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Learning Versus Stealing: How Important are Market-Share Reallocations to India's Productivity Growth?

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  • Ann E. Harrison
  • Leslie A. Martin
  • Shanthi Nataraj

Abstract

The new trade theory emphasizes the role of market-share reallocations across firms ("stealing") in driving productivity growth, while the older literature focused on average productivity improvements ("learning"). We use comprehensive, firm-level data from India's organized manufacturing sector to show that market-share reallocations did play an important role in aggregate productivity gains immediately following the start of India's trade reforms in 1991. However, aggregate productivity gains during the overall 20-year period from 1985 to 2004 were driven largely by improvements in average productivity. By exploiting the variation in reforms across industries, we document that the average productivity increases can be attributed to India's trade liberalization and FDI reforms. Finally, we construct a panel dataset that allows us to track firms during this time period; our results suggest that while within-firm productivity improvements were important, much of the increase in average productivity also occured because of firm entry and exit.

Suggested Citation

  • Ann E. Harrison & Leslie A. Martin & Shanthi Nataraj, 2011. "Learning Versus Stealing: How Important are Market-Share Reallocations to India's Productivity Growth?," NBER Working Papers 16733, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16733
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    Cited by:

    1. Nataraj, Shanthi, 2011. "The impact of trade liberalization on productivity: Evidence from India's formal and informal manufacturing sectors," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 292-301.
    2. Michele Imbruno & Rosanna Pittiglio & Filippo Reganati, 2015. "FDI, Intermediate Inputs and Firm Performance: Theory and Evidence from Italy," Discussion Papers 2015-15, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    3. International Monetary Fund, 2014. "France; Selected Issues," IMF Staff Country Reports 14/183, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Rajeev Dehejia & Arvind Panagariya, 2016. "The Link between Manufacturing Growth and Accelerated Services Growth in India," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(2), pages 221-264.
    5. Philippe Aghion & Jing Cai & Mathias Dewatripont & Luosha Du & Ann Harrison & Patrick Legros, 2015. "Industrial Policy and Competition," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(4), pages 1-32, October.
    6. Christian Fons-Rosen & Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & Bent E. Sørensen & Carolina Villegas-Sánchez & Vadym Volosovych, 2017. "Foreign Investment and Domestic Productivity: Identifying Knowledge Spillovers and Competition Effects," Working Papers 986, Barcelona Graduate School of Economics.
    7. Nihar Shembavnekar, 2015. "Tariff Liberalisation, Labour Market Flexibility and Employment: Evidence from India," Working Paper Series 8115, Department of Economics, University of Sussex.
    8. Daniel Schwab, 2016. "Employment Protection and the Labor Informality of the Youth: Evidence from India," Boston University - Department of Economics - The Institute for Economic Development Working Papers Series dp-280, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    9. Javorcik, Beata S. & Li, Yue, 2013. "Do the biggest aisles serve a brighter future? Global retail chains and their implications for Romania," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 348-363.
    10. Kunal Sen & Sabyasachi Kar & Jagadish Prasad Sahu, 2014. "The political economy of economic growth in India, 1993-2013," Brooks World Poverty Institute Working Paper Series esid-044-14, BWPI, The University of Manchester.
    11. Matthew Embrey & Guillaume R. Frechette & Sevgi Yuksel, 2016. "Cooperation in the Finitely Repeated Prisoner's Dilemma," Working Paper Series 8616, Department of Economics, University of Sussex.
    12. Du, Luosha & Harrison, Ann & Jefferson, Gary, 2014. "FDI Spillovers and Industrial Policy: The Role of Tariffs and Tax Holidays," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 366-383.
    13. Sean Dougherty & Verónica C. Frisancho Robles & Kala Krishna, 2011. "Employment Protection Legislation and Plant-Level Productivity in India," NBER Working Papers 17693, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. repec:eee:pubeco:v:156:y:2017:i:c:p:101-120 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Bas, M. & Paunov, C., 2014. "The unequal effect of India's industrial liberalization on firms' decision to innovate: Do business conditions matter?," MERIT Working Papers 044, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    16. Mitsukuni Nishida & Amil Petrin & Martin Rotemberg & T. Kirk White, 2013. "Are We Undercounting Reallocation’s Contribution to Growth?," Working Papers 13-55r, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    17. Mitsukuni Nishida & Amil Petrin & T. Kirk White, 2013. "Are We Undercounting Reallocation's Contribution to Growth?," Working Papers 13-55, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    18. Boehm, Johannes & Dhingra, Swati & Morrow, John, 2017. "Product diversification in Indian manufacturing," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 86603, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Ana M. Fernandes & Gunjan Sharma, 2014. "Determinants of Clusters in Indian Manufacturing: The Role of Infrastructure, Governance, Education, and Industrial Policy," Working Papers id:5693, eSocialSciences.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business

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