scholarly journals The Role of Startups in Structural Transformation

2016 ◽  
Vol 106 (5) ◽  
pp. 219-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Dent ◽  
Fatih Karahan ◽  
Benjamin Pugsley ◽  
Ayşegül Şahin
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Structural Transformation ◽  
Firm Dynamics ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
The Past ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Firm Level Data ◽  
The U.S

The U.S. economy has been going through a striking structural transformation--the secular reallocation of employment across sectors--over the past several decades. We propose a decomposition framework to assess the contributions of various margins of firm dynamics to this shift. Using firm-level data, we find that at least 50 percent of the adjustment has been taking place along the entry margin, due to sectors receiving different shares of startup employment than their employment shares. The rest is mostly due to life cycle differences across sectors. Declining overall entry has a small but growing effect of dampening structural transformation.

scholarly journals The Rise of Market Power and the Macroeconomic Implications*

2020 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
pp. 561-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan De Loecker ◽  
Jan Eeckhout ◽  
Gabriel Unger
Keyword(s):  
Market Power ◽  
Marginal Cost ◽  
Secular Trends ◽  
Profit Rate ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
The Past ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Firm Level Data ◽  
Macroeconomic Implications ◽  
The U.S

Abstract We document the evolution of market power based on firm-level data for the U.S. economy since 1955. We measure both markups and profitability. In 1980, aggregate markups start to rise from 21% above marginal cost to 61% now. The increase is driven mainly by the upper tail of the markup distribution: the upper percentiles have increased sharply. Quite strikingly, the median is unchanged. In addition to the fattening upper tail of the markup distribution, there is reallocation of market share from low- to high-markup firms. This rise occurs mostly within industry. We also find an increase in the average profit rate from 1% to 8%. Although there is also an increase in overhead costs, the markup increase is in excess of overhead. We discuss the macroeconomic implications of an increase in average market power, which can account for a number of secular trends in the past four decades, most notably the declining labor and capital shares as well as the decrease in labor market dynamism.

scholarly journals Creative Destruction of Industries: Yokohama City in the Great Kanto Earthquake, 1923

2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tetsuji Okazaki ◽  
Toshihiro Okubo ◽  
Eric Strobl
Keyword(s):  
Creative Destruction ◽  
Manufacturing Industries ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Machine Technology ◽  
Kanto Earthquake ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Firm Level Data ◽  
Before And After

The Great Kanto Earthquake occurred on 1 September 1923 and inflicted serious damage on Yokohama City. About 90 percent of the factories in Yokohama City were burnt down or completely destroyed. However, these manufacturing industries appear to have swiftly recovered in the aftermath of the damage. This article investigates the role of creative destruction due to the Great Kanto Earthquake. Using firm-level data on capital (horsepower of motors) before and after the earthquake, we find substantial creative destruction, that is, upgrade of machine technology and/or survival of efficient firms. We find further collaborating evidence of this at the prefecture level.

Exporting and environmental performance: where you export matters

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan S. Blyde ◽  
Mayra A. Ramírez
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
High Income ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Percentage Point Increase ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Point Increase ◽  
Firm Level Data ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
The Relationship

Empirical analyses that rely on micro-level panel data have found that exporters are generally less pollutant than non-exporters. While alternative explanations have been proposed, firm level data has not been used to examine the role of destination markets behind the relationship between exports and pollution. In this paper we argue that because consumers in high-income countries have higher valuations for clean environments than consumers in developing countries, exporters targeting high-income countries are more likely to improve their environmental outcomes than exporters targeting destinations where valuations for the environment are not high. Using a panel of firm-level data from Chile we find support to this hypothesis. A 10 percentage point increase in the share of exports to high-income countries is associated with a reduction in CO2 pollution intensity of about 16%. The results have important implications for firms in developing countries aiming to target high-income markets.

A neglected input to production: the role of ICT-schooled employees in firm performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Hagsten ◽  
Anna Sabadash
Keyword(s):  
Data Sets ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Broadband Internet ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Firm Level Data ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Econometric Approach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to broaden the perspective on how information and communication technology (ICT) relates to productivity by introducing a novel ICT variable: the share of ICT-schooled employees in firms, an intangible input often neglected or difficult to measure. Design/methodology/approach Based on a Cobb-Douglas production function specification, the association between the share of ICT-schooled employees and firm productivity is estimated by the use of unique comparable multi-linked firm-level data sets from statistical offices in six European countries for the period of 2001-2009. Findings There are indications that the share of ICT-schooled employees significantly and positively relates to productivity, and also that this relationship is generally more persistent than that of ICT intensity of firms, measured as the proportion of broadband internet-enabled employees. However, the strength of the association varies across countries and demonstrates that underlying factors, such as industry structure and institutional settings might be of importance too. Research limitations/implications Data features and the way to access harmonised firm-level data across countries affect the choice of econometric approach and output variable. Practical implications The results emphasise the importance of specific ICT skills in firms independently of where in the organisation the employee works. Originality/value Studies on associations between employees with specific (higher) education based on formal credentials and productivity are rare. Even more uncommon is the cross-country setting with harmonised data including general ICT intensity of firms.

scholarly journals Heterogeneous Markups, Growth, and Endogenous Misallocation

Econometrica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 88 (5) ◽  
pp. 2037-2073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Peters
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Market Power ◽  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Firm Dynamics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Equilibrium Outcome ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Competitive Effects ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Firm Level Data

Markups vary systematically across firms and are a source of misallocation. This paper develops a tractable model of firm dynamics where firms' market power is endogenous and the distribution of markups emerges as an equilibrium outcome. Monopoly power is the result of a process of forward‐looking, risky accumulation: firms invest in productivity growth to increase markups in their existing products but are stochastically replaced by more efficient competitors. Creative destruction therefore has pro‐competitive effects because faster churn gives firms less time to accumulate market power. In an application to firm‐level data from Indonesia, the model predicts that, relative to the United States, misallocation is more severe and firms are substantially smaller. To explain these patterns, the model suggests an important role for frictions that prevent existing firms from entering new markets. Differences in entry costs for new firms are less important.

scholarly journals Cross-Country Differences in Productivity: The Role of Allocation and Selection

2013 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 305-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Bartelsman ◽  
John Haltiwanger ◽  
Stefano Scarpetta
Keyword(s):  
Heterogeneous Firms ◽  
Fixed Capital ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Firm Level Data ◽  
Country Differences ◽  
Cross Country

This paper investigates the effect of idiosyncratic (firm-level) policy distortions on aggregate outcomes. Exploiting harmonized firm-level data for a number of countries, we show that there is substantial and systematic cross-country variation in the within-industry covariance between size and productivity. We develop a model in which heterogeneous firms face adjustment frictions (overhead labor and quasi-fixed capital) and distortions. The model can be readily calibrated so that variations in the distribution of distortions allow matching the observed cross-country moments. We show that the differences in the distortions that account for the size-productivity covariance imply substantial differences in aggregate performance. (JEL D24, L25, O47)

Is There a Presidential Election Cycle in Firm Financials?

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (02) ◽  
pp. 1650010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray R. Sturm
Keyword(s):  
Stock Returns ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Firm Value ◽  
Firm Valuation ◽  
Election Cycle ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Firm Level Data

A presidential election cycle (PEC) in stock returns has been well-documented in the academic literature. Prior studies have pointed to economic policy as a cause of the phenomenon apparently overlooking the role of firm value. This study examines changes in firm valuation as the cause. Using firm-level data, this study finds a convincing cycle in firms’ book-to-market (BE/ME) ratios, earnings yield and most notable, in log-changes in annual revenue. In particular, log-changes in revenue during the election year appear to be instrumental in the previously document PEC in stock returns.

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