IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mtu/wpaper/19_16.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Competition and productivity: Do commonly used metrics suggest a relationship?

Author

Listed:
  • David C. Maré

    (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research)

  • Richard Fabling

    (Independent Researcher)

Abstract

We demonstrate the power of recently redeveloped productivity microdata to produce a range of meaningful competition indicators highlighting different aspects of industry competitiveness. Combining these competition metrics into composite indicators, we summarise the diverse range of competitive environments in New Zealand by clustering industries into four distinct groups. Estimating the relationship between competition and productivity within these groups provides some suggestive results that the tail of unproductive firms may be truncated when competition is greater, in part due to greater selection-to-exit based on productivity. Overall, the limited evidence we find for a direct relationship between competition and productivity does not necessarily imply that the two are unrelated, but more likely reflects that changes in competition in New Zealand over the sample period have not been particularly pronounced, making it difficult to identify a systematic relationship.

Suggested Citation

  • David C. Maré & Richard Fabling, 2019. "Competition and productivity: Do commonly used metrics suggest a relationship?," Working Papers 19_16, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:mtu:wpaper:19_16
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://motu-www.motu.org.nz/wpapers/19_16.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    2. Micco, Alejandro & Serebrisky, Tomas, 2006. "Competition regimes and air transport costs: The effects of open skies agreements," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 25-51, September.
    3. Haskel, Jonathan, 1991. "Imperfect Competition, Work Practices and Productivity Growth," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 53(3), pages 265-279, August.
    4. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen, 2010. "Why Do Management Practices Differ across Firms and Countries?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 203-224, Winter.
    5. Jan De Loecker, 2011. "Product Differentiation, Multiproduct Firms, and Estimating the Impact of Trade Liberalization on Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 79(5), pages 1407-1451, September.
    6. Thomas J. Holmes & James A. Schmitz, 2010. "Competition and Productivity: A Review of Evidence," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 619-642, September.
    7. Jamasb, T. & Mota, R. & Newbery, D. & Pollitt, M., 2004. "‘Electricity Sector Reform in Developing Countries: A Survey of Empirical Evidence on Determinants and Performance’," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0439, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    8. Richard Fabling & David C. Maré, 2019. "Improved productivity measurement in New Zealand's Longitudinal Business Database," Working Papers 19_03, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    9. John Haltiwanger & Robert Kulick & Chad Syverson, 2018. "Misallocation Measures: The Distortion That Ate the Residual," NBER Working Papers 24199, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Nickell, Stephen J, 1996. "Competition and Corporate Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 724-746, August.
    11. Jan Boone, 2008. "A New Way to Measure Competition," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(531), pages 1245-1261, August.
    12. Jan Boone, 2008. "A New Way to Measure Competition," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(531), pages 1245-1261, August.
    13. Chad Syverson, 2004. "Market Structure and Productivity: A Concrete Example," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(6), pages 1181-1222, December.
    14. Färe, Rolf & Grosskopf, Shawna & Margaritis, Dimitri, 2002. "Economic reform and productivity growth: the case of Australia and New Zealand," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 143-152.
    15. Richard Disney & Jonathan Haskel & Ylva Heden, 2003. "Restructuring and productivity growth in uk manufacturing," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(489), pages 666-694, July.
    16. James A. Schmitz Jr., 2005. "What Determines Productivity? Lessons from the Dramatic Recovery of the U.S. and Canadian Iron Ore Industries Following Their Early 1980s Crisis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(3), pages 582-625, June.
    17. David A. Matsa, 2011. "Competition and Product Quality in the Supermarket Industry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(3), pages 1539-1591.
    18. Richard Fabling & David C Maré, 2015. "Production function estimation using New Zealand’s Longitudinal Business Database," Working Papers 15_15, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    19. Chad Syverson, 2011. "What Determines Productivity?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 326-365, June.
    20. Richard Fabling & David C Maré, 2015. "Addressing the absence of hours information in linked employer-employee data," Working Papers 15_17, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    21. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    22. Lewis Evans & Arthur Grimes & Bryce Wilkinson, 1996. "Economic Reform in New Zealand 1984-95: The Pursuit of Efficiency," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 34(4), pages 1856-1902, December.
    23. J. David Brown & Emin Dinlersoz & John S. Earle, 2016. "Does Higher Productivity Dispersion Imply Greater Misallocation?A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis," Working Papers 16-42, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    24. Thomas J. Holmes & James A. Schmitz, 2001. "Competition at work : railroads vs. monopoly in the U.S. shipping industry," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 25(Spr), pages 3-29.
    25. Maria Maher & Michael Wise, 2005. "Product Market Competition and Economic Performance in the United Kingdom," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 433, OECD Publishing.
    26. Richard Fabling, 2011. "Keeping it Together: Tracking Firms on New Zealand’s Longitudinal Business Database," Working Papers 11_01, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Richard Fabling, 2021. "Living on the edge: An anatomy of New Zealand’s most productive firms," Working Papers 21_01, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Van Reenen, John, 2011. "Does competition raise productivity through improving management quality?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 306-316, May.
    2. Anderton, Robert & Di Lupidio, Benedetta & Jarmulska, Barbara, 2020. "The impact of product market regulation on productivity through firm churning: Evidence from European countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 487-501.
    3. Roberto Álvarez & Aldo Gonzalez, 2020. "Competition, selection, and productivity growth in the Chilean manufacturing industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 29(3), pages 877-892.
    4. Matthew Backus, 2020. "Why Is Productivity Correlated With Competition?," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(6), pages 2415-2444, November.
    5. Ganglmair, Bernhard & Hahn, Nadine & Hellwig, Michael & Kann, Alexander & Peters, Bettina & Tsanko, Ilona, 2020. "Price markups, innovation, and productivity: Evidence from Germany," ZEW Expertises, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, volume 8, number 222995.
    6. Florin Maican & Matilda Orth, 2017. "Productivity Dynamics and the Role of ‘Big-Box’ Entrants in Retailing," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(2), pages 397-438, June.
    7. Maican, Florin & Orth, Matilda, 2015. "A dynamic analysis of entry regulations and productivity in retail trade," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 67-80.
    8. Philipp Steinbrunner, 2023. "I want a quiet life! On productivity and competition in the Central European energy sector," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(2), pages 403-428, April.
    9. Devin Garcia & Levent Kutlu & Robin C. Sickles, 2022. "Market Structures in Production Economics," Springer Books, in: Subhash C. Ray & Robert G. Chambers & Subal C. Kumbhakar (ed.), Handbook of Production Economics, chapter 13, pages 537-574, Springer.
    10. Pedro Carvalho, 2018. "Competition and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Portugal," GEE Papers 00108, Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia, revised Jul 2018.
    11. Carl Shapiro, 2011. "Competition and Innovation: Did Arrow Hit the Bull's Eye?," NBER Chapters, in: The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity Revisited, pages 361-404, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Juan A. Correa & Carmine Ornaghi, 2014. "Competition & Innovation: Evidence from U.S. Patent and Productivity Data," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(2), pages 258-285, June.
    13. Chad Syverson, 2011. "What Determines Productivity?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 326-365, June.
    14. Fieler, Ana Cecília & Harrison, Ann E., 2023. "Escaping import competition in China," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    15. Philipp R. Steinbrunner, 2023. "May It Be a Little Bit More of Market Power? On Productivity Growth and Competition," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 123-170, December.
    16. Pedro Carvalho, 2018. "Competition and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Portugal," GEE Papers 00108, Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia, revised Jul 2018.
    17. Carlo Altomonte & Marcella Nicolini & Armando Rungi & Laura Ogliari, 2010. "Assessing the Competitive Behaviour of Firms in the Single Market: A Micro-based Approach," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 409, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    18. Rut Atayde & Rafael Garduño & Eduardo Robles & Pluvia Zúñiga, 2021. "Market competition and firm productivity and innovation: Responses in Mexican manufacturing industries," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 1185-1214, August.
    19. Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller & Danny McGowan & Ismael Sanz & José F. Sanz‐Sanz, 2018. "Corporate Taxation and Productivity Catch‐Up: Evidence from European Firms," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 120(2), pages 372-399, April.
    20. Allan Collard-Wexler & Jan De Loecker, 2015. "Reallocation and Technology: Evidence from the US Steel Industry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(1), pages 131-171, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    competition; profit elasticity; price-cost margin; industry concentration; multifactor productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:mtu:wpaper:19_16. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Maxine Watene (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/motuenz.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.