Several studies have found that plant turnover contributes to productivity growth. This evidence seems to be consistent with the idea that, by reducing protection granted to inefficient firms, economic liberalization would generate productivity gains associated with resource reallocation from less productive to more productive firms. However, little empirical work has been done directly linking economic liberalization and plant exit. This paper uses Chilean reforms to shed light on their effects on plant exit. Our econometric analysis shows that larger and more productive plants are less likely to exit. After controlling for these characteristics, we also find that exit is more likely in export-oriented industries. Moreover, we find a differential impact of economic liberalization and exchange rate fluctuations. Changes in these variables have a more significant impact on less productive and smaller plants. By industry, we find that the plants that are most affected are those in export-oriented sectors.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.