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Volume :12 Issue : 1 2005
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Structural Analysis and Performance of Petrochemical Industries in Kuwait
Auther : Ghassan A. Al-Subaih
Mahdi H. Al-Salman
The growth of petrochemical production capacity worldwide has been spectacular in the last 15 years and it appears that this trend will continue for years to come. With the internationally increasing concern with free trade policies, the petrochemical manufacturing industry has become increasingly more significant, especially in Kuwait. This study analyses the structure of petrochemical industry. This covers mainly aspects of value of gross output and labor. Major differentiation is made between large-and small-sized firms. A model developed by Denny and Fuss and Gollop is used to measure productivity. The empirical results indicated that the small- sized firms were relatively more labor intensive and consume a higher level of energy. They were also found to constitute 95 per cent of the total number of manufacturing firms in Kuwait. The results also showed that the growth rates of the labor productivity at the small-sized firms were disappointing. In the meantime, the performance indicators showed that the large-sized firms were the more productive and gave a significantly higher growth rate of output.