Total Factor Productivity in OECD Countries: A Panel Data Application with Stochastic Frontier Approach

Abstract

Productivity, the fundamental element of sustainable growth, is the term that expresses the level of efficient and effective use of labor, capital and other production factors. This term is an indicator of the ability of economic units to transform their input into output. Considering large and increasing differences between countries in terms of per capita income and factor accumulations that cannot fully explain these differences, productivity growth plays a dominant role for sustainable economic growth. In this study, the total factor productivity (TFP) growth and its components were calculated with a panel data set that includes 28 OECD countries for the period 1970-2017 by using a stochastic frontier analysis. It was determined that the average annual increase of TFP was 0.13% during the analysis period. The annual average productivity declined in the years of the 1970s and the early 1980s. It also decreased in 2008 and 2009 when the global crisis was experienced. The deepest decline was seen in 2009 with 2.25%. The growth in TFP is mainly dependent on technological progress rather than improvements in technical efficiency and scale efficiency. Another finding of the study is that countries with higher per capita income are also dominant in technological progress.

Keywords

• Stochastic Frontier Analysis
• Total Factor Productivity
• Efficiency
• Productivity
• Economic Growth

OECD Ülkelerinde Toplam Faktör Verimliliği: Stokastik Sınır Yaklaşımı ile Bir Panel Veri Uygulaması

Abstract

Sürdürülebilir büyümenin temel unsuru olan verimlilik, en yalın haliyle, emek, sermaye ve diğer üretim faktörlerinin ne düzeyde etkin ve etkili kullanıldığını ifade eden bir kavramdır. Bu kavram, ekonomik birimlerin girdilerini çıktıya dönüştürme kabiliyetinin bir göstergesidir. Kişi başı gelir düzeyi açısından ülkeler arasında büyük ve artan farklılıkların olduğu ve faktör birikimlerinin bu farklılıkları tam olarak açıklayamadığı dikkate alındığında, sürdürülebilir ekonomik büyüme için verimlilik artışı başat bir rol oynamaktadır. Çalışmada, toplam faktör verimliliği (TFV) büyümesi ve bileşenleri, 1970-2017 dönemine ilişkin olarak 28 OECD ülkesini içeren panel veri seti ve stokastik sınır analizi (SSA) yaklaşımıyla hesaplanmıştır. TFV’de, analiz döneminde panel geneli için yıllık ortama %0,13 oranında artış meydana geldiği tespit edilmiştir. 1970’li ve 1980’li yılların başı ile küresel krizin yaşandığı 2008 ve 2009 yıllarında yıllık ortalama verimlilik düşüşü yaşandığı, en derin düşüşün ise %2,25 ile 2009 yılında ortaya çıktığı görülmektedir. TFV'deki büyümenin, teknik etkinlik ve ölçek etkinliğindeki iyileşmelerden çok, büyük ölçüde teknolojik ilerlemeye bağlı olduğu; yüksek kişi başı gelir düzeyine sahip ülkelerin de bu noktada hakim konumda olduğu çalışmada tespit edilen diğer bulgulardandır.

Keywords

• Stokastik Sınır Analizi
• Toplam Faktör Verimliliği
• Etkinlik
• Verimlilik
• Ekonomik Büyüme

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