Total Factor Productivity Growth of Ghanaian Electricity Distribution Utilities Using Data Envelopment Analysis and Malmquist Index (2000–2020)

The increasing need for electricity access to drive economic growth, social development, poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability requires that efficient allocation of scarce and competing resources in the generation, transmission and distribution subsectors of the electricity sector is indispensable. This paper analyses total factor productivity growth in a single input multiple-output framework in Ghana. The technique applied is data-orientated nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis using Win4Deap 2 software. Total Factor Productivity Change is evaluated through Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI), as well as technological change (TECHC) and efficiency change (EFFCH) using firm-level panel data. Sources of productivity growth comparison are made between Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCO) for the periods 2000 to 2020. The results show TECHCH marginally declined at an average annual rate of 0.3% and drives the electric power distribution productivity regress in ECG and NEDCO from 2000 to 2020. Further, the results indicate stagnation in scale efficiency, pure efficiency and efficiency change when estimated over 20 years. At firm levels comparison, the study shows that the Northern Electricity Distribution Company recorded a productivity growth rate of 4.9%, mainly due to technical progress. However, the Electricity Company of Ghana experienced a slight deterioration of productivity performance due to a 5.3% decline in technical efficiency. The study offers several policy recommendations on how the underperforming firm can learn to improve efficiency and technical to reduce electricity transmission losses.

Total Factor Productivity Growth of Vietnamese Enterprises by Sector and Region: Evidence from Panel Data Analysis

Total factor productivity growth (TFPG) is an important indicator evaluating the enterprise development model. The aim of this study is to consider the imbalance between TFPG and enterprises growth patterns of sectors and regions in Vietnam. The results of panel data analysis in 2005–2018 show that the growth of Vietnamese enterprises is mainly due to increased capital, especially in the non-state enterprise sector and in the Red River Delta. Total factor productivity (TFP) was found to be present in the non-state and inward foreign investment sectors during the five years 2014–2018. By comparison, the state-owned enterprise sector fell sharply during the same period. Strong upward increases in TFP were notable in the Northern Midlands and Mountain areas, the Mekong River Delta, and the Southeast, while there was a marked downward trend in the Central Highlands and the Red River Delta, especially marked in the Central Highlands. Thus, the results from this study are a basis to suggest an appropriate policy mix that helps to improve the performance of enterprises in different sectors and regions of Vietnam.

Total factor productivity growth and its decomposition in the Chinese construction industry since China's accession to the World Trade Organization

PurposeSince China's accession of the World Trade Organization (WTO), its construction industry has attained unprecedented growth. However, for the sources of this enormous growth, a controversy regarding the total factor productivity growth (TFPG) still remains in production practice and extant studies. In view of this, the purpose of this paper is to measure TFPG and to explore its sources in the industry post-WTO accession.Design/methodology/approachThis study presents an innovative source analysis of TFPG. Stochastic frontier approach is adopted to measure TFPG and to explore its sources by decomposing TFPG into technical progress (TP), technical efficiency change (TEC), allocative efficiency change (AEC) and scale efficiency change (SEC). Although China joined WTO in 2001, to provide an effective baseline, the study period is from 2000 to 2017.FindingsThe empirical results reveal that TFPG presented an overall downward evolutionary trend, but it still maintained a high growth post-WTO accession. From the perspective of decomposition, TP was the main source of TFPG. Furthermore, as a neglected source, interaction effects among TP, TEC, AEC and SEC have been demonstrated to have a significant influence on the cumulative TFPG.Practical implicationsTo make the results be reliable, the authors discuss the empirical findings mainly by revealing the reasons behind the evolutions of TFPG and its sources. Based on these revealed reasons, government and policy makers can further refine and summarize some more detailed and targeted policy implications to improve TFPG.Originality/valueBy providing many empirical evidences to solve the aforesaid TFPG controversy, this paper, therefore, enriches the body of knowledge on growth theories, especially at the level of industrial economics.