Productivity and Resource Misallocation: Empirical Findings from Firms in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region and Turkey

Year 2022, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 1 - 37, 27.01.2022

Eleftherios Gıovanıs , Öznur Özdamar

https://doi.org/10.26650/JEPR1021400

Abstract

State-Business relations (SBRs) are reflected in business and investment climate indicators and may take the form of formal, regular, and informal interactions. The creation of an institutional environment in which the state provides high-quality public goods, such as infrastructure, political stability, elimination of corruption, and effective public administration, is important because it can improve productivity and lead to higher rates of growth. Resource reallocation from low to high productivity firms can generate large aggregate productivity gains with further potential benefits to economic growth. This study examines the relationship between productivity and resource misallocation in a sample of countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and Turkey. The analysis relies on data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys over 2008-2016 of firms in Egypt, Turkey, and Yemen. In the analysis, we control various firm characteristics. Furthermore, we explore major state-business relations (SBRs) and their association to resource misallocation. The results are mixed, wherein in Egypt and Turkey, female ownership and international quality certification are positively associated with productivity and allocation efficiency. Moreover, obstacles in SBRs present a negative and significant correlation with the firms’ performance and productivity, increasing dispersions in the resource allocation, output, and capital. We find that corruption, political instability, electricity supply, and high tax rates are the most critical obstacles in SBRs.

Keywords

Firm-Level data, Firm characteristic, Productivity, Resource misallocation, State-Business relations

Supporting Institution

Economics Research Forum (ERF)

Project Number

Structural Change, Resource Misallocation and Growth Dynamics in the MENA Region

Thanks

The authors are grateful for the financial support received from the ERF. The authors would like to thank Dr. Jorge Luis Rodriguez Meza, who is Program Manager at the World Bank, and the participants in the ERF-World Bank Workshop and Training on “Structural Change, Resource Misallocation and Growth Dynamics in the MENA Region” on 28th February and 1st March 2018, for their valuable comments and feedback.

Verimlilik ve Kaynakların Etkinsiz Dağılımı: Ortadoğu ve Kuzey Afrika (ODKA) Bölgesi ile Türkiye’deki Firmalardan Elde Edilen Ampirik Bulgular

Abstract

Devlet-Özel Sektör ilişkileri iş ve yatırım ortamı göstergeleri ile ifade edilirken, resmi, düzenli ve gayri resmi ilişkiler şeklinde vücut bulabilir. Devletin yolsuzluğun ortadan kaldırılması, etkin kamu yönetimi, altyapı ve siyasi istikrar gibi yüksek kaliteli kamu malları sağladığı kurumsal bir ortamın yaratılması, verimliliği artırması ve daha yüksek büyüme oranlarına yol açması açısından önemlidir. Düşük verimli firmalardan yüksek verimli firmalara kaynakların yeniden aktarımı, önemli verimlilik kazançlarını beraberinde getirerek ekonomik büyümeye de potansiyel katkılar sunmaktadır. Bu çalışma Orta Doğu ve Kuzey Avrupa’da yer alan bazı ülkeler ile Türkiye’de verimlilik ve kaynakların etkinsiz dağılımı arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemektedir. Analizler Türkiye, Mısır ve Yemen için 2008-2016 yılları arası Dünya Bankası Girişim Anketleri’nden elde edilen veriler kullanılarak yapılmıştır. Analizlerde firma karakteristiklerini temsil eden değişkenler kontrol altına alınmıştır. İlave olarak çalışmada, devlet-özel sektör ilişkisinin kaynakların etkinsiz dağılımındaki rolü incelenmiştir. Sonuçlar ülkeler için farklılık göstermekte olup, Türkiye ve Mısır’da firmaların kadınlar tarafından işletilmesinin ve uluslararası kalite belgesine sahip olunmasının verimlilik ve kaynak dağılımındaki etkinlikle pozitif ilişkili olduğu ortaya koyulmuştur. Ayrıca devlet-özel sektör ilişkisi önündeki engeller firma performansı ve verimliliği ile negatif ilişkili olup, sermaye, çıktı ve kaynak dağılımda bozulmayı beraberinde getirmektedir. Yolsuzluk, siyasi istikrasızlık, elektrik arzı ve yüksek vergi oranları devlet-özel sektör ilişkisi önündeki en kritik engeller olarak bulunmuştur.

Keywords

Firma verisi, Firma özellikleri, Verimlilik, Kaynakların etkinsiz dağılımı, Devlet-Özel sektör ilişkileri

Project Number

Structural Change, Resource Misallocation and Growth Dynamics in the MENA Region

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