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Laggard firms, technology diffusion and its structural and policy determinants

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe Berlingieri

    (OECD)

  • Sara Calligaris

    (OECD)

  • Chiara Criscuolo

    (OECD)

  • Rudy Verlhac

    (OECD)

Abstract

This paper provides new evidence on the main characteristics of laggard firms - firms in the bottom 40% of the productivity distribution - and their potential for productivity growth. It finds that laggards are on average younger and smaller than more productive firms, and matter for aggregate resource reallocation. Moreover, younger laggards converge faster toward the productivity frontier, suggesting that the composition of the laggard group matters for future productivity. Yet this report finds that laggards converge at a slower rate in highly digital- and skill-intensive industries, suggesting that there are barriers to technology and knowledge diffusion. This could help explain the much-debated productivity slowdown and the increased productivity dispersion. This report also finds that policies aimed at improving workers’ skills, alleviating financial constraints to investments and increasing firms' absorptive capacity through direct R&D support can accelerate the diffusion of knowledge and technology, and help laggard firms to catch up.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe Berlingieri & Sara Calligaris & Chiara Criscuolo & Rudy Verlhac, 2020. "Laggard firms, technology diffusion and its structural and policy determinants," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Policy Papers 86, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:stiaac:86-en
    DOI: 10.1787/281bd7a9-en
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Cetrulo, Armanda & Cirillo, Valeria & Landini, Fabio, 2022. "Organized Labour and R&D: Evidence from Italy," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1195, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Bofinger, Peter & Geißendörfer, Lisa & Haas, Thomas & Mayer, Fabian, 2023. "Credit as an instrument for growth: A monetary explanation of the Chinese growth story," W.E.P. - Würzburg Economic Papers 107, University of Würzburg, Department of Economics.
    3. Björn Döhring & Atanas Hristov & Christoph Maier & Werner Roeger & Anna Thum-Thysen, 2021. "COVID-19 acceleration in digitalisation, aggregate productivity growth and the functional income distribution," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 571-604, July.
    4. Berlingieri, Giuseppe & Blanchenay, Patrick & Criscuolo, Chiara, 2024. "The great divergence(s)," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    5. Natália Barbosa & Ana Paula faria, 2022. "Digital adoption and productivity: understanding micro drivers of the aggregate effect," GEE Papers 0162, Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia, revised Jun 2022.
    6. Amoroso, Sara & Martino, Roberto, 2020. "Regulations and technology gap in Europe: The role of firm dynamics," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    7. Dimitris Gavalas & Theodoros Syriopoulos & Efthimios Roumpis, 2022. "Digital adoption and efficiency in the maritime industry," Journal of Shipping and Trade, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-22, December.
    8. Heidi K. Edmonds & C. A. Knox Lovell & Julie E. Lovell, 2022. "The Inequities of National Adaptation to Climate Change," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-26, December.
    9. Bart van Ark & Dirk Pilat & Klaas de Vries, 2023. "Are Pro-Productivity Policies Fit for Purpose? Productivity Drivers and Policies in G-20 Economies," Working Papers 038, The Productivity Institute.
    10. Belitski, Maksim & Korosteleva, Julia & Piscitello, Lucia, 2023. "Digital affordances and entrepreneurial dynamics: New evidence from European regions," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    11. Bijnens, Gert & Anyfantaki, Sofia & Colciago, Andrea & De Mulder, Jan & Falck, Elisabeth & Labhard, Vincent & Lopez-Garcia, Paloma & Meriküll, Jaanika & Parker, Miles & Röhe, Oke & Schroth, Joachim & , 2024. "The impact of climate change and policies on productivity," Occasional Paper Series 340, European Central Bank.
    12. Mattsson, Pontus & Reshid, Abdulaziz, 2023. "Productivity divergence and the role of digitalisation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 942-966.
    13. Gómez-Bengoechea, Gonzalo & Jung, Juan, 2024. "The Matthew effect: Evidence on firms’ digitalization distributional effects," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    14. Inha Oh & Jungho Kim, 2023. "Frontiers and laggards: Which firms benefit from adopting advanced digital technologies?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(2), pages 753-766, March.
    15. Evguenia Bessonova & Anna Tsvetkova, 2022. "Do Productivity Laggards Ever Catch Up With Leaders?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(S1), pages 71-107, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Catch-up; Laggards; Productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • D4 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design
    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

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