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Predation, Protection, and Productivity: A Firm-Level Perspective

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  • Timothy Besley
  • Hannes Mueller

Abstract

This paper studies the consequences of predation when firms deploy guard labor as a means of protecting themselves. We build a simple model and combine it with data for 144 countries from the World Bank enterprise surveys, which ask about firm-level experiences with predation and spending on protection. We use the model to estimate the output loss caused by the misallocation of labor across firms and from production to protection. The loss due to protection effort is substantial and patterns of state protection at the micro level can have a profound impact on aggregate output losses. Various extensions are discussed.

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  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:184-221
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/mac.20160120
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    1. 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.
    2. Ross Hickey & Steeve Mongrain & Joanne Roberts & Tanguy van Ypersele, 2021. "Private protection and public policing," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 23(1), pages 5-28, February.
    3. Besley, T. & Roland, I. & Van Reenen, J., 2019. "The Aggregate Consequences of Default Risk: Evidence from Firm-level Data," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2061, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
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    7. Laurent WAGNER, 2020. "The allocation of resources of national development banks," Working Paper 9c3d4298-95e5-4561-a9cb-5, Agence française de développement.
    8. Lavinia Piemontese, 2021. "Uncovering Illegal and Underground Economies: The Case of Mafia Extortion Racketeering," Working Papers halshs-02928546, HAL.
    9. Diakonova, Marina & Ghirelli, Corinna & Molina, Luis & Pérez, Javier J., 2023. "The economic impact of conflict-related and policy uncertainty shocks: The case of Russia," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 69-90.
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    11. Dyer, Julian, 2023. "The fruits (and vegetables) of crime: Protection from theft and agricultural development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
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    13. Lavinia Piemontese, 2020. "Uncovering Illegal and Underground Economies: The Case of Mafia Extortion Racketeering," Working Papers 2025, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    14. Ummad Mazhar, 2021. "Women empowerment and insecurity: firm-level evidence," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 56(1), pages 43-53, January.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General
    • L84 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Personal, Professional, and Business Services
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

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