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How Heterogeneous is Productivity? A Comparison of Gross Output and Value Added

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Abstract

In this paper, we study the theoretical and empirical relationship between gross output and value-added models of production. Using plant-level data from Colombia and Chile, we find that estimates of a gross output production function imply fundamentally different patterns of productivity heterogeneity compared to a value-added specification. Our estimates suggest that the specification of the technology may be more important than controlling for the endogeneity of inputs. Insights derived under value added, compared to gross output, could lead to significantly different policy conclusions.

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  • Amit Gandhi & Salvador Navarro & David Rivers, 2017. "How Heterogeneous is Productivity? A Comparison of Gross Output and Value Added," University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP) Working Papers 201727, University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP).
    • Handle: RePEc:uwo:hcuwoc:201727
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    8. Carlos Figueira & Ricardo Pinheiro-Alves, 2023. "Evolution of price-cost margins during the troika intervention," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 22(3), pages 315-351, September.
    9. Bils, Mark & Klenow, Peter J. & Ruane, Cian, 2021. "Misallocation or Mismeasurement?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(S), pages 39-56.
    10. Juan Esteban Carranza & Jesús Antonio Bejarano Rojas & Camila Casas & Alejandra Ximena Gonzalez-Ramirez & Stefany Moreno-Burbano & Fernando Arias-Rodríguez & Juan Sebastián Vélez-Velásquez, 2018. "La industria colombiana en el siglo XXI," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, issue 87, pages 1-69, November.
    11. Mertens, Matthias, 2019. "Micro-mechanisms behind declining labour shares: Market power, production processes, and global competition," IWH-CompNet Discussion Papers 3/2019, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
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    14. Wolfhard Kaus & Viktor Slavtchev & Markus Zimmermann, 2024. "Intangible capital and productivity: Firm-level evidence from German manufacturing," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 76(4), pages 970-996.
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    16. Hirsch, Stefan & Koppenberg, Maximilian, 2020. "Power imbalances in French food retailing: Evidence from a production function approach to estimate market power," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
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    20. Abdoulaye Kané, 2022. "Measurement of total factor productivity: Evidence from French construction firms," EconomiX Working Papers 2022-9, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.

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