Returns to scale in a highly regulated economy: evidence from Indian firms

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fikkert, B; Hasan, R
• 署名单位: University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; Asian Development Bank; University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3878(98)00052-2
• 发表日期: 1998
• 页码: 51-79
• 关键词: returns to scale; regulation; Industrial policy; Economic reforms

摘要

This paper examines returns to scale for a panel of Indian manufacturing firms from 1976-1985, a period in which government regulations restricted firms' expansion. Observers have argued that these regulations led to unexploited scale economies in Indian firms, and our estimates lend limited support to this view. Although a large number of firms produce below the minimum efficient scale, average returns to scale for the various industries are not significantly different from one. Our estimates suggest that recent deregulation will not generate significant gains in scale efficiency unless expansion is heavily biased towards growth in the smaller firms. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.