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The best versus the rest: divergence across firms during the global productivity slowdown

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  • Dan Andrews
  • Chiara Criscuolo
  • Peter N. Gal

Abstract

We document that labor productivity of the globally most productive firms - the "frontier" - has diverged from all other firms - the "rest" - throughout the 2000s. This divergence remains after controlling for capital intensity and markups, and is strongest in ICT services, indicative of "winnertakes-all" dynamics. We also find weakening catch-up and market selection below the frontier, which can explain why this divergence at the firm level is linked to weaker aggregate productivity. The divergence is found to be stronger in industries where product market regulations are less competition friendly, highlighting the need for regulatory policy to improve the contestability of markets.

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  • Dan Andrews & Chiara Criscuolo & Peter N. Gal, 2019. "The best versus the rest: divergence across firms during the global productivity slowdown," CEP Discussion Papers dp1645, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1645
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    Cited by:

    1. Ian Goldin & Pantelis Koutroumpis & François Lafond & Julian Winkler, 2024. "Why Is Productivity Slowing Down?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(1), pages 196-268, March.
    2. Diane Coyle & John McHale & Ioannis Bournakis & Jen-Chung Mei, 2023. "Recent Trends in Firm-Level Total Factor Productivity in the United Kingdom: New Measures, New Puzzles," Working Papers 036, The Productivity Institute.
    3. Ufuk Akcigit & Salomé Baslandze & Francesca Lotti, 2023. "Connecting to Power: Political Connections, Innovation, and Firm Dynamics," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(2), pages 529-564, March.
    4. Diane Coyle & Jen‐Chung Mei, 2023. "Diagnosing the UK productivity slowdown: which sectors matter and why?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(359), pages 813-850, July.
    5. Marie Le Mouel & Alexander Schiersch, 2020. "Knowledge-Based Capital and Productivity Divergence," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1868, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Kritikos, Alexander S. & Schiersch, Alexander & Stiel, Caroline, 2021. "The Productivity Puzzle in Business Services," IZA Discussion Papers 14610, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Matej Bajgar & Giuseppe Berlingieri & Sara Calligaris & Chiara Criscuolo & Jonathan Timmis, 2019. "Industry concentration in Europe and North America," CEP Discussion Papers dp1654, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. Lodge, David & Pérez, Javier J. & Albrizio, Silvia & Everett, Mary & De Bandt, Olivier & Georgiadis, Georgios & Ca' Zorzi, Michele & Lastauskas, Povilas & Carluccio, Juan & Parrága, Susana & Carvalho,, 2021. "The implications of globalisation for the ECB monetary policy strategy," Occasional Paper Series 263, European Central Bank.
    9. Nils Grashof & Alexander Kopka, 2023. "Artificial intelligence and radical innovation: an opportunity for all companies?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 771-797, August.
    10. Jonathan Hambur, 2023. "Product Market Competition and its Implications for the Australian Economy," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 99(324), pages 32-57, March.
    11. Chris Forman & Avi Goldfarb, 2021. "Concentration and Agglomeration of IT Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Patenting," NBER Chapters, in: The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth, pages 95-121, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Freund, L. B., 2022. "Superstar Teams: The Micro Origins and Macro Implications of Coworker Complementarities," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2276, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    13. Consolo, Agostino & Petroulakis, Filippos, 2022. "Did COVID-19 induce a reallocation wave?," Working Paper Series 2703, European Central Bank.
    14. Ferrando, Annalisa & McAdam, Peter & Petroulakis, Filippos & Vives, Xavier, 2021. "Product market structure and monetary policy: evidence from the Euro Area," Working Paper Series 2632, European Central Bank.
    15. Alexander S. Kritikos & Alexander Schiersch & Caroline Stiel, 2022. "The productivity shock in business services," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 1273-1299, October.
    16. Alexander Kopka & Dirk Fornahl, 2024. "Artificial intelligence and firm growth — catch-up processes of SMEs through integrating AI into their knowledge bases," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 63-85, January.
    17. Bajgar, Matej & Criscuolo, Chiara & Timmis, Jonathan, 2021. "Intangibles and industry concentration: supersize me," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113851, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    firm dynamics; regulation; knowledge diffusion; technological change; productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

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