IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jpolmo/v34y2012i1p35-48.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trade-off between labor productivity and capital accumulation in Italian energy sector

Author

Listed:
  • Travaglini, Giuseppe

Abstract

This work provides an explanation for the puzzling trade-off between labor productivity and capital accumulation, occurred in Italian energy sector from the late 1980s onwards. By using a vector autoregressive model, we decompose labor productivity into technological and non technological shocks. We find that: (1) labor productivity responds positively to technological shocks, leading to a transition from one equilibrium to another; (2) capital accumulation shows a persistent decline in response to a positive technological shock, revealing that, in energy sector, technology and capital stock are substitutes. From our analysis we get some policy lessons. The obtained results point out the importance of a comprehensive strategy aimed at increasing technological progress through research, innovation and human capital investment in energy sector. Conversely, our findings state that institutional reforms and changes in regulation can only have a transitory effect on labor productivity in energy sector, without permanent gains in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Travaglini, Giuseppe, 2012. "Trade-off between labor productivity and capital accumulation in Italian energy sector," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 35-48.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jpolmo:v:34:y:2012:i:1:p:35-48
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpolmod.2011.07.013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161893811000767
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2011.07.013?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Runkle, David E, 1987. "Vector Autoregressions and Reality," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 5(4), pages 437-442, October.
    2. Blanchard, Olivier Jean & Quah, Danny, 1989. "The Dynamic Effects of Aggregate Demand and Supply Disturbances," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(4), pages 655-673, September.
    3. John Whiteman & Christopher Bell, 1994. "Bench Marking Electricity Using Data Envelopment Analysis," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 13(3), pages 63-73, September.
    4. Jordi Gali, 1999. "Technology, Employment, and the Business Cycle: Do Technology Shocks Explain Aggregate Fluctuations?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(1), pages 249-271, March.
    5. John W. Kendrick, 1961. "Productivity Trends in the United States," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number kend61-1, July.
    6. Daron Acemoglu, 2010. "When Does Labor Scarcity Encourage Innovation?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(6), pages 1037-1078.
    7. Matthew D. Shapiro & Mark W. Watson, 1988. "Sources of Business Cycle Fluctuations," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1988, Volume 3, pages 111-156, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Wang, Eric C., 2007. "R&D efficiency and economic performance: A cross-country analysis using the stochastic frontier approach," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 345-360.
    9. Abbott, Malcolm, 2006. "The productivity and efficiency of the Australian electricity supply industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 444-454, July.
    10. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    11. Ang, B.W. & Liu, F.L. & Chung, Hyun-Sik, 2004. "A generalized Fisher index approach to energy decomposition analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 757-763, September.
    12. Runkle, David E, 1987. "Vector Autoregressions and Reality: Reply," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 5(4), pages 454-454, October.
    13. David E. Runkle, 1987. "Vector autoregressions and reality," Staff Report 107, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    14. Wang, Chunhua, 2007. "Decomposing energy productivity change: A distance function approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1326-1333.
    15. John W. Kendrick, 1973. "Postwar Productivity Trends in the United States, 1948–1969," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number kend73-1, July.
    16. Subodh Kumar & R. Robert Russell, 2002. "Technological Change, Technological Catch-up, and Capital Deepening: Relative Contributions to Growth and Convergence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(3), pages 527-548, June.
    17. Callan, Scott J, 1991. "The Sensitivity of Productivity Growth Measures to Alternative Structural and Behavioral Assumptions: An Application to Electric Utilities, 1951-1984," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 9(2), pages 207-213, April.
    18. Ang, B.W. & Zhang, F.Q., 2000. "A survey of index decomposition analysis in energy and environmental studies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 25(12), pages 1149-1176.
    19. Nelson, Randy A & Wohar, Mark E, 1983. "Regulation, Scale Economies, and Productivity in Steam-Electric Generation," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 24(1), pages 57-79, February.
    20. Abbott, Malcolm, 2005. "Determining Levels of Productivity and Efficiency in the Electricity Industry," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(9), pages 62-72, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Calcagnini, Giorgio & Giombini, Germana & Travaglini, Giuseppe, 2016. "Modelling energy intensity, pollution per capita and productivity in Italy: A structural VAR approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1482-1492.
    2. Travaglini, Giuseppe & Rugiero, Serena, 2011. "Efficienza energetica: misurazioni e impatti [Energy efficiency: measurement and impacts]," MPRA Paper 34520, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Travaglini, Giuseppe & Saltari, Enrico, 2012. "A model of waste control and abatement capital: Permanent versus temporary environmental policies," MPRA Paper 36522, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Calcagnini, Giorgio & Travaglini, Giuseppe, 2014. "A time series analysis of labor productivity. Italy versus the European countries and the U.S," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 622-628.
    5. Bono, Filippa & Giacomarra, Marcella, 2016. "The photovoltaic growth in the European Union requires stronger RES support," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 324-339.
    6. Wang, Yibo, 2023. "Exploring resource endowment and human capital impact on regional energy efficiency in China in the context of COP26," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    7. Rodríguez, Miguel & Pena-Boquete, Yolanda, 2017. "Carbon intensity changes in the Asian Dragons. Lessons for climate policy design," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 17-26.
    8. Saltari, Enrico & Travaglini, Giuseppe, 2011. "Optimal abatement investment and environmental policies under pollution uncertainty," MPRA Paper 35072, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Calcagnini, Giorgio & Giombini, Germana & Travaglini, Giuseppe, 2016. "Modelling energy intensity, pollution per capita and productivity in Italy: A structural VAR approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1482-1492.
    2. Keuk-Soo Kim & W. Douglas McMillin, 2003. "Estimating the effects of monetary policy shocks: does lag structure matter?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(13), pages 1515-1526.
    3. Carrillo, Julio A., 2012. "How well does sticky information explain the dynamics of inflation, output, and real wages?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 830-850.
    4. Otto, G., 2003. "Terms of trade shocks and the balance of trade: there is a Harberger-Laursen-Metzler effect," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 155-184, April.
    5. Gonzalo, Jesus & Ng, Serena, 2001. "A systematic framework for analyzing the dynamic effects of permanent and transitory shocks," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 25(10), pages 1527-1546, October.
    6. Olugbenga A. Onafowora & Oluwole Owoye, 2015. "Structural Vector Auto Regression Analysis of the Dynamic Effects of Shocks in Renewable Electricity Generation on Economic Output and Carbon Dioxide Emissions: China, India and Japan," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 5(4), pages 1022-1032.
    7. Luis Fernando Melo & Franz A.Hamann, 1998. "Inflación Básica.Una Estimación Basada en Modelos VAR Estructurales," Borradores de Economia 093, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    8. Phillips, Kerk L. & Spencer, David E., 2011. "Bootstrapping structural VARs: Avoiding a potential bias in confidence intervals for impulse response functions," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 582-594.
    9. Gavosto, Andrea & Pellegrini, Guido, 1999. "Demand and supply shocks in Italy:: An application to industrial output," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(9), pages 1679-1703, October.
    10. Buckle, Robert A. & Kim, Kunhong & Kirkham, Heather & McLellan, Nathan & Sharma, Jarad, 2007. "A structural VAR business cycle model for a volatile small open economy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 990-1017, November.
    11. Balmaseda, Manuel & Dolado, Juan J & Lopez-Salido, J David, 2000. "The Dynamic Effects of Shocks to Labour Markets: Evidence from OECD Countries," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 52(1), pages 3-23, January.
    12. Keating, John W., 2000. "Macroeconomic Modeling with Asymmetric Vector Autoregressions," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 1-28, January.
    13. Ericsson, Neil R & Hendry, David F & Mizon, Grayham E, 1998. "Exogeneity, Cointegration, and Economic Policy Analysis," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 16(4), pages 370-387, October.
    14. James B. Bullard & John W. Keating, 1994. "Superneutrality in postwar economies," Working Papers 1994-011, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    15. Edward N. Gamber, 1996. "The policy content of the yield curve slope," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 5(2), pages 163-179.
    16. Hendry, David F. & Mizon, Grayham E., 2001. "Reformulating empirical macro-econometric modelling," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 104, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
    17. Camilo E Tovar, 2006. "Devaluations, output and the balance sheet effect: a structural econometric analysis," BIS Working Papers 215, Bank for International Settlements.
    18. Prof. Neil D. Karunaratne, 2002. "Microeconomic Shocks, Depreciation and Inflation: an Australian Perspective," Discussion Papers Series 298, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    19. Kwo Ping Tam, 2016. "A New Comparative Study On The Free-Floating And Currency Board Regimes In Hong Kong," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(3), pages 218-238, April.
    20. Fisher, L. A. & Huh, H-S., 2002. "Real exchange rates, trade balances and nominal shocks: evidence for the G-7," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 497-518, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Energy sector; SVAR; Productivity; Shocks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • Q4 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jpolmo:v:34:y:2012:i:1:p:35-48. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505735 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.