Are Management Practices Failing or Aiding the Private Sector in South America?

Marie Caitriona Hyland, David C. Francis and Jorge Rodriguez Meza

No 8783, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: An expanding body of literature has shown that better management practices can offer significant boosts to firms'productivity; this research illustrates that firms in South America are no exception. Using recent Enterprise Survey data from seven countries in South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay), the paper explores the various dimensions and drivers of management practices and analyzes how they are related to productivity. This is an important topic to investigate, given the lagging levels of productivity growth in the region. If management practices can boost firms? productivity, this may be a cost-effective way to accelerate economic growth. The results show that improved management practices are associated with higher levels of productivity in all countries, and it is the impact of improved management specifically in larger firms that is driving the overall results. Indeed, in some countries, specifically Argentina, Paraguay, and Peru, it is only among larger firms that there is a positive link between management practices and productivity.

Keywords: Labor Markets; Pulp&Paper Industry; Textiles; Apparel&Leather Industry; General Manufacturing; Food&Beverage Industry; Common Carriers Industry; Business Cycles and Stabilization Policies; Construction Industry; Plastics&Rubber Industry; Public Sector Administrative and Civil Service Reform; Public Sector Administrative&Civil Service Reform; De Facto Governments; Democratic Government; Administrative&Civil Service Reform; Trade Facilitation; Employment and Unemployment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-03-19
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/929401552999310792/pdf/WPS8783.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:8783

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Roula I. Yazigi ().