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Information Spillovers and Factor Adjustment

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Author Info
Luigi Guiso (Ente Einaudi and Università di Sassari)
Fabiano Schivardi () (Bank of Italy, Research Department)

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Abstract

We investigate the role of information spillovers (IS) in determining firms' labor adjustments. We test the proposition that information on relevant state variables spills over through one firm's decision to those of other firms, assuming that spillovers matter only among firms that are both similar and geographically close. From a large panel of manufacturing firms, we select those that are located in a given industrial district and produce the same goods. We propose a solution to the identification problemtypical of the empirical analysis of social effects. Our results show that firms' decisions are indeed affected by those of similar, neighboring firms, while the actions of firms not satisfying either of the criteria have no impact. We test other implications of the theory and find further supporting evidence of the relevance of IS. First, measures of extreme adjustments exert a stronger influence than mean adjustments; second, smaller firms seem to rely more on external sources of information; third, the effects depend on such characteristics of the reference group as its size and the presence of large firms. Finally, given that firms exposed to IS tend to adjust simultaneously, we find that spillovers amplify the effect of aggregate shocks and constitute a powerful mechanism of amplification of the business cycle.

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Paper provided by Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department in its series Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) with number 368.

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Date of creation: Mar 2000
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Handle: RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_368_00

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References listed on IDEAS
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  4. Boeri, Tito, 1996. "Is Job Turnover Countercyclical?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(4), pages 603-25, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Federico Cingano & Fabiano Schivardi, 2003. "Identifying the Sources of Local Productivity Growth," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 474, Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Patrizio Pagano & Fabiano Schivardi, 2001. "Firm Size Distribution and Growth," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 394, Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Giulio Bottazzi & Giovanni Dosi & Giorgio Fagiolo, 2001. "On the Ubiquitous Nature of the Agglomeration Economies and their Diverse Determinants: Some Notes," LEM Papers Series 2001/10, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
  4. Rose Cunningham, 2004. "Investment, Private Information, and Social Learning: A Case Study of the Semiconductor Industry," Working Papers 04-32, Bank of Canada. [Downloadable!]
  5. Guiso, Luigi & Schivardi, Fabiano, 2005. "Learning to be an Entrepreneur," CEPR Discussion Papers 5290, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Rose Cunningham, 2004. "Investment, Private Information and Social Learning: A Case Study of the Semiconductor Industry," Macroeconomics 0409021, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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