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General papers

Spatial proximity and firm performance: evidence from non-farm rural enterprises in Ethiopia and Nigeria

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Pages 688-700 | Received 03 Nov 2014, Accepted 30 Nov 2015, Published online: 24 Feb 2016
 

ABSTRACT

Spatial proximity and firm performance: evidence from non-farm rural enterprises in Ethiopia and Nigeria. Regional Studies. The productivity of non-farm enterprises in rural Africa can be associated with the productivity of other spatially proximate non-farm enterprises. To test for the presence and significance of such spatial autocorrelation, the article uses data from the georeferenced 2011 Ethiopian Rural Socioeconomic Survey (ERSS) and the 2010/2011 Nigeria General Household Survey (NGHS), and employs exploratory spatial data analyses. There is evidence of significant spatial clustering of firm performance in both countries. This spatial dependence is empirically modelled using average distance measures between firms. It is found that in addition to other household, firm and community characteristics, spatial proximity between firms plays an important role in explaining firm productivity in Nigeria and Ethiopia.

摘要

空间邻近性和企业绩效:来自埃赛俄比亚和尼日利亚的非农业乡村企业的证据. Regional Studies. 非洲乡村的非农业企业之生产力,与其他空间邻近的非农业企业的生产力相关。为了检测此般空间自相关的存在与显着性,本文运用具有地理坐标参照的2011年埃赛俄比亚乡村社会经济调查(ERSS)与2010/2011年尼日利亚家户普查(NGHS)的数据,并使用探索性空间数据分析。在两个国家中,皆有企业绩效的显着空间集群之证据。本研究运用企业间的平均距离方法,在经验上对此般空间依赖进行模式化。研究结果发现,除了其他家户、企业与社群特徵之外,企业间的空间邻近性,对于解释尼日利亚和埃赛俄比亚的企业生产力而言,亦扮演着重要的角色。

RÉSUMÉ

La proximité spatiale et la performance des entreprises: des résultats provenant des entreprises du secteur non agricole situées en milieu rural en Éthiopie et en Nigérie. Regional Studies. On peut associer la productivité des entreprises du secteur non agricole situées en milieu rural en Afrique à la productivité des autres entreprises non agricoles situées à proximité. Afin de déterminer la présence et l'importance d'une telle aurocorrélation, l'article emploie des données provenant de la Ethiopian Rural Socioeconomic Survey (ERSS) 2011 (enquête socioéconomique rurale éthiopienne menée en 2011) et la Nigeria General Household Survey (NGHS) 2010/2011 (enquête générale auprès des ménages nigériens menée entre 2010 et 2011) et emploie une analyse exploratoire de données spatiales. Il s'avère des preuves d'un important regroupement spatial de la performance des entreprises dans les deux pays. À partir des mesures de la distance moyenne d'une entreprise à une autre, on modélise cette dépendance spatiale empiriquement. Il s'avère que, en plus des autres caractéristiques des ménages, des entreprises et des collectivités, la proximité spatiale des entreprises explique dans une grande mesure la productivité des entreprises situées en Nigérie et en Éthiopie.

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG

Räumliche Nähe und Firmenleistung: Belege aus nicht-landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben in ländlichen Gebieten von Äthiopien und Nigeria. Regional Studies. Die Produktivität von nicht-landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben in ländlichen Gebieten Afrikas lässt sich in einen Zusammenhang mit der Produktivität von anderen, räumlich nahen nicht-landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben bringen. In diesem Artikel wird die Präsenz und Signifikanz einer solchen räumlichen Autokorrelation mithilfe von Daten des georeferenzierten Ethiopian Rural Socioeconomic Survey (ERSS) von 2011 sowie des Nigeria General Household Survey (NGHS) von 2010/2011 unter Einsatz von exploratorischen räumlichen Datenanalysen überprüft. In beiden Ländern gibt es Anzeichen für eine signifikante räumliche Ballung der Firmenleistung. Diese räumliche Dependenz wird unter Verwendung von Durchschnittsmaßen für die Entfernungen zwischen den Firmen auf empirische Weise modelliert. Es zeigt sich, dass die räumliche Nähe zwischen Firmen zusätzlich zu anderen Merkmalen der Haushalte, Firmen und Gesellschaft eine wichtige Rolle für die Erklärung der Produktivität von Firmen in Nigeria und Äthiopien spielt.

RESUMEN

Proximidad espacial y rendimiento empresarial: evidencia de empresas rurales no agrícolas en Etiopía y Nigeria. Regional Studies. La productividad de empresas no agrícolas en zonas rurales de África se puede vincular a la productividad de otras empresas no agrícolas espacialmente próximas. En este artículo comprobamos la presencia e importancia de esta autocorrelación espacial mediante datos de la encuesta georeferenciada Ethiopian Rural Socioeconomic Survey (ERSS) de 2011 y la Nigeria General Household Survey (NGHS) de 2010/2011, y empleamos análisis de datos espaciales exploratorios. En ambos países hay indicios de una aglomeración espacial significativa del rendimiento empresarial. Esta dependencia espacial se modela empíricamente mediante medidas de distancias medias entre las empresas. Observamos que además de otras características de hogares, empresas y comunidades, la proximidad espacial entre las empresas desempeña un importante papel a la hora de explicar la productividad de las empresas en Nigeria y Etiopía.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the Global Development Network's 15th Annual Conference, Accra, Ghana, on 20 June 2014, and at the World Bank's Annual Bank Conference on Africa, Paris, France, on 24 June 2014. The authors are grateful to the participants at these conferences for their feedback. In particular, the authors acknowledge the useful feedback and encouragement from the participants at the Agriculture in Africa: Telling Facts from Myths project. Luc Christiaensen, Jonathan Kaminski, Paula Nagler and Amparo Palacios-López all provided comments, support and/or direction that contributed towards this paper. The authors are also very grateful to the reviewers of this article for their useful and deeply insightful comments. The usual disclaimer applies.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

SUPPLEMENTAL DATA

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at http://10.1080/00343404.2015.1131896

Notes

1. The term ‘rural non-farm enterprises' is used in this paper to refer to all rural business enterprises outside of farming; it includes, for example, shops, business services, transport (taxis), food processing and preparation, and construction, amongst others (e.g., Haggblade et al., Citation2010).

2. Productivity levels are also dispersed across countries; the literature suggests that the productivity of firms in African countries is, on average, lower than that of firms elsewhere (Nichter & Goldmark, Citation2009).

3. It is important to note the potential for errors in self-reported data on firm performance. The study by De Mel, McKenzie, and Woodruff (Citation2009), for instance, shows that self-employed individuals tend to under-report enterprise revenues by about 30%.

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