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Productivity in a Distorted Market: The Case of Brazil's Retail Sector

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  • Gaaitzen J. Vries

Abstract

type="main"> In a model of monopolistic competition with heterogeneous firms, distortions in prices drive a wedge between the marginal revenue products of factor inputs across firms. We use census data for Brazil's retail sector to study implications for aggregate productivity and relate distortions to regional variation in regulation using a differences-in-differences approach. Taxes, entry regulation, and access to credit may create distortions to output and capital that varies by firm size. Potential gains from reallocation have not diminished despite the process of services liberalization in the 1990s.

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  • Gaaitzen J. Vries, 2014. "Productivity in a Distorted Market: The Case of Brazil's Retail Sector," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(3), pages 499-524, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:revinw:v:60:y:2014:i:3:p:499-524
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    2. Zhou, Fujin & Oostendorp, Remco, 2024. "Big distortions, small efficiency loss: Measuring resource misallocation with complementary distortions in Vietnam," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 244-261.
    3. Doan Thi Thanh Ha & Kozo Kiyota, 2015. "Misallocation, Productivity, and Trade Liberalization: The Case of Vietnamese Manufacturing," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2015-007, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    4. Diego Restuccia & Richard Rogerson, 2017. "The Causes and Costs of Misallocation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 151-174, Summer.
    5. Trenczek, Jan & Wacker, Konstantin M., 2023. "Human Capital Misallocation and Output per Worker Differences: Beyond Cobb-Douglas," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1331, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Murat Ungor, 2017. "Productivity Growth and Labor Reallocation: Latin America versus East Asia," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 24, pages 25-42, March.
    7. Busso Matias & Madrigal Lucia & Pagés Carmen, 2013. "Productivity and resource misallocation in Latin America1)," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 13(1), pages 903-932, June.
    8. Dai, Xiaoyong & Cheng, Liwei, 2016. "Market distortions and aggregate productivity: Evidence from Chinese energy enterprises," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 304-313.
    9. Simone Lenzu & Francesco Manaresi, 2019. "Sources and implications of resource misallocation: new evidence from firm-level marginal products and user costs," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 485, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    10. Doan Thi Thanh Ha & Kozo Kiyota & Kenta Yamanouchi, 2016. "Misallocation and Productivity: The Case of Vietnamese Manufacturing," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 33(2), pages 94-118, September.
    11. Tomás R. Martinez & Thiago Trafane Oliveira Santos, 2024. "Disentangling Brazilian TFP: the role of misallocation in recent economic cycles," Working Papers Series 609, Central Bank of Brazil, Research Department.
    12. Chan, Jackie M.L., 2019. "Financial frictions and trade intermediation: Theory and evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 567-593.
    13. Lenzu, Simone & Manaresi, Francesco, 2018. "Do Marginal Products Differ from User Costs? Micro-Level Evidence from Italian Firms," Working Papers 276, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    14. Orozco Vázquez Miguel, 2023. "Misallocation of Resources, Firm Characteristics, and Structural Factors: Evidence from Mexico," Working Papers 2023-11, Banco de México.
    15. Jackie M.L. Chan, 2015. "Trade Intermediation, Financial Frictions, and the Gains from Trade," Discussion Papers 15-009, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

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