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Nature Versus Nurture in the Origins of Highly Productive Businesses: An Exploratory Analysis of U.S. Manufacturing Establishments

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  • J. David Brown
  • John Earle

Abstract

This paper investigates the origins of productivity leaders, those that operate close to and help push out the production frontier. Do such businesses emerge as top performers from the very beginning of their lives, for example as the consequence of an outstanding founding idea, technology, or location? Or, at the other extreme, do they appear initially as completely average (or even underperformers) that exhibit gradual improvement as they learn and develop with age? To answer this question we draw upon five decades of U.S. Census of Manufacturing (CM) establishment-level data, tracing the productivity leaders of the most recent CM (2007) back over their observed life spans. We also examine possible industry-level correlates of variation in the extent of nature versus nurture that are suggested by theories of industry dynamics and economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • J. David Brown & John Earle, 2011. "Nature Versus Nurture in the Origins of Highly Productive Businesses: An Exploratory Analysis of U.S. Manufacturing Establishments," Working Papers 11-26, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    • Handle: RePEc:cen:wpaper:11-26
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    File URL: https://www2.census.gov/ces/wp/2011/CES-WP-11-26.pdf
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    7. Eslava, Marcela & Haltiwanger, John & Kugler, Adriana & Kugler, Maurice, 2004. "The effects of structural reforms on productivity and profitabality enhancing reallocation: evidence from Colombia," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 0408, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
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    Cited by:

    1. Godfrey Madigu & Luis A. Gil‐Alana, 2021. "What do productivity indices tell us? A case study of U.S. industries," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 4946-4978, October.

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