Public Infrastructure, Input Efficiency and Productivity Growth in the Canadian Food Processing Industry

Jeffrey I. Bernstein and Theofanis P. Mamuneas ()

No 703, Working Papers from Florida International University, Department of Economics

Abstract: Canadian food processing is an important manufacturing industry, accounting for 13 percent of shipments. By its nature food processing depends on infrastructure capital. Our objective is to estimate infrastructure’s effects on input requirements, cost and productivity. The increase in capital and decrease in materials were respectively 2.5 and 3 times greater than the -0.07 infrastructure elasticity of labor. Infrastructure investment was cost-reducing by inducing reductions in employment and intermediate inputs. A 1 percent increase caused cost to decline by 0.16 percent. Infrastructure capital was a major contributor to productivity, annually contributing 0.5 percentage points. This was nearly double TFP growth.

Keywords: Food Processing; Infrastructure Capital; Productivity Growth. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D24 L66 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-eff and nep-pbe
Date: 2007-03
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http://www.fiu.edu/orgs/economics/wp2007/07-03.pdf First version, 2007 (application/pdf)

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Journal Article: Public infrastructure, input efficiency and productivity growth in the Canadian food processing industry (2008)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fiu:wpaper:0703

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