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Accounting for Cross-Country Productivity Differences: New Evidence from Multinational Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Vanessa Alviarez

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Javier Cravino

    (University of Michigan)

  • Natalia Ramondo

    (UCSD)

Abstract

We use data on the cross-country operations of multinational enterprises and their foreign affiliates to separate the components of productivity that are internationally mobile from those that are immobile. We show that the productivity factors that are embedded in firms and can be transferred globally account for about 20 percent of the observed differences in TFP across European countries, thought its importance varies widely across countries. This indicates large potential gains form convergence in `firm-embedded' productivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Vanessa Alviarez & Javier Cravino & Natalia Ramondo, 2019. "Accounting for Cross-Country Productivity Differences: New Evidence from Multinational Firms," 2019 Meeting Papers 1188, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed019:1188
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yunfang Hu & Takuma Kunieda & Kazuo Nishimura & Ping Wang, 2023. "Flying or trapped?," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 75(2), pages 341-388, February.
    2. Ching-mu Chen & Wan-Jung Cheng & Shin-Kun Peng & Raymond Riezman & Ping Wang, 2019. "Trade Wars, Technology and Productivity," NBER Working Papers 26468, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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