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On the Measure of Distortions

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  • Hugo A. Hopenhayn

Abstract

The paper considers formally the mapping from distortions in the allocations of resources across firms to aggregate productivity. TFP gaps are characterized as the integral of a strictly concave function with respect to an employment-weighted measure of distortions. Size related distortions are shown to correspond to a mean preserving spread of this measure, explaining the stronger effects on TFP found in the literature. In general, the effect of correlation between distortions and productivity is shown to be ambiguous; conditions are given to determine its sign. An empirical lower bound on distortions based on size distribution of firms is derived and analyzed, revealing that substantial rank reversals in firm size are necessary for distortions to explain large TFP gaps. The effect of curvature on the impact and measurement of distortions is also considered.

Suggested Citation

  • Hugo A. Hopenhayn, 2014. "On the Measure of Distortions," NBER Working Papers 20404, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20404
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    Cited by:

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    2. Timothy Besley & Hannes Mueller, 2018. "Predation, Protection, and Productivity: A Firm-Level Perspective," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 184-221, April.
    3. Da-Rocha, José-María & Restuccia, Diego & Tavares, Marina M., 2023. "Policy distortions and aggregate productivity with endogenous establishment-level productivity," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    4. Philippe Aghion & Antonin Bergeaud & John Van Reenen, 2023. "The Impact of Regulation on Innovation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(11), pages 2894-2936, November.
    5. Stephen Ayerst, 2016. "Idiosyncratic Distortions and Technology Adoption," Working Papers tecipa-571, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    6. Saki Bigio & Jennifer La’O, 2020. "Distortions in Production Networks," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(4), pages 2187-2253.
    7. David Rezza Baqaee & Emmanuel Farhi, 2020. "Productivity and Misallocation in General Equilibrium," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(1), pages 105-163.
    8. Saki Bigio, 2013. "Financial Frictions in Production Networks," 2013 Meeting Papers 121, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    9. Emmanuel Dhyne & Ayumu Ken Kikkawa & Glenn Magerman, 2022. "Imperfect Competition in Firm-to-Firm Trade," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(5), pages 1933-1970.
    10. Matthias Kehrig & Nicolas Vincent, 2017. "Do Firms Mitigate or Magnify Capital Misallocation? Evidence from Planet-Level Data," CESifo Working Paper Series 6401, CESifo.
    11. Neira, Julian, 2019. "Bankruptcy and cross-country differences in productivity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 359-381.
    12. Martin Rotemberg & T. Kirk White, 2016. "Measuring Cross-Country Differences in Misallocation," Working Papers 16-50, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    13. Michael Peters, 2020. "Heterogeneous Markups, Growth, and Endogenous Misallocation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(5), pages 2037-2073, September.
    14. Lopez-Martin, Bernabe & Perez-Reyna, David, 2021. "Contracts, firm dynamics, and aggregate productivity," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    15. Li, Xiaolu & Ma, Lin & Tang, Yang, 2024. "Migration and resource misallocation in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    16. Emmanuele Bobbio, 2017. "Tax Evasion, Firm Dynamics and Growth," 2017 Meeting Papers 683, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    17. David Sraer & David Thesmar, 2018. "A Sufficient Statistics Approach for Aggregating Firm-Level Experiments," NBER Working Papers 24208, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Emmanuele Bobbio, 2016. "Tax evasion, firm dynamics and growth," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 357, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

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