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Do Input Quality and Structural Productivity Estimates Drive Measured Differences in Firm Productivity?

Author

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  • Fox, Jeremy T.

    (University of Chicago)

  • Smeets, Valérie

    (Department of Economics, Aarhus School of Business)

Abstract

Firms in the same industry can differ in measured total factor productivity (TFP) by multiples of 3. Griliches (1957) suggests one explanation: the quality of inputs differs across firms. Labor inputs are traditionally measured only as the number of workers. We investigate whether adjusting for the quality of labor inputs substantially decreases measured TFP dispersion. We add labor market history variables such as experience and firm and industry tenure, as well as general human capital measures such as schooling and sex. We also investigate whether an innovative structural estimator for productivity due to Olley and Pakes (1996) substantially decreases measured residual TFP. Combining labor quality and structural estimates of productivity, the one standard deviation difference in residual TFPs in manufacturing drops from 0.70 to 0.67 multiples. Neither the structural productivity measure nor detailed input quality measures explain the very large measured residual TFP dispersion, despite statistically precise coefficient estimates

Suggested Citation

  • Fox, Jeremy T. & Smeets, Valérie, 2007. "Do Input Quality and Structural Productivity Estimates Drive Measured Differences in Firm Productivity?," Working Papers 07-2, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:aareco:2007_002
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    File URL: http://www.hha.dk/nat/wper/07-2_foxvas.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Zvi Griliches & Jacques Mairesse, 1995. "Production Functions: The Search for Identification," NBER Working Papers 5067, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen, 2007. "Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1351-1408.
    3. Lucia Foster & John Haltiwanger & Chad Syverson, 2008. "Reallocation, Firm Turnover, and Efficiency: Selection on Productivity or Profitability?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(1), pages 394-425, March.
    4. Judith K. Hellerstein & David Neumark, 2007. "Production Function and Wage Equation Estimation with Heterogeneous Labor: Evidence from a New Matched Employer-Employee Data Set," NBER Chapters, in: Hard-to-Measure Goods and Services: Essays in Honor of Zvi Griliches, pages 31-71, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Mark Doms & Eric J. Bartelsman, 2000. "Understanding Productivity: Lessons from Longitudinal Microdata," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 569-594, September.
    6. Ackerberg, Daniel & Caves, Kevin & Frazer, Garth, 2006. "Structural identification of production functions," MPRA Paper 38349, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. 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.
    8. Steven J. Davis & John Haltiwanger, 1992. "Gross Job Creation, Gross Job Destruction, and Employment Reallocation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(3), pages 819-863.
    9. Finis Welch, 1969. "Linear Synthesis of Skill Distribution," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 4(3), pages 311-327.
    10. 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.
    11. Johannes Van Biesebroeck, 2007. "Robustness Of Productivity Estimates," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 529-569, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Pierre-Philippe Combes & Gilles Duranton & Laurent Gobillon & Sébastien Roux, 2010. "Estimating Agglomeration Economies with History, Geology, and Worker Effects," NBER Chapters, in: Agglomeration Economics, pages 15-66, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Salvador Navarro & David Rivers & Amit Gandhi, 2008. "Estimating Production Functions with Heterogeneous Firms," 2008 Meeting Papers 935, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    3. Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2011. "Wages Equal Productivity. Fact or Fiction? Evidence from Sub Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1333-1346, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    production function estimation; total factor productivity; input quality; structural estimates of productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • M11 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Production Management

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