IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/31311.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Misallocation in Firm Production: A Nonparametric Analysis Using Procurement Lotteries

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Carrillo
  • Dave Donaldson
  • Dina Pomeranz
  • Monica Singhal

Abstract

This paper develops new tools to study misallocation that do not require assumptions about the heterogeneity of firms’ technologies. We show how features of the distribution of marginal products can be identified from exogenous variation in firms’ input use and used both to test for misallocation and to quantify its resulting welfare losses. We apply this method to a setting with exogenous demand shocks from public procurement contracts for construction services in Ecuador. Our results reject the null of efficiency but our estimates of the resulting welfare losses from misallocation are small.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Carrillo & Dave Donaldson & Dina Pomeranz & Monica Singhal, 2023. "Misallocation in Firm Production: A Nonparametric Analysis Using Procurement Lotteries," NBER Working Papers 31311, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31311
    Note: DEV EFG IO ITI PE PR
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w31311.pdf
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text is generally limited to series subscribers, however if the top level domain of the client browser is in a developing country or transition economy free access is provided. More information about subscriptions and free access is available at http://www.nber.org/wwphelp.html. Free access is also available to older working papers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tor Jakob Klette, 1999. "Market Power, Scale Economies and Productivity: Estimates from a Panel of Establishment Data," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 451-476, December.
    2. Matias Busso & Sebastian Galiani, 2019. "The Causal Effect of Competition on Prices and Quality: Evidence from a Field Experiment," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 33-56, January.
    3. Andreas Beerli & Jan Ruffner & Michael Siegenthaler & Giovanni Peri, 2021. "The Abolition of Immigration Restrictions and the Performance of Firms and Workers: Evidence from Switzerland," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(3), pages 976-1012, March.
    4. Robert T. Jensen & Nolan H. Miller, 2018. "Market Integration, Demand and the Growth of Firms: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India," Working Papers id:12824, eSocialSciences.
    5. David Benson & Matthew A. Masten & Alexander Torgovitsky, 2022. "ivcrc: An instrumental-variables estimator for the correlated random-coefficients model," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 22(3), pages 469-495, September.
    6. Matthew A. Masten & Alexander Torgovitsky, 2016. "Identification of Instrumental Variable Correlated Random Coefficients Models," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(5), pages 1001-1005, December.
    7. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo, 2014. "Do Firms Want to Borrow More? Testing Credit Constraints Using a Directed Lending Program," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(2), pages 572-607.
    8. Robert T. Jensen & Nolan H. Miller, 2018. "Market Integration, Demand and the Growth of Firms: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India," NBER Working Papers 24693, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Claudio Ferraz & Frederico Finan & Dimitri Szerman, 2015. "Procuring Firm Growth: The Effects of Government Purchases on Firm Dynamics," NBER Working Papers 21219, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Suresh de Mel & David McKenzie & Christopher Woodruff, 2009. "Returns to Capital in Microenterprises: Evidence from a Field Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(1), pages 423-423.
    11. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Peter J. Klenow, 2009. "Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1403-1448.
    12. Kirk Doran & Alexander Gelber & Adam Isen, 2022. "The Effects of High-Skilled Immigration Policy on Firms: Evidence from Visa Lotteries," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 130(10), pages 2501-2533.
    13. Peng Ding & Avi Feller & Luke Miratrix, 2016. "Randomization inference for treatment effect variation," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 78(3), pages 655-671, June.
    14. 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.
    15. Michela Giorcelli, 2019. "The Long-Term Effects of Management and Technology Transfers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(1), pages 121-152, January.
    16. Douglas Gollin & Christopher Udry, 2021. "Heterogeneity, Measurement Error, and Misallocation: Evidence from African Agriculture," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(1), pages 1-80.
    17. David Sraer & David Thesmar, 2023. "How to Use Natural Experiments to Estimate Misallocation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(4), pages 906-938, April.
    18. Natalie Bau & Adrien Matray, 2023. "Misallocation and Capital Market Integration: Evidence From India," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(1), pages 67-106, January.
    19. Martin Rotemberg, 2019. "Equilibrium Effects of Firm Subsidies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(10), pages 3475-3513, October.
    20. Milenko Fadic, 2020. "Letting Luck Decide: Government Procurement and the Growth of Small Firms," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(7), pages 1263-1276, June.
    21. Hugo A. Hopenhayn, 2014. "Firms, Misallocation, and Aggregate Productivity: A Review," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 735-770, August.
    22. Hall, Robert E, 1988. "The Relation between Price and Marginal Cost in U.S. Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(5), pages 921-947, October.
    23. Lauren Falcao Bergquist & Michael Dinerstein, 2020. "Competition and Entry in Agricultural Markets: Experimental Evidence from Kenya," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(12), pages 3705-3747, December.
    24. Robert Jensen & Nolan H. Miller, 2018. "Market Integration, Demand, and the Growth of Firms: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(12), pages 3583-3625, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Vittorio Bassi & Raffaela Muoio & Tommaso Porzio & Ritwika Sen & Esau Tugume, 2022. "Achieving Scale Collectively," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(6), pages 2937-2978, November.
    2. Tomihiro Machikita & Tetsuji Okazaki, 2019. "Transition to a Modern Regime and Change in PlantLifecycles: A Natural Experiment from Meiji Japan," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1122, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    3. Tomohiro Machikita & Tetsuji Okazaki, 2019. "Transition to a Modern Regime and Change in Plant Lifecycles: A Natural Experiment from Meiji Japan," CIGS Working Paper Series 19-006E, The Canon Institute for Global Studies.
    4. Jonas Hjort & Vinayak Iyer & Golvine de Rochambeau, 2020. "Informational Barriers to Market Access: Experimental Evidence from Liberian Firms," SciencePo Working papers hal-03389180, HAL.
    5. Jing Cai & Adam Szeidl, 2018. "Interfirm Relationships and Business Performance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1229-1282.
    6. Bartkus, Viva Ona & Brooks, Wyatt & Kaboski, Joseph P. & Pelnik, Carolyn, 2022. "Big fish in thin markets: Competing with the middlemen to increase market access in the Amazon," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    7. Jaumandreu, Jordi & Doraszelski, Ulrich, 2019. "Using Cost Minimization to Estimate Markups," CEPR Discussion Papers 14114, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/6jahov5tde8vt9aplqrgg3trl4 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Natalie Bau & Adrien Matray, 2023. "Misallocation and Capital Market Integration: Evidence From India," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(1), pages 67-106, January.
    10. Lenzu, Simone & Manaresi, Francesco, 2018. "Do Marginal Products Differ from User Costs? Micro-Level Evidence from Italian Firms," Working Papers 276, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    11. Talamas Marcos, Miguel Ángel, 2023. "Surviving Competition: Neighborhood Shops vs. Convenience Chains," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 13018, Inter-American Development Bank.
    12. Simone Lenzu & Francesco Manaresi, 2019. "Sources and implications of resource misallocation: new evidence from firm-level marginal products and user costs," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 485, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    13. van der Geest, Jesse, 2024. "Economic effects of tax avoidance and compliance," Other publications TiSEM aaca33bf-975d-4e21-9b5f-5, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    14. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6jahov5tde8vt9aplqrgg3trl4 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Xin Fan & Shan Jin & Zeyu Chen, 2023. "Who Benefits from Domestic Market Integration?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(6), pages 2083-2109, August.
    16. Axel Demenet & Quynh Hoang, 2018. "How important are management practices for the productivity of small and medium enterprises?," WIDER Working Paper Series 69, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Mérel, Pierre & Ortiz-Bobea, Ariel & Paroissien, Emmanuel, 2021. "How big is the “lemons” problem? Historical evidence from French wines," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    18. Bento, Pedro & Restuccia, Diego, 2021. "On average establishment size across sectors and countries," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 220-242.
    19. Douglas Gollin & Christopher Udry, 2021. "Heterogeneity, Measurement Error, and Misallocation: Evidence from African Agriculture," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(1), pages 1-80.
    20. Laura Boudreau & Julia Cajal-Grossi & Rocco Macchiavello, 2023. "Global Value Chains in Developing Countries: A Relational Perspective from Coffee and Garments," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 37(3), pages 59-86, Summer.
    21. Diego Restuccia & Richard Rogerson, 2017. "The Causes and Costs of Misallocation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 151-174, Summer.
    22. Ana Cristina Soares, 2020. "Price-cost margin and bargaining power in the European Union," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 2093-2123, November.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement
    • L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

    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:nbr:nberwo:31311. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.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.