3 per cent), and dyes and pigments (1.2per cent). The metal and metal
products (-0.3 per cent) industry recorded productivity regress. In the
former, technological progress is not offset by a decline in technical
efficiency whereas in the later; negative growth in technology is
accompanied by no change in technical efficiency.
Technological progress is seems to be major driver of TFP
improvement in all the four industries where TFP showed a positive
growth over the period. However, somewhat contrasted picture is observed
for metal and metal products industry where a regress in technological
progress and no change in technical efficiency. Technological progress
enhanced by 5.7 per cent, 4.4 per cent, 2.5 per cent and 1.4 per cent in
passenger cars and multi utility vehicles, chemical, drugs and
pharmaceuticals and dyes and pigments, respectively. Contrasted result
is observed in case of technical efficiency for the above industries. It
was -2.5 per cent, -0.9 percent and -1.3 per cent respectively. The
reason for decline in technical efficiency of these industries was a
regress in scale efficiency (SEC) without any change in pure technical
efficiency. The reason for downward trend in TFP change for metal and
metal products was due to decline in technological progress by -1.1 per
accompanied by no change in technical efficiency and PTEC and SEC
contribute equally to TEC.
The mean indices reported in the end of the last row of Table- 1
are the averages of industry specific indices. We may note that the TFP
growth in the aggregate of all five capital-intensive industries group
has been 1.7 per cent per annum over the period of investigation.
Technology has improved by 1.8 per cent but technical efficiency has
declined by 0.9 per cent per annum.
The results for labour-intensive industries are presented in the
Table 2. Estimated result reveals that only one out of five industries
has recorded productivity improvement over the year, which is readymade
garments (0.5 per cent). The cotton textiles (-2.1) gems and jewelry
(-1.7 per cent), leather products (-0.9) and coffee and tea (-0.2 per
cent) industries have recorded productivity regress. In the former,
technical efficiency is not offset by a decline in technological
progress whereas in the later; negative growth in technology is
accompanied by an improvement in technical efficiency. It implies that
all industries are used inputs in hand more efficiently, but this not
outweighed the decline in technological progress.
Technical efficiency (catching-up) has shown an improvement in all
the labour-intensive industries over the period except in cotton
textiles where it has shown a declining trend, but Technical progress
(i.e., shifting of frontier) in all industries recorded a declining
trend during the study period. Technical efficiency was improved by 1.1
per cent in readymade garments, 0.6 per cent in gems and jewelry, 2.7
per cent in leather products and 1.1 per cent in coffee and tea. This
improvement in technical efficiency is attributed by both PTEC and SEC
in two industries and this is due PTEC growth in readymade garments and
due to SEC in gems and jewelry. But cotton textile industry recorded
negative trend in both PTEC and SEC.
The mean indices reported in the end of the last row of Table- 2
are the averages of industry specific indices. We observed that
aggregate of all five industries in labour-intensive segment obtained
negative TFP growth (-0.9per cent). Technical efficiency is improved by
0.5 per cent but Technology has declined by 2.2 per cent per annum.
The year-wise estimates of TFP indices and its components are
reported in table 3 which do not show a steady improvement in
productivity for the selected capital-intensive industries as a whole.
Productivity growth has been observed in 6 out of 10 years and the rest
4 years exhibits productivity revert. Among the years showing
productivity growth, the TFP growth ranged from 2 to 9 per cent and
productivity regress is ranged from 3 to 7 per cent. Productivity
regress is seen largely in the early years of reform. However, it seems
to be some signs of recovery in productivity growth during later period
of the study.
In most cases, the growth in productivity seems to be caused by an
improvement either in technological progress or technical efficiency.
Technological improvement recorded in 6 years ranging from 8.3 to 9.5
per cent and technical efficiency improved in 4 years ranging from 0.4
per cent to 9.3 per cent. Growth in both technical efficiency and
technology is observed in only two years. Improvement in PTEC is found
in some early years of the study, where as SEC is improved in latter
years.
The annual changes in TFP indices and its components are presented
in table-4 also do not show a steady progress in productivity in the
selected labour-intensive industries as a whole. TFP growth has been
observed in 5 out of 10 years and the rest 5 years exhibits productivity
regress. Among the years showing productivity growth, the TFP growth
ranged from 0.9 to 8 per cent and productivity regress is ranged from 1
to 12 per cent. Productivity regress is seen largely in the early years
of reform. However, it seems to be some signs of recovery in
productivity improvement during latter period of the study.
In the majority cases, the growth in productivity seems to be
caused by an improvement either in technological progress or technical
efficiency. Technological progress has been recorded in 4 years ranging
from 0.9 to 2.6 per cent and technical efficiency has been improved in 6
years ranging from 4 per cent to 7.2 per cent. Growth in both technical
efficiency and technology is observed in only two years. Improvement in
PTEC is found scattered in all the years of the study, where as SEC is
improved in latter years.
CONCLUSION
By using the non-parametric technique of DEA-type Malmquist index
in this paper, we measure the productivity changes for selected
capital-intensive and labour-intensive industries in Indian
manufacturing sector from 1993-94 to 2003-04. This model helped us to
isolate the contributions of technological change, efficiency change and
scale change to productivity change in the industries. The empirical
results show that the capital-intensive industries have recorded a
positive TFP growth by 1.7 per cent per annum and the technological
progress (shifting of frontier) is the sole contributor to the TFP
growth, but their counterpart, labour-intensive industries recorded a
productivity regress at the rate of-0.9 per cent per annum during the
study period, although technical efficiency has shown an improvement but
it is offset by high rate of regress in technological change. It is
observed that relatively capital-intensive industries are improving
productivity as compare to their counterpart, viz. labour-intensive
industries. Relatively TFP growth achieved by capital-intensive
industries during the study period provides some indication that
policy-induced factors, such as de-licensing, flow of foreign direct
investment and import of advanced technology have made positive impact
on the TFP growth, but labour-intensive industries were failed to
utilize these benefits. Hence, labour-intensive industries should
attract foreign direct investment and, import and adopt advanced
technology to survive during era of globalization.
Further, large scale production in the industries may be encouraged
to take the advantage of the economies of scale, which would lead to
greater efficiency in the industries, and consequently force the
production points closer to the frontier. Economies of scale in the
industries coupled with advanced technology acquisition would further
develop downstream activities in the related industries.
Reference
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Note
(1.) Refer survey by Tybout (2000) for a detailed look at the
contrasting theoretical arguments on the effects of trade liberalization
on productivity.
Table 1
Estimates of Malmquist Indices of Total Productivity Growth and its
Components for Capital-intensive industries in India, 1994 to 2004
Industry TEC TC PTEC SEC TFPC
Passenger Cars & Multi 0.975 1.057 1.000 0.975 1.053
Utility Vehicles
Drugs & Pharmaceuticals 1.021 1.025 1.001 1.020 1.046
Chemicals 0.991 1.044 1.000 0.991 1.043
Dyes and Pigments 0.987 1.014 1.000 0.987 1.012
Metal & Metal Products 1.000 0.989 1.000 1.000 0.997
Mean 0.991 1.018 1.000 0.991 1.017
Table 2
Estimates of Malmquist Indices of Total Productivity Growth and its
Components for Labour-intensive industries in India, 1994 to 2004.
Industry TEC TC PTEC SEC TFPC
Readymade Garments 1.011 0.995 1.014 0.997 1.005
Cotton Textiles 0.977 0.979 0.985 0.992 0.979
Gems & Jewelry 1.006 0.964 0.998 1.009 0.983
Leather products 1.027 0.965 1.005 1.022 0.991
Coffee & Tea 1.011 0.991 1.003 1.008 0.998
Mean 1.005 0.978 0.999 1.006 0.991
Table 3
Annual Changes in Total Factor Productivity, Technical Efficiency and
Technology in Capital-intensive Industries in India, 1994-95 to 2003-04
Years TEC TC PTEC SEC TFPC
1994-95 0.987 0.976 1.000 0.985 0.961
1995-96 0.881 1.095 1.000 0.881 0.965
1996-97 0.976 0.976 1.000 0.976 0.952
1997-98 0.961 1.092 0.85 0.447 1.049
1998-99 1.093 0.992 1.176 2.672 1.034
1999-00 0.963 1.049 1.000 0.963 1.011
2000-01 1.031 0.898 1.000 1.031 0.927
2001-02 0.997 1.083 0.172 1.050 1.080
2002-03 1.004 1.083 0.66 1.195 1.097
2003-04 1.009 1.085 1.000 1.292 1.094
Mean 0.991 1.18 1.000 0.991 1.017
Note: the estimates of any two years indicate change over the
preceding to the following year. For example, the years 1994-1995
refer to the changes over the year 1994 to 1995, and so on.
Table 4
Annual Changes in Total Factor Productivity, Technical Efficiency
and Technology in Labour-intensive Industries in India, 1994 to 2004
Years TEC TC PTEC SEC TFPC
1994-95 0.942 0.971 1.000 0.942 0.914
1995-96 0.979 1.009 0.871 0.906 0.989
1996-97 1.072 0.917 1.049 1.022 0.983
1997-98 0.912 0.985 0.892 0.922 0.898
1998-99 1.053 0.981 0.772 1.084 1.033
1999-00 1.057 1.012 0.999 1.059 1.070
2000-01 1.073 0.981 1.029 0.979 1.053
2001-02 0.865 1.021 0.867 0.698 0.883
2002-03 1.054 1.026 0.997 1.098 1.081
2003-04 1.040 0.971 1.000 1.040 1.009
Mean 1.005 0.987 0.947 1.005 0.991
Note: the estimates of any two years indicate change over the
preceding to the following year. For example, the years 1994-1995
refer to the changes over the year 1994 to 1995, and so on.