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Assessing Gains in Efficient Production among China's Industrial Enterprises

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  • Jefferson, Gary H
  • Xu, Wenyi

Abstract

A central objective of economic reform is to reduce the productive inefficiency that arose under regimes in which markets and material incentives played a limited role. Applying an approach for measuring gains in productive efficiency, the authors evaluate the progress between 1980 and 1989 among China's large and medium-size state-owned enterprises in equalizing factor productivity across enterprises. In the early stages of reform, returns on factor investments varied greatly. Total factor productivity in the most efficient mill was 37 times greater than in the least efficient mill. The differences were partly the result of central planning, including administered prices, restrictions on the flow of resources from low-return to high-return activities, and the lack of market discipline, which protects the least efficient enterprises from bankruptcy. One objective of economic return is to create the conditions that motivate enterprises to improve efficiency and that permit the owners of individual factors to seek the highest returns. Using panel data for 226 industrial enterprises, the authors report evidence that returns on investments in labor, capital and materials became more equal between 1980 and 1989. Such a pattern of convergence can be the product of different factors, but the consistency of the pattern suggests that great exposure to markets and stronger profit-seeking behavior are motivating gains in productive efficiency.
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Suggested Citation

  • Jefferson, Gary H & Xu, Wenyi, 1994. "Assessing Gains in Efficient Production among China's Industrial Enterprises," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(3), pages 597-615, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:v:42:y:1994:i:3:p:597-615
    DOI: 10.1086/452104
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dollar, David, 1990. "Economic Reform and Allocative Efficiency in China's State-Owned Industry," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(1), pages 89-105, October.
    2. Jefferson, Gary H., 1990. "China's iron and steel industry : Sources of enterprise efficiency and the impact of reform," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 329-355, October.
    3. Theodore Groves & Yongmiao Hong & John McMillan & Barry Naughton, 1994. "Autonomy and Incentives in Chinese State Enterprises," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 109(1), pages 183-209.
    4. Perkins, Dwight Heald, 1988. "Reforming China's Economic System," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 26(2), pages 601-645, June.
    5. Jefferson, Gary H & Rawski, Thomas G & Yuxin, Zheng, 1992. "Growth, Efficiency, and Convergence in China's State and Collective Industry," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(2), pages 239-266, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gelb, Alan & Jefferson, Gary & Singh, Inderjit, 1993. "Can Communist economies transform incrementally? China's experience," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1189, The World Bank.
    2. Tong, Christopher S. P., 1999. "Production efficiency and its spatial disparity across China's TVEs: A stochastic production frontier approach," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 415-430.
    3. Shiu, Alice & Heshmati, Almas, 2006. "Technical Change and Total Factor Productivity Growth for Chinese Provinces: A Panel Data Analysis," Ratio Working Papers 98, The Ratio Institute.
    4. Jintao Xu & William Hyde & Yongjie Ji, 2010. "Effective pollution control policy for China," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 47-66, February.
    5. Donald Hay & Guy Liu, 1998. "Cost Behaviour of Chinese State-owned Manufacturing Enterprises in the 1980s," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 25-37.
    6. Szirmai, Adam & Ruoen, Ren, 2000. "Comparative performance in Chinese manufacturing, 1980-1992," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 16-53.

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