IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/soueco/v23y2022i1p86-109.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Technological Efforts, Firm Ownership and Productivity: A Study of Information Technology Service Firms in India

Author

Listed:
  • Asmita Goswami
  • K. Narayanan

Abstract

The article presents differences in firm-level total factor productivity in the information technology (IT) service firms in India over the period 2000–2016. It is an attempt to study whether technological efforts contribute to productivity differences in the firms in conjunction with several other firm specific characteristics. Controlling for endogeneity in inputs, the estimation of productivity through semi-parametric techniques indicates considerable heterogeneity in productivity across firm types. Technological efforts of firms have a significant impact on the productivity of IT firms. Both embodied technology imports and in-house R&D contribute to higher productivity. While the Indian firms are observed to be more productive compared to their foreign counterparts, the technological efforts also differ due to ownership factors and that contributes to changes in productivity. JEL: D24, O14, O39

Suggested Citation

  • Asmita Goswami & K. Narayanan, 2022. "Technological Efforts, Firm Ownership and Productivity: A Study of Information Technology Service Firms in India," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 23(1), pages 86-109, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:soueco:v:23:y:2022:i:1:p:86-109
    DOI: 10.1177/13915614211070793
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13915614211070793
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/13915614211070793?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bin Xu & Jianmao Wang, 1999. "Capital Goods Trade and R&D Spillovers in the OECD," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 32(5), pages 1258-1274, November.
    2. Christopher F Baum & Mark E. Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2003. "Instrumental variables and GMM: Estimation and testing," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 3(1), pages 1-31, March.
    3. Sourafel Girma & Holger Görg, 2004. "Outsourcing, Foreign Ownership, and Productivity: Evidence from UK Establishment‐level Data," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(5), pages 817-832, November.
    4. Arora, Ashish & Arunachalam, V. S. & Asundi, Jai & Fernandes, Ronald, 2001. "The Indian software services industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1267-1287, October.
    5. Tarun Khanna & Jan W. Rivkin, 2001. "Estimating the performance effects of business groups in emerging markets," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 45-74, January.
    6. Andrew B. Bernard & Jonathan Eaton & J. Bradford Jensen & Samuel Kortum, 2003. "Plants and Productivity in International Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(4), pages 1268-1290, September.
    7. Rachel Griffith & Stephen Redding & John Van Reenen, 2004. "Mapping the Two Faces of R&D: Productivity Growth in a Panel of OECD Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(4), pages 883-895, November.
    8. Nina Pavcnik, 2002. "Trade Liberalization, Exit, and Productivity Improvements: Evidence from Chilean Plants," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 69(1), pages 245-276.
    9. Khanna, Rupika & Sharma, Chandan, 2018. "Testing the effect of investments in IT and R&D on labour productivity: New method and evidence for Indian firms," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 30-34.
    10. Chad Syverson, 2011. "What Determines Productivity?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 326-365, June.
    11. Suma S. Athreye, 2005. "The Indian software industry and its evolving service capability," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 14(3), pages 393-418, June.
    12. Patibandla, Murali & Petersen, Bent, 2002. "Role of Transnational Corporations in the Evolution of a High-Tech Industry: The Case of India's Software Industry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 1561-1577, September.
    13. Mark E. Doms & J . Bradford Jensen, 1998. "Comparing Wages, Skills, and Productivity between Domestically and Foreign-Owned Manufacturing Establishments in the United States," NBER Chapters, in: Geography and Ownership as Bases for Economic Accounting, pages 235-258, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. John C. Driscoll & Aart C. Kraay, 1998. "Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation With Spatially Dependent Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 549-560, November.
    15. Mark Doms & Eric J. Bartelsman, 2000. "Understanding Productivity: Lessons from Longitudinal Microdata," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 569-594, September.
    16. John H. Dunning, 1977. "Trade, Location of Economic Activity and the MNE: A Search for an Eclectic Approach," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Bertil Ohlin & Per-Ove Hesselborn & Per Magnus Wijkman (ed.), The International Allocation of Economic Activity, chapter 12, pages 395-418, Palgrave Macmillan.
    17. Hartmut Egger & Peter Egger, 2006. "International Outsourcing and the Productivity of Low-Skilled Labor in the EU," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 44(1), pages 98-108, January.
    18. Rachel Griffith & Stephen Redding & Helen Simpson, 2004. "Foreign Ownership and Productivity: New Evidence from the Service Sector and the R&D Lab," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 440-456, Autumn.
    19. repec:bla:econom:v:41:y:1974:i:162:p:176-93 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Jagdish Bhagwati & Arvind Panagariya, 2004. "The Muddles over Outsourcing," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(4), pages 93-114, Fall.
    21. Rath, Badri Narayan, 2018. "Productivity growth and efficiency change: Comparing manufacturing- and service-based firms in India," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 447-457.
    22. Morck, Randall K. (ed.), 2000. "Concentrated Corporate Ownership," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226536781.
    23. Basant, Rakesh & Fikkert, Brian, 1996. "The Effects of R&D, Foreign Technology Purchase, and Domestic and International Spillovers on Productivity in Indian Firms," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(2), pages 187-199, May.
    24. Petia Topalova & Amit Khandelwal, 2011. "Trade Liberalization and Firm Productivity: The Case of India," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(3), pages 995-1009, August.
    25. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    26. Aw, Bee Yan & Chen, Xiaomin & Roberts, Mark J., 2001. "Firm-level evidence on productivity differentials and turnover in Taiwanese manufacturing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 51-86, October.
    27. Tarun Khanna & Krishna Palepu, 2000. "Emerging Market Business Groups, Foreign Intermediaries, and Corporate Governance," NBER Chapters, in: Concentrated Corporate Ownership, pages 265-294, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    28. Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, 2004. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms? In Search of Spillovers Through Backward Linkages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 605-627, June.
    29. Raut, Lakshmi K., 1995. "R & D spillover and productivity growth: Evidence from Indian private firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 1-23, October.
    30. Chandan Sharma, 2014. "Imported Intermediate Inputs, R&D, and Productivity at Firm Level: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing Industries," The International Trade Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(3), pages 246-263, March.
    31. Gabriele Rovigatti & Vincenzo Mollisi, 2018. "Theory and practice of total-factor productivity estimation: The control function approach using Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 18(3), pages 618-662, September.
    32. Balaji Parthasarathy, 2010. "The computer software industry as a vehicle of late industrialization: lessons from the Indian case," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 247-270.
    33. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Issues in Assessing the Contribution of Research and Development to Productivity Growth," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 17-45, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    34. Good, D. & Nadiri, M.I. & Sickles, R., 1996. "Index Number and Factor Demand Approaches to the Estimarion of Productivity," Working Papers 96-34, C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University.
    35. Tarun Khanna & Yishay Yafeh, 2007. "Business Groups in Emerging Markets: Paragons or Parasites?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 331-372, June.
    36. Moses Abramovitz, 1956. "Resource and Output Trends in the United States since 1870," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number abra56-1.
    37. Sourafel Girma & Avid Greenaway & Richard Kneller, 2004. "Does Exporting Increase Productivity? A Microeconometric Analysis of Matched Firms," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(5), pages 855-866, November.
    38. Sanjaya Lall, 2001. "Competitiveness, Technology and Skills," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2298.
    39. Yama Temouri & Nigel L. Driffield & Dolores Añón Higón, 2008. "Analysis of Productivity Differences among Foreign and Domestic Firms: Evidence from Germany," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(1), pages 32-54, April.
    40. Moses Abramovitz, 1956. "Resource and Output Trends in the United States since 1870," NBER Chapters, in: Resource and Output Trends in the United States since 1870, pages 1-23, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    41. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    42. NS Siddharthan & Stanley Nollen, 2004. "MNE Affiliation, Firm Size and Exports Revisited: A Study of Information Technology Firms in India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(6), pages 146-168.
    43. Santosh Kumar Sahu & Krishnan Narayanan, 2011. "Total Factor Productivity and Energy Intensity in Indian Manufacturing: A Cross-Sectional Study," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 1(2), pages 47-58, September.
    44. Siddharthan, N. S., 1992. "Transaction costs, technology transfer, and in-house R&D : A study of the Indian private corporate sector," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 265-271, July.
    45. Vinish Kathuria, 2001. "Foreign firms, technology transfer and knowledge spillovers to Indian manufacturing firms: a stochastic frontier analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(5), pages 625-642.
    46. Richard Harris & Catherine Robinson, 2003. "Foreign Ownership and Productivity in the United Kingdom Estimates for U.K. Manufacturing Using the ARD," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 22(3), pages 207-223, May.
    47. Ferrantino, Michael J, 1992. "Technology Expenditures, Factor Intensity, and Efficiency in Indian Manufacturing," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 74(4), pages 689-700, November.
    48. Nelson, Richard R, 1981. "Research on Productivity Growth and Productivity Differences: Dead Ends and New Departures," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 19(3), pages 1029-1064, September.
    49. Hasan, Rana, 2002. "The impact of imported and domestic technologies on the productivity of firms: panel data evidence from Indian manufacturing firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 23-49, October.
    50. David Greenaway & Richard Kneller, 2007. "Industry Differences in the Effect of Export Market Entry: Learning by Exporting?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 143(3), pages 416-432, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Lopamudra D. Satpathy & Bani Chatterjee & Jitendra Mahakud, 2017. "Firm Characteristics and Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing Firms," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 11(1), pages 77-98, February.
    2. Neil Foster-McGregor, 2012. "Innovation and Technology Transfer across Countries," wiiw Research Reports 380, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    3. Sahoo, Pradipta Kumar & Rath, Badri Narayan & Le, Viet, 2022. "Nexus between export, productivity, and competitiveness in the Indian manufacturing sector," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    4. Schiffbauer, Marc & Siedschlag, Iulia & Ruane, Frances, 2017. "Do foreign mergers and acquisitions boost firm productivity?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 1124-1140.
    5. Sharma, Chandan, 2018. "Exporting, access of foreign technology, and firms’ performance: Searching the link in Indian manufacturing," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 46-62.
    6. Jaan Masso & Amaresh K Tiwari, 2021. "Productivity Implications Of R&D, Innovation And Capital Accumulation For Incumbents And Entrants: The Case Of Estonia," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 130, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    7. Richard Dion & Robert Fay, 2008. "Understanding Productivity: A Review of Recent Technical Research," Discussion Papers 08-3, Bank of Canada.
    8. Kawaljeet Kaur & Swati Mehta, 2023. "Modes of Technology Accumulation, Total Factor Productivity and Indian Manufacturing Sector: Firm-Level Analysis," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 18(1), pages 7-43, April.
    9. Schiffbauer, Marc & Siedschlag, Iulia & Ruane, Frances, 2009. "Do Foreign Mergers & Acquisitions Boost Firm Productivity?," Papers DYNREG47, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    10. Seenaiah Kale & Badri Narayan Rath, 2018. "Does Innovation Enhance Productivity In Case Of Selected Indian Manufacturing Firms?," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 64(05), pages 1225-1250, November.
    11. Fang Wang & Zhaoyuan Xu & Xiaoyong Dai, 2023. "Is learning by exporting technology specific? Evidence from Chinese firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 275-304, February.
    12. René Belderbos & Vincent Van Roy & Leo Sleuwaegen, 2021. "Does trade participation limit domestic firms’ productivity gains from inward foreign direct investment?," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(1), pages 83-109, March.
    13. Arup Mitra & Chandan Sharma, 2020. "Employment and TFP Impact of Technologies in the Developing World: Domestic versus Imported Expertise," IEG Working Papers 410, Institute of Economic Growth.
    14. Rachel Griffith & Stephen Redding & Helen Simpson, 2004. "Foreign Ownership and Productivity: New Evidence from the Service Sector and the R&D Lab," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 440-456, Autumn.
    15. Tica Josip & Šikić Luka, 2019. "Endogenous Convergence and International Technological Diffusion Channels," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 14(2), pages 34-53, December.
    16. Massimo Del Gatto & Adriana Di Liberto & Carmelo Petraglia, 2011. "Measuring Productivity," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(5), pages 952-1008, December.
    17. Shepotylo, Oleksandr & Vakhitov, Volodymyr, 2012. "Services liberalization and productivity of manufacturing firms : evidence from Ukraine," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5944, The World Bank.
    18. Harris, Richard, 2009. "Spillover and backward linkage effects of FDI: empirical evidence for the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 33206, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Ahmed, Gulzar & Arshad Khan, Muhammad & Afzal, Muhammad, 2015. "Trade Liberalization and Industrial Productivity: Evidence from Pakistan," MPRA Paper 70744, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Mar 2016.
    20. Chandan Sharma, 2016. "R&D, Technology Transfer And Productivity In The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(01), pages 1-24, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Total factor productivity; technological efforts; firm ownership; service sector; IT industry;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O39 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Other

    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:sae:soueco:v:23:y:2022:i:1:p:86-109. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ips.lk/ .

    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.