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Aggregate productivity and the allocation of resources over the business cycle

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  • Sophie Osotimehin

Abstract

RThis paper proposes a novel decomposition of aggregate productivity to evaluate the role of resource reallocation for the cyclical dynamics of aggregate productivity. The decomposition, which is derived from the aggregation of heterogeneous firm-level production functions, accounts for changes in allocative efficiency, as well as for changes in entry and exit. This approach thereby extends Solow (1957)’s growth accounting exercise to a framework with firm heterogeneity and frictions in the allocation of resources across firms. I apply the decomposition to a comprehensive dataset of French manufacturing and service firms and find that entry and exit contribute little to the year-on-year variability of aggregate productivity. Resource reallocation across incumbent firms, however, plays an important role in the dynamics of aggregate productivity. The efficiency of resource allocation improves during downturns and tend to reduce the volatility of aggregate productivity

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  • Sophie Osotimehin, 2013. "Aggregate productivity and the allocation of resources over the business cycle," Virginia Economics Online Papers 404, University of Virginia, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:vir:virpap:404
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    1. Julian di Giovanni & Andrei A. Levchenko & Isabelle Mejean, 2014. "Firms, Destinations, and Aggregate Fluctuations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(4), pages 1303-1340, July.
    2. Shenoy, Ajay, 2017. "Market failures and misallocation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 65-80.
    3. Tuochen Li & Dongri Han & Shaosong Feng & Lei Liang, 2019. "Can Industrial Co-Agglomeration between Producer Services and Manufacturing Reduce Carbon Intensity in China?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-15, July.
    4. Sophie Osotimehin & Latchezar Popov, 2018. "Misallocation and intersectoral linkages," 2018 Meeting Papers 561, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    5. Alpysbayeva, Dinara & Vanormelingen, Stijn, 2022. "Labor market rigidities and misallocation: Evidence from a natural experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. J. David Brown & Emin Dinlersoz & John S. Earle, 2016. "Does Higher Productivity Dispersion Imply Greater Misallocation?A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis," Working Papers 16-42, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    7. David Zeke & Robert Kurtzman, 2016. "Accounting for Productivity Dispersion over the Business Cycle," 2016 Meeting Papers 482, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    8. In Hwan Jo & Tatsuro Senga, 2016. "Firm Dynamics, Misallocation and Targeted Policies," Working Papers 809, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    9. HOSONO Kaoru & TAKIZAWA Miho, 2019. "Dynamic Productivity Decomposition with Allocative Efficiency," Discussion papers 19069, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    10. Glenn Magerman & Karolien De Bruyne & Emmanuel Dhyne & Jan Van Hove, 2016. "Heterogeneous firms and the micro origins of aggregate fluctuations," Working Paper Research 312, National Bank of Belgium.
    11. Dardati, Evangelina & Saygili, Meryem, 2020. "Aggregate impacts of cap-and-trade programs with heterogeneous firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    12. Sophie Osotimehin & Latchezar Popov, 2023. "Misallocation and Intersectoral linkages," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 51, pages 177-198, December.
    13. Sophie Osotimehin & Latchezar Popov, 2020. "Misallocation and Intersectoral Linkages," Working Papers 20-12, Chair in macroeconomics and forecasting, University of Quebec in Montreal's School of Management.
    14. Sheng Dai & Timo Kuosmanen & Zhiqiang Liao, 2024. "Economic growth of cities: Does resource allocation matter?," Papers 2410.04918, arXiv.org.
    15. Thomas Philippon & Ariell Reshef, 2013. "An International Look at the Growth of Modern Finance," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(2), pages 73-96, Spring.
    16. Uchida, Hirofumi, 2020. "Natural selection: A review of studies on firms’ exit and efficiency," MPRA Paper 103938, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Bertheau, Antoine & Bunzel, Henning & Vejlin, Rune Majlund, 2020. "Employment Reallocation over the Business Cycle: Evidence from Danish Data," IZA Discussion Papers 13681, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Kaoru Hosono & Miho Takizawa, 2022. "Japan's productivity stagnation: Using dynamic Hsieh–Klenow decomposition," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 40(1), pages 218-232, January.
    19. Redha Fares, 2022. "Bankruptcy, Performance and Market Selection: Evidence from Firms in France," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph22-01 edited by Claude Mathieu.
    20. Martin, Philippe & Cros, Mathieu & Epaulard, Anne, 2021. "Will Schumpeter Catch Covid-19?," CEPR Discussion Papers 15834, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. Russell Cooper & Immo Schott, 2018. "Captial Reallocation and Productivity," 2018 Meeting Papers 121, Society for Economic Dynamics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    aggregate productivity; aggregate fluctuations; resource allocation; entry and exit; cleansing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity

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