Fixed Cost, Imperfect Competition and Bias in Technology Measurement: Japan and The United States

Kiyohiko G. Nishimura and Masato Shirai

No 273, OECD Economics Department Working Papers from OECD Publishing

Abstract: In many industries, competition is far from perfect and managerial efficiency (or a fixed cost) varies among firms. However, traditional measurement of technological progress assumes perfect competition and no fixed cost. This paper incorporates these two factors in the technological-progress measurement and investigates the biases caused by their omission. We show that if capital growth exceeds non-capital-input growth and that firms earn a positive pure profit, then traditional measurement underestimates the true technological progress. We apply this methodology to Japanese and US industries, and find that imperfect competition and managerial efficiency are important. However, the magnitude of the bias is not large ... Dans de nombreuses industries, la concurrence est loin d'être parfaite, et l'efficience du management (ou de charge fixe) varie selon les entreprises. Cependant, les mesures traditionnelles du progrès technologique impliquent une concurrence parfaite et pas de charge fixe. Ce document incorpore ces deux facteurs dans les mesures du progrès technologique et recherche les distortions causées par leurs omissions. On démontre que, si la croissance du capital est supérieure à celle des autres facteurs, et si les entreprises obtiennent un pur profit, les mesures traditionnelles sous-estiment alors les vrais progrès technologiques. On applique cette méthodologie aux industries japonaises et américaines, et on définit l'importance des imperfections à la concurrence et l'efficience du management. Cependant, l'ampleur des distortions n'est pas énorme ...

Keywords: charge fixe; compétition imparfaite; efficience du management; fixed cost; imperfect competition; industries japonaises et américaines; Japanese and US Industries; managerial efficiency; progrès technologique; technological progress (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D20 D24 D43 L11 L16 O30 O33 O47 O51 O53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000-12-21
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:273-en

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