Productivity changes of pulp and paper industry in OECD countries, 1991–2000: a non-parametric Malmquist approach

The objective of this article was to measure the productivity of pulp and paper industry in OECD countries over the period of 1991–2000. We calculated the Malmquist productivity index by using the nonparametric-frontier approach, and decomposed the index into two components: technical change and efficiency change. Empirical results showed that the productivity change of pulp and paper industry in OECD countries ranged from Switzerlandʹs −0.9% to Japanʹs 2.4% over the sampled period. The Nordic nations (Finland, Norway and Sweden) recorded, 1.2–1.5% improvement in their performance. The productivity of the Canadian pulp and paper industry increased by 2%, while that of its United States counterpart increased only by 0.8%. The results also showed that the last decadeʹs productivity growth was attributed more to the technical change than efficiency change.