Technical efficiency and its determinants in Gansu, West China

Abstract

This paper analyses the technical efficiency problem in Gansu Province, West China, using firm-level cross-sectional data. Compared with previous studies, which mostly focus on industries, this paper focuses on a geographic area instead. By applying the stochastic frontier framework, this paper arrives at four major findings: first, resource-based firms are more technically efficient on average than non-resource-based firms; second, foreign investment is beneficial to the improvement of technical efficiency; third, there is no evidence that ownership affects the technical efficiency of firms in Gansu province; and fourth, bigger firms tend to operate with more technical efficiency than smaller firms.