Malmquist indexes of productivity change in Tunisian manufacturing industries

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the extent and nature of productivity growth in manufacturing industries using nonparametric frontier techniques. In order to decompose the total factor productivity (TFP) into technical efficiency change and technological change we use the output-oriented Malmquist productivity index method for 34 Tunisian manufacturing industries over the period 2002-2016. The results indicated that TFP has witnessed an average growth of two percent over the period 2002-2016. The productivity growth identified was attributed to the improvements in the technology (or frontier-shift) rather than improvements or changes in the efficiency.