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Recessions and total factor productivity: Evidence from sectoral data

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  • Furceri, Davide
  • Kilic Celik, Sinem
  • Jalles, João Tovar
  • Koloskova, Ksenia

Abstract

The recent COVID-19 crisis has generated a concern that productivity (which was already at historically low levels) may further decline. From a theoretical standpoint, the recessions-total factor productivity (TFP) nexus is ambiguous à priori. This paper empirically examines the dynamic impact of recessions on TFP. We compute a new measure of utilization-adjusted productivity from a sample of 24 industries in 18 advanced economies between 1970 and 2014. Resorting to the local projection method we trace out the dynamic short to medium-term impact of such recessionary shocks. We find that deep recessions lead to a permanent deterioration in the level of total factor productivity. This effect is driven by the increase in resource misallocation across different sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Furceri, Davide & Kilic Celik, Sinem & Jalles, João Tovar & Koloskova, Ksenia, 2021. "Recessions and total factor productivity: Evidence from sectoral data," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 130-138.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:94:y:2021:i:c:p:130-138
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2020.09.025
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    3. Björn Döhring & Atanas Hristov & Christoph Maier & Werner Roeger & Anna Thum-Thysen, 2021. "COVID-19 acceleration in digitalisation, aggregate productivity growth and the functional income distribution," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 571-604, July.
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    5. Hongyun Zheng & Wanglin Ma, 2021. "The role of resource reallocation in promoting total factor productivity growth: Insights from China’s agricultural sector," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 2350-2371, November.
    6. M. Ayhan Kose & Franziska Ohnsorge, 2023. "Slowing Growth: More Than a Rough Patch," CAMA Working Papers 2023-23, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    7. Tervala, Juha, 2021. "Hysteresis and the welfare costs of recessions," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 136-144.
    8. Philip Barrett & Sonali Das & Giacomo Magistretti & Evgenia Pugacheva & Philippe Wingender, 2023. "Long COVID? Prospects for economic scarring from the pandemic," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(2), pages 227-242, April.
    9. Kilic Celik, Sinem & Kose, Ayhan M. & Ohnsorge, Franziska & Ruch, Franz, 2023. "Potential Growth: A Global Database," MPRA Paper 116902, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Lee, Velma & Viale, Ariel M., 2023. "Total factor productivity in East Asia under ambiguity," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    11. Tervala, Juha & Watson, Timothy, 2022. "Hysteresis and fiscal stimulus in a recession," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    12. Davide Furceri & Mr. Jonathan David Ostry, 2021. "Initial Output Losses from the Covid-19 Pandemic: Robust Determinants," IMF Working Papers 2021/018, International Monetary Fund.
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    15. Djula Borozan & Dubravka Pekanov Starcevic, 2021. "Analysing the Pattern of Productivity Change in the European Energy Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-14, October.
    16. Maria Tsiapa, 2023. "A holistic approach of the labour productivity slowdown in the regions of the European Union," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 102(3), pages 507-531, June.
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    18. Cottafava, Dario & Gastaldo, Michele & Quatraro, Francesco & Santhiá, Cristina, 2022. "Modeling economic losses and greenhouse gas emissions reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic: Past, present, and future scenarios for Italy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Recessions; Impulse response functions; Productivity; Local projection; Reallocation effects; Sector-level data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • F45 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Macroeconomic Issues of Monetary Unions
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • 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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