Firm Productivity in Bangladesh Manufacturing Industries

This paper studies the correlates of firm total factor productivity (TFP) in Bangladesh using data from a recent survey of large manufacturing firms. TFP measures are obtained following [Ackerberg, D., Caves, K., & Frazer, G. (2007). Structural identification of production functions. UCLA mimeo] and using firm-specific deflators for output and inputs. Controlling for industry, location, and year fixed effects, we find that firm size and TFP are negatively correlated while firm age and TFP exhibit an inverse U-shaped relationship, We also find that managerial quality and global integration are positively associated with firm TFP. Finally, we find that power supply problems, heavy bureaucracy, and the presence of crime dampen firm TFP. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.