تجزیه رشد بهره وری کل عوامل در ایالت متحده آمریکا

This paper applies the stochastic frontier production model to the lower 48 U.S. states over the period 1977–2000 to decompose the sources of total factor productivity (TFP) growth into technological progress, changes in technical efficiency, and changes in economies of scale. We find that technological progress comprises the majority of TFP growth but that differences in efficiency change explain cross-state differences in TFP growth. TFP growth was greater towards the end of the time period.

For decades, economists have been interested in measuring and identifying sources of productivity change. Fisher (1922) and Törnqvist (1936) provide early examples of constructing superlative productivity indices using price and quantity data. Researchers also measured productivity change by computing a Malmquist (1953) productivity index. Solow (1957) measured productivity growth for the U.S. economy using an aggregate production function. He computed total factor productivity (TFP) growth as the residual after subtracting labor and capital growth (i.e. growth in inputs) from output growth. His procedure, often denoted as “growth accounting” has been replicated for many other countries, time periods, and sets of inputs which Barro and Sala-I-Martin (1995, Chapter 10) summarizes.

This paper examined total factor productivity growth across U.S. states. Our findings are as follows: (1) TFP growth mainly stems from technological progress and this is encouraging because changes in efficiency can no longer be positive once the frontier is reached. However, differences in TFP growth across states mainly stem from differences in efficiency change. (2) Efficiency in the 48 contiguous states averaged 76% from 1977 to 2000. States undergoing the greatest declines in efficiency were oil and coal producing states. Those experiencing the greatest increases were those with larger financial sectors. (3) Human capital and urbanization are both associated with efficiency. Of the industries, agriculture is negatively associated with efficiency whereas financial sectors are positively associated. (4) The biggest states had the higher labor elasticities and lowest capital elasticities. The assumption of constant returns to scale often employed when using aggregate production functions is supported here and so the economies of scale component is negligible with regards to TFP growth.