The Role of Management in Efficient Production: Theoretical and Statistical Implications

Abstract

In this chapter, we consider the possibility that a firm may use costly resources to improve its technical efficiency. Results from static analyses imply that technical efficiency is determined by the configuration of factor prices. A dynamic model of the firm is developed under the assumption that managerial skill contributes to technical efficiency. Dynamic analysis shows that the firm can never be technically efficient if it maximizes profits, the steady state is always inefficient, and it is locally stable. In terms of empirical analysis, we show how likelihood-based methods can be used to uncover, in a semi-non-parametric manner, important features of the inefficiency-management relationship using a flexible functional form accounting for the endogeneity of inputs in a production function. Managerial compensation can also be identified and estimated using the new techniques. The new empirical methodology is applied in a data set previously analyzed by Bloom and van Reenen (2007) on managerial practices of manufacturing firms in the UK, US, France and Germany.

Citation

Tsionas, M.G. (2024), "The Role of Management in Efficient Production: Theoretical and Statistical Implications", Parmeter, C.F., Tsionas, M.G. and Wang, H.-J. (Ed.) Essays in Honor of Subal Kumbhakar (Advances in Econometrics, Vol. 46), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 185-210. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0731-905320240000046008