PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE AND EXTERNALITIES IN U.S. MANUFACTURING: EVIDENCE FROM THE PRICE-AUGMENTING AIM COST FUNCTION

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 1367-1410
Author(s):  
Guohua Feng ◽  
Apostolos Serletis

In this paper, we propose a price-augmenting asymptotically ideal model (AIM) cost function to investigate the effects of public infrastructure on the performance of the U.S. manufacturing industry, using KLEMS data over the period from 1953 to 2001. In doing so, we make a distinction between the productivity effect and the production factor effect of public infrastructure. This distinction allows us to focus on the more interesting productivity effect by incorporating public infrastructure into the AIM cost function through the efficiency index. Moreover, we specify the growth rate of the efficiency index as a Box–Cox function of public infrastructure and a time trend, a proxy for other technology. The excellent flexibility of our price-augmenting AIM cost function offers many insights regarding the effects of infrastructure on the U.S. manufacturing sector.

1986 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-95
Author(s):  
Najam-us- Saqib

Jamaica, known in the world for her rich deposits of bauxite ore, is a small Caribbean country with an area of 10991 square kilometers and a population of just over two million individuals. This beautifu11and, which was described by Columbus as "The fairest isle that eyes have beheld" has developed a remarkably diversified manufacturing sector starting from a modest industrial base. Jamaica's manufacturing industry enjoyed a respectable growth rate of about 6 percent per annum during the good old days of the euphoric '50s and '60s. However, those bright sunny days ''when to live was bliss" were followed by the chilling winter of much subdued progress. The rise and fall of growth have aroused considerable interest among economists and policy• makers. The book under review probes the causes of this behaviour by analysing key characteristics of Jamaican manufacturing sector and tracing its path of evolution.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1600
Author(s):  
Weijiang Liu ◽  
Mingze Du ◽  
Yuxin Bai

As the world’s largest developing country, and as the home to many of the world’s factories, China plays a crucial role in the sustainable development of the world economy regarding environmental protection, energy conservation, and emission reduction issues. Based on the data from 2003–2015, this paper examined the green total factor productivity and the technological progress in the Chinese manufacturing industry. A slack-based measure (SBM) Malmquist productivity index was used to measure the bias of technological change (BTC), input-biased technological change (IBTC), and output-biased technological change (OBTC) by decomposing the technological progress. It also investigated the mechanism of environmental regulation, property right structure, enterprise-scale, energy consumption structure, and other factors on China’s technological progress bias. The empirical results showed the following: (1) there was a bias of technological progress in the Chinese manufacturing industry during the research period; (2) although China’s manufacturing industry’s output tended to become greener, it was still characterized by a preference for overall CO2 output; and (3) the impact of environmental regulations on the Chinese manufacturing industry’s technological progress had a significant threshold effect. The flexible control of environmental regulatory strength will benefit the Chinese manufacturing industry’s technological development. (4) R&D investment, export delivery value, and structure of energy consumption significantly contributed to promoting technological progress. This study provides further insight into the sustainable development of China’s manufacturing sector to promote green-biased technological progress and to achieve the dual goal of environmental protection and healthy economic growth.


1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 43-67
Author(s):  
Bartholomew Armah

Using input-output data for 1987 and 1990, this study identifies the demographic characteristics of trade-affected workers in U.S. manufacturing and service industries. Trade-affected workers are defined as employees in industries that experienced a change (positive or negative) in net total (direct and indirect) trade-related employment between 1987 and 1990. For the period 1987–1990, three industry categories were examined: (a) industries that experienced an increase in positive net trade-related employment; (b) industries that experienced a decline in positive net trade-related employment; and (c) industries that suffered net trade-related employment losses in both years yet experienced an improvement over the period. The study finds that, while manufacturing industry workers in the most favorably affected industry group (i.e., group “a”) were more likely to be highly skilled (i.e., scientists & engineers), highly educated (i.e., over four years of college education), unionized, married and white males, corresponding service sector workers were predominantly unskilled (laborers), less educated, non-unionized, young (i.e., aged 16–24) and male (black and white). Furthermore, the service sector was associated with greater mean trade-related employment and output gains and lower mean employment and output losses than was the manufacturing sector.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Torri ◽  
Kaustav Kundu ◽  
Stefano Frecassetti ◽  
Matteo Rossini

Purpose In spite of huge advancement of Lean in the manufacturing sector, its advantage in the service sector is not fully investigated. The purpose of this paper is to cover this gap in particular for the information technology (IT) sector through the implementation of the Lean philosophy in a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME), operating in the IT sector. Design/methodology/approach A case study is conducted and following the A3 model, Lean is deployed in the case company. Data were collected through on-site interviews, waste sources were identified and then countermeasures for their reduction were proposed and adopted. Findings This study reveals that the implementation of the Lean practices in an SME operating in the IT sector offers good operative and financial results, thanks to the higher productivity obtained through the reduction of non-value-added activities. Research limitations/implications This paper reports a single case study, not enough to generalize the results. Moreover, more Lean tools and practices should be tested in IT companies to assess their effectiveness. Practical implications This paper increments the knowledge base for the application of Lean and A3 model outside the manufacturing industry. This paper should assist practitioners and consultants who have the desire to understand a better way of Lean implementation in fast-growing IT industry and in SME. Originality/value Research on Lean implementation in an SME company and in IT sector is scarce. This study aims to assess the efficiency of the adoption of Lean practices following the A3 model. The results could be highly valuable for similar companies (dimension or sector), especially those that are facing transition situations in terms of size and at the same time want to improve their operations performance, efficiency and avoid waste.


2018 ◽  
Vol 108 (05) ◽  
pp. 319-324
Author(s):  
I. Bogdanov ◽  
A. Nuffer ◽  
A. Sauer

Der vorliegende Beitrag behandelt den Themenkomplex Ressourcen-effizienz und digitale Transformation im verarbeitenden Gewerbe sowie die dabei entstehenden Wechselwirkungen. Neben dem aktuellen Stand der Technik werden die im Rahmen einer aktuellen Studie durchgeführte Fallbeispielanalyse und die entwickelte Methodik zur Ermittlung der Ressourceneffizienzpotenziale vorgestellt. Diese Potenziale und die eingesetzten digitalen Maßnahmen sind zentrale Bausteine des vorliegenden Beitrags.   This article deals with the topic complex of resource efficiency and digital transformation in the manufacturing sector as well as the resulting interactions. In addition to the current state of the art and perspectives, the case study analysis carried out as part of a current study, as well as the developed method for establishing the resource efficiency potentials will be presented. The resultant potential and the digital measures are central components of this article.


Author(s):  
Joshua D. Parcel ◽  
John R. Schroeter ◽  
Azzeddine M Azzam

AbstractCurrent trends in the structure of hog production in the U.S. are toward facilities that are not only larger, but also more likely to be specialized, carrying out only some of the vertically linked phases of production in the same facility. This paper investigates the cost efficiency incentives for these changes by estimating a multistage cost function for hog production. Data are from the Hog Production Practices and Costs portion of the USDA’s 2004 Agricultural Resource Management Survey.


2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (01) ◽  
pp. 30-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Cowger

This article highlights advantages of Lean Manufacturing in the manufacturing industry. The U.S. Bureau of Census survey shows that leaner the company, the faster it grows and the more profitable, productive, and innovative it becomes. It is a constellation of interrelated processes that improve productivity and reduce waste through continuous monitoring, evaluation, and improvement. The successful results of lean implementation have shown that workers are going to have to take more responsibility for outcomes, and managers are going to have to treat workers like partners. However, lean brings out the skepticism in many engineers and owners of small- and medium-sized businesses. It takes a lot to convince them to invest the time and money needed to transform even a modest factory into a lean operation. Lean has proven to be a philosophy of continuous improvement, as learning how to expose and fix problems creates sustainable advantages that are expected to continue in the future.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 3162-3179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamraiz Ahmad ◽  
Kuan Yew Wong

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review and analyze the recent sustainability assessment studies in the manufacturing industry from the triple-bottom-line (TBL) perspective. This paper aims to depict the status quo of practical sustainability assessment, summarize the different levels and boundaries of evaluation, and highlight the difficulties and further improvements needed to make the assessment more effective in the manufacturing industry. Design/methodology/approach Four keywords, namely, sustainability assessment, sustainable manufacturing, TBL and green production, were used to explore and find the relevant articles. First, this paper systematically reviewed the studies and analyzed the different levels and boundaries of sustainability assessment. Following this, the reviewed studies were critically discussed along with their merits and shortcomings. Findings The review showed that most of the sustainability assessment studies were conducted on product, company and process levels in the manufacturing industry. Nevertheless, there is still a need to focus more on plant and process level assessments to achieve the TBL objectives. Environmental assessment is comparatively matured in manufacturing industries. However, from the economic and social viewpoints, only cost analysis and workers’ safety, respectively, were considered in most of the studies. The economic and social indicators need to be more inclusive and should be validated and standardized for manufacturing industries. Originality/value Unlike previous sustainability assessment reviews in manufacturing industries which were mostly based on life cycle assessment, this paper has included environmental, social and economic aspects in one comprehensive review and focused on recent studies published from 2010 to 2017. This paper has explored the recent sustainability assessment trends and provided insights into the development of sustainability assessment in the manufacturing sector.


The productivity of any organization can be increased by optimizing the work process. Low productivity of workers is one of the reason behind the delay in delivery in manufacturing sector we know that in manufacturing sector labor is prominent thing. Improving the productivity means to make the best possible use of available resources and achieve maximum output. This paper focuses on the productivity of machine as well as labor by using fixtures, updated systematic layout and use of material handling equipment. This paper also covers the, what is productivity, which factors are affecting on productivity and efficiency. Maximum efficiency or productivity is trademark of any successful organization The objective of this paper is to identify the problem in medium scale industry due to time and effort required for any operations is high To tackle and understand a detailed analysis regarding processes using time study and work study. Due to implementation of all the measures the productivity of an organization is increases resulting in reduced effort and time required for operation and all operations done optimally.


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