Firm-level Inefficiency in Post-transition Economies

Authors

  • Valerija Botrić The Institute of Economics, Zagreb

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54820/FKSQ7558

Keywords:

firm inefficiency, post-transition economies, stochastic frontier analysis

Abstract

Firms in post-transition economies are frequently considered less efficient than those in more advanced market economies. By relying on the World Bank Enterprise Survey for the year 2019, firm-level technical inefficiency is estimated by the stochastic frontier analysis method for a sample of European post-transition countries. To be precise, the analysis included Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, North Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, and Slovenia. Furthermore, the factors contributing to the firm-level inefficiency are explored in a comparative setting. The effects of the international orientation of the firm, foreign ownership, doing business with the government sector, presence of informal competitors, innovation activity, manager experience, and the age of the firm on the technical inefficiency are estimated. Results show that although some factors are common to a subsample of countries, not a single factor is significant in all the analysed economies.

References

Aidis, R., Estrin, S., Mickiewicz, T. M. (2012), “Size matters: Entrepreneurial entry and government”, Small Business Economics, Vol. 39 No. 1, pp. 119-139.

Bierut, B. K., Kuziemska-Pawlak, K. (2017), “Competitiveness and export performance of CEE countries”, Eastern European Economics, Vol. 55 No. 6, pp. 522-542.

Botrić, V., Božić, Lj., Broz, T. (2017), “Explaining firm-level total factor productivity in post-transition: manufacturing vs. services sector”, Journal of International Studies, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 77-90.

Brada, J. C., King, A. E., Ma, C. Y. (1997), “Industrial Economics of the Transition: Determinants of Enterprise Efficiency in Czechoslovakia and Hungary”, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 49 No.1, pp.104-127.

Charoenrat, T., Harvie, C., Amornkitvikai, Y. (2013), “Thai manufacturing small and medium sized enterprise technical efficiency: evidence from firm-level industrial census data”, Journal of Asian Economics, Vol. 27 (August), pp. 42-56.

Chemmanur, T. J., Paeglis, I., Simonyan, K. (2009), “Management quality, financial and investment policies, and asymmetric information”, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Vol. 44 No. 5, pp. 1045-1079.

Crespy, A., Venheuverzwijn, P. (2019), “What ‘Brussels’ means by structural reforms: empty signifier or construvtive ambiguity?”, Comparative European Politics, Vol. 17 No.1, pp. 92-111.

Deliktas, E., Balcilar, M. (2005), “A Comparative Analysis of Productivity Growth, Catch-Up, and Convergence in Transition Economies”, Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Vol. 41 No.1, pp. 6-28.

Esquivias, M. A., Harianto, S. K. (2020), “Does competition and foreign investment spur industrial efficiency? Firm-level evidence from Indonesia”, Heliyon, Vol. 6 No. 8, pp. 1-10.

European Commission (2019), “The EU Regional Competitiveness Index 2019”, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/work/2019_03_rci2019.pdf (14 April 2021)

Frances, D. S., Karalashvili, N., Maemir, H., Meza, J. R. (2020), “Measuring total factor productivity using the Enterprise Survey: A methodological note”, available at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/34913/Measuring-Total-Factor-Productivity-Using-the-Enterprise-Surveys-A-Methodological-Note.pdf (14 April 2021)

Gilbert, J., Muchová, E. (2018), “Export competitiveness of Central and Eastern Europe since the enlargement of the EU”, International Review of Economics & Finance, Vol. 55, pp. 78-85.

Hernández, V., Nieto, M. J., Rodríguez, A. (2021), “Home country institutions and export of firms in transition economies: Do innovation matter?”, Long Range Planning, forthcoming.

Jakšić, S., Erjavec, N., Cota, B. (2020), “Export and total factor productivity of EU new member states”, Croatian Operational Research Review, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 263-273.

Khalifah, N. A. (2013), “Ownership and technical efficiency in Malaysia's automotive industry: A stochastic frontier production function analysis”, The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 509-535.

Krammer, S. M. S. (2015), “Do good institutions enhance the effect of technological spillovers on productivity? Comparative evidence from developed and transition economies”, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Vol. 94 (May), pp. 133-154.

Kravtsova, V. (2008), “Foreign presence and efficiency in transition economies”, Journal of Productivity Analysis, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 91-102.

Ledeneva, A., Efendic, A. (2021), “The Rules of the Game in Transition: How Informal Institutions Work in South East Europe”, in: Douarin, E., Havrylyshyn, O. (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Comparative Economics, Springer, pp. 811-845.

Lemi, A., Wright, I. (2020), “Exports, foreign ownership, and firm-level efficiency in Ethiopia and Kenya: an application of the stochastic frontier model”, Empirical Economics, Vol. 58 No. 2, pp. 669-698.

Lu, Y., Tao, Z., Zhu, L. (2017), “Identifying FDI spillovers”, Journal of International Economics, Vol. 107, pp. 75-90.

Mazorodze, B. (2020), “Trade and efficiency of manufacturing industries in South Africa”, The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Vol. 29 No.1, pp. 89-118.

Mihaljek, D. (2018), “Convergence in Central and Eastern Europe: Can all get to the EU average?”, Comparative Economic Studies, Vol. 60 No. 2, pp. 217-229.

Morris, D. M. (2018), “Innovation and productivity among heterogeneous firms”, Research Policy, Vol. 47 No. 10, pp. 1918-1932.

Piesse, J., Thirtle, C. (2000), “A Stochastic Frontier Approach to Firm Level Efficiency, Technological Change, and Productivity during the Early Transition in Hungary”, Journal of Comparative Economics, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 473-501.

Rodrik, D. (2017), “The illusive promise of structural reform”, in Bournakis, I., Tsoukis, C., Christopoulos, D. K., Palivos. T. (Eds.), Political economy perspectives on the Greek Crisis, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 61-70.

Rusu, V. D., Roman, A. (2017), “An empirical analysis of factors affecting competitiveness of CEE countries”, Economic Research-Ekonomska istraživanja, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 2044-2059.

Sandholtz, W., Taagepera, R. (2007), “Corruption, culture, and communism”, International Review of Sociology: Revue Internationale de Sociologie, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 109-131.

Sari, D. W., Khalifah, N. A., Suyanto, S. (2016), “The spillover effects of foreign direct investment on the firms’ productivity performances”, Journal of Productivity Analysis, Vol. 46 No. 2-3, pp. 199-233.

Stubelj, I., Dolenc, P., Biloslavo, R., Nahtigal, M., Laporšek, S. (2017), “Corporate purpose in a small post-transitional economy: the case of Slovenia”, Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 818-835.

Todo, Y., Matous, P., Inoue, H. (2016), “The strength of long ties and the weakness of strong ties: knowledge diffusion through supply chain networks”, Research Policy, Vol. 45 No. 9, pp. 1890-1906.

Wagner, J. (2012), “International trade and firm performance: a survey of empirical studies since 2006”, Review of World Economics, Vol. 148 No. 2, pp. 235-267.

Williams, C. C., Kedir, A. (2018), “Explaining cross-national variations in the prevalence of informal sector entrepreneurship: lessons from a survey of 142 countries”, Journal of Development Entrepreneurship, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp.1-12.

Downloads

Published

2022-03-29

How to Cite

Botrić, V. (2022). Firm-level Inefficiency in Post-transition Economies. ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion, 7(1), 34–43. https://doi.org/10.54820/FKSQ7558

Issue

Section

Microeconomics