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Downsizing and Productivity Growth: Myth or Reality?

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Author Info
John Haltiwanger
Martin N Baily
Eric J Bartelsman

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Abstract

The conventional wisdom is that the rising productivity in the U.S. manufacturing sector in the 1980s has been driven by the apparently pervasive downsizing over this period. Aggregate evidence clearly shows falling employment accompanying the rise in productivity. In this paper, we examine the microeconomic evidence using the plant level data from the Longitudinal Research Database (LRD). In contrast to the conventional wisdom, we find that plants that increased employment as well as productivity contribute almost as much to overall productivity growth in the 1980s as the plants that increased productivity at the expense of employment. Further, there are striking differences by sector (defined by industry, size, region, wages, and ownership type) in the allocation of plants in terms of whether they upsize or downsize and whether they increase or decrease productivity. Nevertheless, in spite of the striking differences across sectors defined in a variety of ways, most of the variance of productivity and employment growth is accounted for by idiosyncratic factors.

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File URL: http://www.ces.census.gov/index.php/ces/cespapers?down_key=100226
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau in its series Working Papers with number 94-4.

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Date of creation: Apr 1994
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Handle: RePEc:cen:wpaper:94-4

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Web page: http://www.ces.census.gov

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Keywords: CES; economic; research; micro; data; microdata; chief; economist;

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References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Robert J. Gordon, 1993. "The Jobless Recovery: Does It Signal a New Era of Productivity-led Growth?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 24(1993-1), pages 271-316. [Downloadable!]
  2. Steven J. Davis & John Haltiwanger & Scott Schuh, 1993. "Small Business and Job Creation: Dissecting the Myth and Reassessing theFacts," NBER Working Papers 4492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Hellerstein, J-K & Neumark, D, 1995. "Sex, Wages, and Productivity : an Empirical Analysis of Israeli, Firm-Level Data," Papers 9501, Michigan State - Econometrics and Economic Theory.
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  4. Steve J. Davis & John Haltiwanger, 1991. "Gross Job Creation, Gross Job Destruction and Employment Reallocation," NBER Working Papers 3728, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Bruce Chelimsky Fallick, 1993. "The hiring of new labor by expanding industries," Working Paper Series / Economic Activity Section 139, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
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  6. Venables, Anthony J, 1985. "The Economic Implications of a Discrete Technical Change," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 37(2), pages 230-48, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Bernanke, Ben S & Parkinson, Martin L, 1991. "Procyclical Labor Productivity and Competing Theories of the Business Cycle: Some Evidence from Interwar U.S. Manufacturing Industries," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 439-59, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Nicoletti, Giuseppe & Reichlin, Lucrezia, 1993. "Trends and Cycles in Labour Productivity in the Major OECD Countries," CEPR Discussion Papers 808, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Donald Siegel & Zvi Griliches, 1991. "Purchased Services, Outsourcing, Computers, and Productivity in Manufacturing," NBER Working Papers 3678, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Aghion, Philippe & Howitt, Peter, 1991. "Unemployment : A symptom of stagnation or a side-effect of growth?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(2-3), pages 535-541, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Nickell, S. & Komg, P., 1989. "Technical Progress And Jobs," Papers 366, London School of Economics - Centre for Labour Economics.
  12. Steven J. Davis & John C. Haltiwanger & Scott Schuh, 1998. "Job Creation and Destruction," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262540932.
  13. Alan Manning, 1992. "Productivity Growth, Wage Setting and the Equilibrium Rate of Unemployment," CEP Discussion Papers dp0063, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
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