How costly is the misallocation of production that we might expect to result from distortions such as market power, incomplete contracts, taxes, regulations, or corruption? This paper develops new tools for the study of misallocation that place minimal assumptions on firms' underlying...

This paper argues that regional variation in the efficiency of labor allocation among German manufacturing plants plays a critical role in explaining regional disparities in productivity. In fact, we show that over 50% of the East-West productivity gap is associated with a less efficient labor...

This article derives a European Herfindahl-Hirschman concentration index from 15 micro-aggregated country datasets. In the last decade, European concentration rose due to a reallocation of economic activity towards large and concentrated industries. Over the same period, productivity gains from...

This article derives a European Herfindahl-Hirschman concentration index from 15 micro-aggregated country datasets. In the last decade, European concentration rose due to a reallocation of economic activity towards large and concentrated industries. Over the same period, productivity gains from...

Recent trade agreements have shifted their focus to non-tariff barriers such as regulations and product standards, which have been traditionally treated as pure domestic policies. The imposition of such standards reallocates production from small to large, high quality firms. We model...

This paper argues that regional variation in the efficiency of labor allocation among German manufacturing plants plays a critical role in explaining regional disparities in productivity. In fact, we show that over 50% of the East-West productivity gap is associated with a less efficient labor...

This work assesses the possibilities of including distributive considerations into cost-benefit analysis (CBA), it summarizes the favourable and contrary arguments existing in the literature, as well how it can be done. A survey is also carried out on how the topic is treated by agencies and...

Growth of the Korean economy has been sluggish, and this situation is more pronounced in the service sector. We argue that capital misallocation, especially in the service sector, could contribute to this slowdown. Utilizing firm and sectoral level data, first we assess the rising dispersion of...

This paper quantifies the impact of effective corporate tax rates on aggregate total factor productivity. Using Chilean manufacturing data, the paper documents a large dispersion in the effective tax rate faced by firms and a mass of firms facing a 0 percent tax rate. These empirical patterns...

Women account for a small share of all business owners and a small share of the market in India’s manufacturing sector. To account for these patterns, I estimate the extent of gender-specific distortions to operating a business using firm-level data. Feeding these estimates that differ across...

We use a meta-analysis to quantify the impact of misallocation of production factors on aggregate productivity. A key estimate in empirical studies on misal- location is the implied aggregate total factor productivity (TFP) loss due to the sub-optimal allocation of resources across firms. In our...

This paper explores the extent of factor misallocation in Vietnam’s cropping sector and how it is related to land rental markets. I distinguish between market transactions (i.e. those that are entitled to some form of compensation) and non-market (i.e. those that are for free and/or among...

We study how to initially allocate emission permits in an emissions trading system where firms also compete in a production market a la Cournot. We provide efficiency guarantee of simple uniform linear allocation mechanisms in the broad class of component-wise concave mechanisms in which the...

We document that 20% of Compustat firms have above-median investment rates despite having below-median marginal product of capital (MPK), seemingly "misallocating" productive resources. These firms are typically younger and significantly more likely to experience a substantial upward jump in...

This paper investigates the "misallocation" implications of corporate internal financing. We introduce corporate risk management into a standard continuous-time heterogeneous agent model with incomplete markets. We show that the economy's ability to allocate resources through the price mechanism...

This paper argues that leasing, as an important but often ignored source of external financing, facilitates the allocation efficiency of finance. We document a large overestimation of measured finance misallocation (Whited and Zhao, 2021) when lease-induced debt is ignored among US manufacturing...

Conditions under which spectrum is allocated are significant in determining the market structure in the telecom sector which in turn affects the prices and the quality of mobile services. In a more concentrated market, the quantity of spectrum is less diluted, and operators can offer higher...

We explain how the common practice of size-discovery trade detracts from overallfinancial market efficiency. At each of a series of size-discovery sessions, traders report theirdesired trades, generating allocations of the asset and cash that rely on the most recent exchangeprice. Traders can...

We examine the gains from globalization in the presence of firm heterogeneity and potential resource misallocation. We show theoretically that without distortions, bilateral and export liberalizations increase aggregate welfare and productivity, while import liberalization has ambiguous effects....

The study assesses the how information sharing by means of mobile phones affects banking system efficiency in Africa with particular emphasis on income levels (Middle income versus Low income countries) and legal origins (English Common law versus French Civil law countries). The focus is on 53...

We consider the economy consisting of n agents and m heterogenous objects where the seller benefits v from objects. Our study focuses on the multi-object allocation problem with monetary transfers where each agent obtains at most one object (unit-demand). In the situation with arbitrary n, m and...

The study assesses how information sharing through mobile phones affects banking system efficiency in Africa with particular emphasis on income levels (middle-income versus low-income countries) and legal origins (English Common law versus French Civil law countries). The focus is on 53 African...

In this paper, we investigate whether a firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives could affect its financial performance. We specifically investigate the firm’s capital allocation efficiency as a moderating channel affecting their performance. We employ a comprehensive sample of...