How SMEs or larger firms and industries’ productivity respond to technology : a panel data study
Part of : Σπουδαί : journal of economics and business ; Vol.64, No.1, 2014, pages 16-28
Issue:
Pages:
16-28
Author:
Abstract:
This paper is an important and necessary extension of the recent study by Lim and Sanidas (2011) where it was rigorously shown that both types of technology positively affect firms and industries in South Korea. How is this technological impact differentiated between SMEs and larger firms? The present paper answers this question and provides policy recommendations accordingly. Following the same methodology as in the just mentioned study, we put emphasis on the role of technological innovations which consist of two components: technical innovations (TIs) and organizational innovations (OIs). We use firm based data and the econometric method of Fixed Effects (FE) to measure the relationship between OIs, TIs and productivity. In these regressions we included some standard control variables such as wage efficiency, educational level, and capital to labor ratio to accommodate for other important influences. Some industries such as electrical machinery, motor vehicles, and non-electrical machinery have become more efficient in terms of OIs and TIs and thus improved productivity considerably. The results indicate that in general the size of firms is rather neutral to the influence of technology and all other factors on productivity. Thus, overall SMEs as well as large firms behave similarly in terms of the established relationships in this paper. However some significant differences which are detected in this study still exist.
Subject (LC):
Keywords:
organizational and technical innovations, technology, just-in-time, panel data, SMEs
Notes:
Περιέχει πίνακες, σημειώσεις και βιβλιογραφία
References (1):
- Bairam, E.I., 1996. Disaggregate Inventory-sales Ratios over Time: the Case of USCompanies and Corporations, 1976-92, Applied Economics Letters, 3, 167-169.Biggart, T.B., and Gargeya V.B., 2002.Impact of JIT on Inventory to Sales Ratios, IndustrialManagement Data System,102, 197-202.Callen, J.L., Fader, C., and Krinsky, I. 2000. Just-in-time: a Cross-sectional Plant Analysis,International Journal of Production Economics, 63, 277-301.Edquist, C., Hommen, L., and McKelvey, M. 2001. Innovation and Employment,Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar.European Commission, on SMEs definition : http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-figures-analysis/sme-definition/index_en.htmGriliches, Z., 1986. Productivity, R&D and Basic Research at the Firm Level in the1970s,American Economic Review, 76, 141-154.Ha, T.J., 2007. Structural change of employment and job creation in the Koreanmanufacturing sector, Asian Journal of Technology Innovation, 15, No. 1, 149-165.Imai, M., 1997. Gemba Kaizen: a Commonsense, Low-cost Approach to Management, NewYork: McGraw-Hill.Inman, R. A., and Mehra, S., 1990. The Transferability of Just-in-Time Concepts to AmericanSmall Businesses, Interfaces, 20, No.2, 30-37.Jung, M.S., 2008. Sectoral Systems of Innovation and Productivity Catch-up: Determinants ofthe Productivity Gap between the Korean and Japanese Firms, unpublished Ph.D.dissertation, Seoul National University.Jung, M.S., and Lee, K., 2009. Sectoral Systems of Innovation and Productivity catch-up:Determinants of the Productivity Gap between the Korean and Japanese Firms,Forthcoming in Industrial and Corporate Change, 19, No. 4, 1037-1069.Kim, D.H., Jung, S.H., and Noh, J.H., 1997. The Research on JIT Implementation in Korea,Journal of the Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers, 291-294.Kim, D.H., and Lim, S.B., 2005. JIT Production System of Domestic Manufacturers and itsImpact on Manufacturing Performance, Journal of the Society of Korea Industrial andSystems Engineering, 28, No.1, 64-72.Lee, J.H., and Lee, Y. H., 2003. On Study for the KANBAN System of Car PartsManufacturers, Journal of Korean Society of Industrial Application, 6, No. 4, 413-420.Lieberman, M.B., and Demeester, L., 1999. Inventory Reduction and Productivity Growth:Linkages in the Japanese Automotive Industry, Management Science, 45, No.4, 466-485.Lim, J. and Sanidas, E., 2011. “The impact of organizational and technical innovations onproductivity: the case of Korean firms and sectors”, Asian Journal of TechnologyInnovation, 191. pp. 21-35.Ramey, V.A., and Vine, D.J. 2004. Why do real and nominal inventory-sales ratios havedifferent trends?, Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking, 36, No 5, 959-963.Salem, M.B., and Jacques, J.-F. 1996. About the stability of the inventory-sales ratio: anempirical study with US sectoral data, Applied Economics Letters, 3, 467-469.Sanidas, E., 2004a. Technology, Technical and Organizational Innovations, Economic andSocietal Growth, Technology in Society, 26, No.1, 67-84.Sanidas, E., 2004b. Impact of the Lean Production System on Economic Growth: Evidencefrom US Manufacturing Industries, International Journal of Applied Business andEconomic research, 2, No.1, 21-45.Sanidas, E., 2005. Organizational Innovations and Economic Growth, Edward ElgarPublishing. Inc., Cheltenham.Sanidas, E., 2006. The open system of four dynamic bio-socio-economic processes of thefirm: the diamond of the black box, The Journal of Socio-Economics, 35, No 3, 556-582.Swamidass, P.M., 2007. The Effect of TPS on US Manufacturing During 1981-1998:Inventory Increased or Decreased as a Function of Plant Performance, InternationalJournal of Production Research, 3763-3778.UNCTC United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations, 1985. TransnationalCorporations in World Development, Third Survey, London: UN and Graham andTrotman.Wooldridge, J.M., 2002. Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data, The MITPress, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Yoo S.J., 2001. The Performance of JIT Systems Implementation for Korean ServiceIndustry, The Journal of Service business, 2, No.2, 139-161.
