IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reecon/v71y2017i2p291-305.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firm productivity, wages, and agglomeration externalities

Author

Listed:
  • Fafchamps, Marcel
  • Hamine, Said El

Abstract

Using detailed census data from Morocco, this paper investigates the existence of local externalities in manufacturing. In contrast to many other studies that focus on aggregate employment growth, we examine the effect of externalities on firm-level productivity and wages. Our empirical results show that agglomeration externalities occur through both productivity and wage effects. Returns to specialization are strong and large in magnitude. In accordance with the views of Marshall, Arrow and Romer, the net effect of competition on productivity and wages tends to be negative. Large firms facing no local competition have higher revenues and pay lower wages. We also find some limited evidence in favor of the diversity argument put forth by Jacobs.

Suggested Citation

  • Fafchamps, Marcel & Hamine, Said El, 2017. "Firm productivity, wages, and agglomeration externalities," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 291-305.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reecon:v:71:y:2017:i:2:p:291-305
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rie.2016.12.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090944316302939
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rie.2016.12.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sofronis K. Clerides & Saul Lach & James R. Tybout, 1998. "Is Learning by Exporting Important? Micro-Dynamic Evidence from Colombia, Mexico, and Morocco," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(3), pages 903-947.
    2. James R. Tybout, 2000. "Manufacturing Firms in Developing Countries: How Well Do They Do, and Why?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(1), pages 11-44, March.
    3. Krugman, Paul, 1991. "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 483-499, June.
    4. Glaeser, Edward L & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1126-1152, December.
      • Edward L. Glaeser & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1991. "Growth in Cities," NBER Working Papers 3787, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Kallal, Hedi D. & Scheinkman, Jose A. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Scholarly Articles 3451309, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    5. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    6. Rodriguez-Clare, Andres, 1996. "The division of labor and economic development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 3-32, April.
    7. Ciccone, Antonio & Hall, Robert E, 1996. "Productivity and the Density of Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 54-70, March.
    8. Combes, Pierre-Philippe, 2000. "Economic Structure and Local Growth: France, 1984-1993," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 329-355, May.
    9. James E. Rauch & Alessandra Casella, 2003. "Overcoming Informational Barriers to International Resource Allocation: Prices and Ties," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(484), pages 21-42, January.
    10. Ciccone, Antonio & Matsuyama, Kiminori, 1996. "Start-up costs and pecuniary externalities as barriers to economic development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 33-59, April.
    11. Daniel A. Ackerberg & Kevin Caves & Garth Frazer, 2015. "Identification Properties of Recent Production Function Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83, pages 2411-2451, November.
    12. K. J. Arrow, 1971. "The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: F. H. Hahn (ed.), Readings in the Theory of Growth, chapter 11, pages 131-149, Palgrave Macmillan.
    13. Charles F. Manski, 1993. "Identification of Endogenous Social Effects: The Reflection Problem," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 60(3), pages 531-542.
    14. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    15. Henderson, J. Vernon, 2003. "Marshall's scale economies," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 1-28, January.
    16. Henderson, Vernon, 1997. "Externalities and Industrial Development," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 449-470, November.
    17. Marcel Fafchamps & Said El Hamine & Albert Zeufack, 2008. "Learning to Export: Evidence from Moroccan Manufacturing †," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 17(2), pages 305-355, March.
    18. Kraay, Aart & Soloaga, Isidro & Tybout, James, 2002. "Product quality, productive efficiency, and international technology diffusion : evidence from plant-level panel data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2759, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mendola, Mariapia, 2017. "International migration and informal social protection in rural Mozambique," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 282-290.
    2. Jörg Peters & Maximiliane Sievert & Christoph Strupat, 2015. "Impacts of a Micro-Enterprise Clustering Programme on Firm Performance in Ghana," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 27(1), pages 99-121, January.
    3. Timo Mitze & Teemu Makkonen, 2020. "When interaction matters: the contingent effects of spatial knowledge spillovers and internal R&I on firm productivity," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 1088-1120, August.
    4. Ilyes Boumahdi & Nouzha Zaoujal & Abdellali Fadlallah, 2021. "Is there a relationship between industrial clusters and the prevalence of COVID‐19 in the provinces of Morocco?," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(S1), pages 138-157, November.
    5. Jörg Peters & Maximiliane Sievert & Christoph Strupat, 2013. "Impacts of a Micro-Enterprise Clustering Program on Firm Performance in Ghana," Ruhr Economic Papers 0407, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    6. Carlos Carreira & Luís Lopes, 2020. "How are the potential gains from economic activity transmitted to the labour factor: more employment or more wages? Evidence from the Portuguese context," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(2), pages 319-348, April.
    7. Eyerusalem Siba & Måns Söderbom & Arne Bigsten & Mulu Gebreeyesus, 2020. "The relationship among enterprise clustering, prices, and productivity in Ethiopia’s manufacturing sector," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 831-854, August.
    8. Kenichi Kashiwagi & Erina Iwasaki, 2024. "Industrial linkage, vertical integration and firm performance: evidence from textile and garment industry in Egypt," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 803-828, February.
    9. Etro, Federico, 2017. "Research in economics and macroeconomics," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 373-383.
    10. Marco Sanfilippo & Adnan Seric, 2016. "Spillovers from agglomerations and inward FDI: a multilevel analysis on sub-Saharan African firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(1), pages 147-176, February.
    11. Joseph Mawejje & Ibrahim Mike Okumu, 2018. "Wages and Labour Productivity in African Manufacturing," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 30(4), pages 386-398, December.
    12. Kenichi Kashiwagi & Erina Iwasaki, 2020. "Effect of agglomeration on technical efficiency of small and medium‐sized garment firms in Egypt," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(1), pages 14-26, March.
    13. Karim Badr & Reham Rizk & Chahir Zaki, 2019. "Firm productivity and agglomeration economies: evidence from Egyptian data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(51), pages 5528-5544, November.
    14. Bigsten, Arne & Gebreeyesus, Mulu & Siba, Eyerusalem & Soderbom, Måns, 2012. "Enterprise Agglomeration, Output Prices, and Physical Productivity: Firm-Level Evidence from Ethiopia," WIDER Working Paper Series 085, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Wei Han & Ying Zhang & Jianming Cai & Enpu Ma, 2019. "Does Urban Industrial Agglomeration Lead to the Improvement of Land Use Efficiency in China? An Empirical Study from a Spatial Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-22, February.
    16. repec:zbw:rwirep:0407 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Ridhwan, Masagus M., 2021. "Spatial wage differentials and agglomeration externalities: Evidence from Indonesian microdata," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 573-591.
    18. John Rand & Finn Tarp & Neda Trifković & Helge Zille, 2019. "Industrial agglomeration in Myanmar," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-3, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 247-348, Elsevier.
    2. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1kv8mtgl748r0ahh12air9erdc is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Marcel Fafchamps & Måns Söderbom, 2014. "Network Proximity and Business Practices in African Manufacturing," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 99-129.
    4. Katiuscia Lavoratori & Davide Castellani, 2021. "Too close for comfort? Microgeography of agglomeration economies in the United Kingdom," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(5), pages 1002-1028, November.
    5. Rita Almeida & Ana M. Fernandes, 2013. "Explaining local manufacturing growth in Chile: the advantages of sectoral diversity," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(16), pages 2201-2213, June.
    6. Li, Dongya & Lu, Yi & Wu, Mingqin, 2012. "Industrial agglomeration and firm size: Evidence from China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 135-143.
    7. Békés, Gábor & Harasztosi, Péter, 2013. "Agglomeration premium and trading activity of firms," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 51-64.
    8. Mohamed Amara, 2019. "Firm Performance and Agglomeration Effects: Evidence from Tunisian Firm-level Data," Working Papers 1297, Economic Research Forum, revised 2019.
    9. Martin, Philippe & Mayer, Thierry & Mayneris, Florian, 2011. "Spatial concentration and plant-level productivity in France," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 182-195, March.
    10. Emanuela Marrocu & Raffaele Paci & Marco Pontis, 2012. "Intangible capital and firms' productivity," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 21(2), pages 377-402, April.
    11. Marijke J. D. Bos & Gonzague Vannoorenberghe, 2018. "Total factor productivity spillovers from trade reforms in India," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 51(2), pages 549-606, May.
    12. Delgado, Mercedes & Porter, Michael E. & Stern, Scott, 2014. "Clusters, convergence, and economic performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(10), pages 1785-1799.
    13. Rita Almeida, 2007. "Local Economic Structure and Growth," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 65-90.
    14. Ming He & Yang Chen & Ron Schramm, 2018. "Technological spillovers in space and firm productivity: Evidence from China’s electric apparatus industry," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(11), pages 2522-2541, August.
    15. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g8mc6ihim is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Mohamed Amara & AbdelRahmen El Lahga, 2015. "A note on MAR and Jacobs externalities in the Tunisian manufacturing industries," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 151-167, July.
    17. Mohamed Amara, 2023. "Agglomeration and firm performance in times of economic turmoil: Evidence from Tunisian firm‐level data," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 446-481, June.
    18. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/10145 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Andrew Perumal, 2017. "42 Years of Urban Growth and Industry Composition," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 45(2), pages 133-147, June.
    20. Giorgio Fazio & Enza Maltese, 2015. "Agglomeration Externalities and the Productivity of Italian Firms," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 354-378, September.
    21. Giulio Cainelli & Roberto Ganau & Donato Iacobucci, 2016. "Do Geographic Concentration and Vertically Related Variety Foster Firm Productivity? Micro-Evidence from Italy," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 197-217, June.
    22. Agarwalla, Astha, 2011. "Agglomeration Economies and Productivity Growth in India," IIMA Working Papers WP2011-01-08, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    23. Fernandes, Ana M., 2007. "Trade policy, trade volumes and plant-level productivity in Colombian manufacturing industries," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 52-71, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:reecon:v:71:y:2017:i:2:p:291-305. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622941 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.