Productivity changes in the automotive industry of three European countries. An application of the Malmquist index decomposition analysis

M. Agostino, A. Nifo, S. Ruberto, Domenico Scalera and F. Trivieri

Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 2022, vol. 61, issue C, 216-226

Abstract: This paper analyzes the changes in productivity of small and large firms operating in the automotive industry in France, Italy and Spain, occurred during the pre-crisis (2001-2008) and post-crisis (2009-2014) periods. To this aim, the Malmquist index as a measure of total factor productivity (TFP) variation is computed, by using the non-parametric technique DEA, integrated by a bootstrap technique proposed by Simar and Wilson (1999). The analysis allows distinguishing among different possible sources of TFP changes, i.e. pure technical efficiency change, scale efficiency change and technological change. The latter comes up to be the main channel through which the global crisis negatively impacted on productivity, presumably by hampering the primary engines of technological change, i.e. research, innovation and investment through reduced availability of financial resources for SMEs, worsened perspectives for firm growth and greater concentration in selected geographical areas of investments by parent companies.

Keywords: Automotive Industry; Productivity; Bootstrapped Malmquist Index; Data Envelopment Analysis; JEL: C61; D24; L6; L62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:streco:v:61:y:2022:i:c:p:216-226

DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2022.02.017

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