IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fip/fedgif/1399.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Global (Mis)Allocation of Capital

Author

Abstract

The allocative efficiency of capital flows is one of the oldest and most contentious questions. We answer it by matching cross-border securities holdings reported in the US external statistics from 1995 to 2022 with the corresponding firm-level measures of allocative efficiency. We find that US investors tilt their international equity investment toward firms with high MRPK and markups, thereby fostering their potential for growth. Foreign investors tilt their holdings toward US firms with high productivity and intangible capital. A horse race shows that productivity is the best predictor of foreign investment in US firms and MRPK for US investment in foreign firms. Both US and foreign firms that receive more international funding increase spending on intangible capital, and foreign firms also increase tangible capital. The results are stronger for more productive firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Carol C. Bertaut & Stephanie E. Curcuru & Ester Faia & Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, 2024. "The Global (Mis)Allocation of Capital," International Finance Discussion Papers 1399, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgif:1399
    DOI: 10.17016/IFDP.2024.1399
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/ifdp/files/ifdp1399.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17016/IFDP.2024.1399?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. G. M. Grossman & K. Rogoff (ed.), 1995. "Handbook of International Economics," Handbook of International Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 3, number 3.
    2. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    3. Merton, Robert C, 1974. "On the Pricing of Corporate Debt: The Risk Structure of Interest Rates," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 29(2), pages 449-470, May.
    4. Paul Carrillo & Dave Donaldson & Dina Pomeranz & Monica Singhal, 2023. "Misallocation in Firm Production: A Nonparametric Analysis Using Procurement Lotteries," CESifo Working Paper Series 10485, CESifo.
    5. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Baybars Karacaovali, 2011. "Productivity Matters For Trade Policy: Theory And Evidence," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 52(1), pages 33-62, February.
    2. Hiroki, Takashi & Iwatsubo, Kentaro & Watkins, Clinton, 2022. "Does firm-level productivity predict stock returns?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    3. Bruno Merlevede & Angelos Theodorakopoulos, 2018. "Productivity Effects of Internationalisation Through the Domestic Supply Chain: Evidence from Europe," Working Papers of VIVES - Research Centre for Regional Economics 627689, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), VIVES - Research Centre for Regional Economics.
    4. Brugués, Felipe & Brugués, Javier & Giambra, Samuele, 2024. "Political connections and misallocation of procurement contracts: Evidence from Ecuador," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    5. Gao, Peng & He, Ling & Hu, Shiyang & Xin, Qingquan, 2024. "Double-edged sword: Does strong creditor protection in the bankruptcy process affect firm productivity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).
    6. Giorgio Brunello & Áron Gereben & Désirée Rückert & Christoph Weiss & Patricia Wruuck, 2022. "Do investments in human and physical capital respond differently to financing constraints?," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 158(1), pages 1-14, December.
    7. Guangyuan Lu & Xiong Bai & Xiaoyun Zhang, 2025. "How Does Financial Support Affect Firms’ Innovation and Total Factor Productivity: A Quasi-Natural Experiment in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-33, January.
    8. Martin, Philippe & Mayer, Thierry & Mayneris, Florian, 2011. "Public support to clusters: A firm level study of French "Local Productive Systems"," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 108-123, March.
    9. Martha Denisse Pierola & Ana Margarida Fernandes & Thomas Farole, 2018. "The role of imports for exporter performance in Peru," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 550-572, February.
    10. Massimo Colombo & Annalisa Croce & Samuele Murtinu, 2014. "Ownership structure, horizontal agency costs and the performance of high-tech entrepreneurial firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 265-282, February.
    11. Roberto Martino & Phu Nguyen-Van, 2014. "Labour market regulation and fiscal parameters: A structural model for European regions," Working Papers of BETA 2014-19, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    12. Jose Garcia-Louzao & Linas Tarasonis, 2023. "Productivity-enhancing reallocation during the Great Recession: evidence from Lithuania," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 75(3), pages 729-749.
    13. Nikita Céspedes & María E. Aquije & Alan Sánchez & Rafael Vera Tudela, 2016. "Productividad sectorial en el Perú: un análisis a nivel de firmas," Chapters of Books, in: Nikita Céspedes & Pablo Lavado & Nelson Ramírez Rondán (ed.), Productividad en el Perú: medición, determinantes e implicancias, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 3, pages 70-92, Fondo Editorial, Universidad del Pacífico.
    14. Zhu, Ling & Liu, Shasha & Kong, Dongmin, 2023. "Governments' fiscal stress and firm decentralization," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    15. De Loecker, Jan & Konings, Jozef, 2003. "Creative Destruction and Productivity Growth in an Emerging Economy: Evidence from Slovenian Manufacturing," IZA Discussion Papers 971, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Stefania Lovo & Gonzalo Varela, 2022. "Internationally Linked Firms and Productivity in Pakistan: A Look at the Top End of the Distribution," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(10), pages 2110-2131, October.
    17. Yoko KONISHI & Yoshihiko NISHIMURA, 2013. "A Note on the Identification of Demand and Supply Shocks in Production: Decomposition of TFP," Discussion papers 13099, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    18. Matteo G. Richiardi & Luis Valenzuela, 2024. "Firm heterogeneity and the aggregate labour share," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 38(1), pages 66-101, March.
    19. David Van Dijcke, 2022. "On the Non-Identification of Revenue Production Functions," Papers 2212.04620, arXiv.org, revised May 2024.
    20. Moisă ALTĂR & Ana-Maria CAZACU, 2016. "Testing Self-Selection And Learning By Exporting Hypotheses. The Case Of Romania," ECONOMIC COMPUTATION AND ECONOMIC CYBERNETICS STUDIES AND RESEARCH, Faculty of Economic Cybernetics, Statistics and Informatics, vol. 50(1), pages 5-22.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Productivity; Capital allocation; capital flows;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E20 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • F30 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - General
    • F60 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fip:fedgif:1399. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ryan Wolfslayer ; Keisha Fournillier (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbgvus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.