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Papers Containing Keywords(s): 'manufacturer'

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Frequently Occurring Concepts within this Search

Center for Economic Studies - 39

Annual Survey of Manufactures - 36

Standard Industrial Classification - 33

Census of Manufactures - 32

Longitudinal Business Database - 31

North American Industry Classification System - 30

Longitudinal Research Database - 25

Ordinary Least Squares - 24

National Bureau of Economic Research - 24

Total Factor Productivity - 20

National Science Foundation - 19

Census of Manufacturing Firms - 18

Economic Census - 15

Bureau of Economic Analysis - 15

Bureau of Labor Statistics - 15

Longitudinal Firm Trade Transactions Database - 13

Standard Statistical Establishment List - 13

Business Register - 13

Cobb-Douglas - 12

Census Bureau Disclosure Review Board - 11

Patent and Trademark Office - 11

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - 10

Environmental Protection Agency - 10

Census Bureau Longitudinal Business Database - 9

World Trade Organization - 8

Federal Statistical Research Data Center - 8

Office of Management and Budget - 8

Survey of Manufacturing Technology - 8

Metropolitan Statistical Area - 8

Pollution Abatement Costs and Expenditures - 8

Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - 8

Research Data Center - 8

Federal Reserve Bank - 7

University of Chicago - 7

Service Annual Survey - 7

Internal Revenue Service - 6

American Economic Association - 6

World Bank - 6

Chicago Census Research Data Center - 6

Department of Commerce - 6

Employer Identification Numbers - 6

National Research Council - 6

Company Organization Survey - 5

Census Bureau Business Register - 5

Disclosure Review Board - 5

Computer Network Use Supplement - 5

Management and Organizational Practices Survey - 5

Harmonized System - 5

Electronic Data Interchange - 5

American Economic Review - 5

Special Sworn Status - 5

Permanent Plant Number - 5

Harvard University - 5

Foreign Direct Investment - 4

Herfindahl Hirschman Index - 4

Wholesale Trade - 4

International Trade Commission - 4

Business Dynamics Statistics - 4

American Community Survey - 4

International Standard Industrial Classification - 4

Information and Communication Technology Survey - 4

Business R&D and Innovation Survey - 4

Fabricated Metal Products - 4

Small Business Administration - 4

North American Free Trade Agreement - 4

Journal of Political Economy - 4

Michigan Institute for Teaching and Research in Economics - 4

Survey of Industrial Research and Development - 4

Administrative Records - 4

Computer Aided Design - 4

PAOC - 4

New England County Metropolitan - 4

European Union - 3

Technical Services - 3

Customs and Border Protection - 3

Occupational Employment Statistics - 3

Kauffman Foundation - 3

Labor Productivity - 3

Yale University - 3

Department of Economics - 3

2010 Census - 3

Business Research and Development and Innovation Survey - 3

University of Michigan - 3

Columbia University - 3

Quarterly Journal of Economics - 3

United Nations - 3

New York Times - 3

Toxics Release Inventory - 3

Social Security - 3

National Ambient Air Quality Standards - 3

Schools Under Registration Review - 3

manufacturing - 75

production - 59

industrial - 50

produce - 28

econometric - 28

innovation - 23

enterprise - 23

sale - 22

company - 22

growth - 22

export - 21

technological - 21

product - 18

factory - 17

technology - 17

expenditure - 17

market - 16

multinational - 15

sector - 15

economist - 13

import - 12

organizational - 12

macroeconomic - 11

patent - 11

economically - 11

supplier - 11

productivity growth - 11

gdp - 11

revenue - 10

inventory - 10

demand - 10

industry productivity - 10

exporter - 9

spillover - 9

labor - 9

emission - 9

environmental - 9

merger - 8

innovate - 8

productive - 8

technology adoption - 8

tariff - 8

profitability - 8

pollution - 8

consumption - 8

estimation - 7

competitor - 7

profit - 7

patenting - 7

acquisition - 7

regulatory - 7

investment - 7

epa - 7

pollutant - 7

polluting - 7

manufacturing industries - 7

plants industry - 7

monopolistic - 6

competitiveness - 6

invention - 6

innovator - 6

tech - 6

efficiency - 6

regulation - 6

environmental regulation - 6

incorporated - 6

producing - 6

exporting - 5

plant productivity - 5

manufacturing plants - 5

outsourcing - 5

outsourced - 5

sourcing - 5

cost - 5

productivity measures - 5

productivity firms - 5

wholesale - 5

labor productivity - 5

specialization - 5

agricultural - 5

exported - 4

subsidiary - 4

retailer - 4

estimating - 4

growth productivity - 4

innovating - 4

importer - 4

aggregate - 4

firms productivity - 4

technical - 4

establishment - 4

commerce - 4

innovative - 4

monopolistically - 4

economic census - 4

payroll - 4

corporation - 4

estimates pollution - 4

partnership - 4

survey - 4

heterogeneity - 4

commodity - 4

refinery - 4

industry variation - 4

performance - 4

shipment - 3

productivity impacts - 3

trademark - 3

workforce - 3

occupation - 3

report - 3

productivity analysis - 3

accounting - 3

factor productivity - 3

productivity estimates - 3

industrialized - 3

externality - 3

manager - 3

managerial - 3

management - 3

international trade - 3

foreign - 3

warehousing - 3

firms export - 3

corporate - 3

trend - 3

recession - 3

plants firms - 3

developed - 3

ownership - 3

farm - 3

innovation productivity - 3

data - 3

employed - 3

costs pollution - 3

pollution abatement - 3

expense - 3

environmental expenditures - 3

industries estimate - 3

polluting industries - 3

plants industries - 3

computer - 3

respondent - 3

endogeneity - 3

heterogeneous - 3

firms plants - 3

fuel - 3

industry heterogeneity - 3

diversification - 3

Viewing papers 1 through 10 of 84


  • Working Paper

    Firm Heterogeneity, Misallocation, and Trade

    May 2025

    Authors: John Chung

    Working Paper Number:

    CES-25-33

    To what extent do domestic distortions influence the gains from trade? Using data from Chinese manufacturing surveys and U.S. census records, I document two novel stylized facts: (1) Larger producers in China exhibit lower revenue productivity, whereas larger producers in the U.S. exhibit higher revenue productivity. (2) Larger exporters in China exhibit lower export intensity, whereas larger exporters in the U.S. exhibit higher export intensity. A model of heterogeneous producers shows that only the U.S. patterns are consistent with an efficient allocation. To reconcile the observed patterns in China, I introduce producer- and destination-specific subsidies and estimate the model without imposing functional form assumptions on the joint distribution of productivity and subsidy rates. Accounting for distortions in China leads to substantially smaller estimated gains from trade.
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  • Working Paper

    Multi-Market Contact in International Trade; Evidence from U.S. Battery Exporters

    May 2025

    Working Paper Number:

    CES-25-32

    When competitors compete in more than one market they are said to have multi-market contact (MMC). Firms with MMC are more likely collude to avoid cross-market retaliation. This paper investigates the impact of MMC among U.S. battery exporters on the prices they set in foreign markets using confidential export transaction data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ability of firms to exploit MMC for collusive gain in international markets can be both detrimental to import-dependent consumers and harder for anti-trust authorities to detect. Motivated by litigation finding evidence of collusive behavior by multi-national battery manufacturers, MMC has an upward effect on export prices set by U.S. battery exporters. These results are robust across different panel regression specifications using different measures of MMC.
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  • Working Paper

    The Rise of Industrial AI in America: Microfoundations of the Productivity J-curve(s)

    April 2025

    Working Paper Number:

    CES-25-27

    We examine the prevalence and productivity dynamics of artificial intelligence (AI) in American manufacturing. Working with the Census Bureau to collect detailed large-scale data for 2017 and 2021, we focus on AI-related technologies with industrial applications. We find causal evidence of J-curve-shaped returns, where short-term performance losses precede longer-term gains. Consistent with costly adjustment taking place within core production processes, industrial AI use increases work-in-progress inventory, investment in industrial robots, and labor shedding, while harming productivity and profitability in the short run. These losses are unevenly distributed, concentrating among older businesses while being mitigated by growth-oriented business strategies and within-firm spillovers. Dynamics, however, matter: earlier (pre-2017) adopters exhibit stronger growth over time, conditional on survival. Notably, among older establishments, abandonment of structured production-management practices accounts for roughly one-third of these losses, revealing a specific channel through which intangible factors shape AI's impact. Taken together, these results provide novel evidence on the microfoundations of technology J-curves, identifying mechanisms and illuminating how and why they differ across firm types. These findings extend our understanding of modern General Purpose Technologies, explaining why their economic impact'exemplified here by AI'may initially disappoint, particularly in contexts dominated by older, established firms.
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  • Working Paper

    Competition, Firm Innovation, and Growth under Imperfect Technology Spillovers

    July 2024

    Authors: Karam Jo, Seula Kim

    Working Paper Number:

    CES-24-40

    We study how friction in learning others' technology, termed 'imperfect technology spillovers,' incentivizes firms to use different types of innovation and impacts the implications of competition through changes in innovation composition. We build an endogenous growth model in which multi-product firms enhance their products via internal innovation and enter new product markets through external innovation. When learning others' technology takes time due to this friction, increased competitive pressure leads firms with technological advantages to intensify internal innovation to protect their markets, thereby reducing others' external innovation. Using the U.S. administrative firm-level data, we provide regression results supporting the model predictions. Our findings highlight the importance of strategic firm innovation choices and changes in their composition in shaping the aggregate implications of competition.
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  • Working Paper

    Temperature and Local Industry Concentration

    October 2023

    Working Paper Number:

    CES-23-51

    We use plant-level data from the US Census of Manufacturers to study the short and long run effects of temperature on manufacturing activity. We document that temperature shocks significantly increase energy costs and lower the productivity of small manufacturing plants, while large plants are mostly unaffected. In US counties that experienced higher increases in average temperatures between the 1980s and the 2010s, these heterogeneous effects have led to higher concentration of manufacturing activity within large plants, and a reallocation of labor from small to large manufacturing establishments. We offer a preliminary discussion of potential mechanisms explaining why large manufacturing firms might be better equipped for long-run adaptation to climate change, including their ability to hedge across locations, easier access to finance, and higher managerial skills.
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  • Working Paper

    The Changing Firm and Country Boundaries of US Manufacturers in Global Value Chains

    July 2023

    Authors: Teresa C. Fort

    Working Paper Number:

    CES-23-38

    This paper documents how US firms organize goods production across firm and country boundaries. Most US firms that perform physical transformation tasks in-house using foreign manufacturing plants in 2007 also own US manufacturing plants; moreover manufacturing comprises their main domestic activity. By contrast, 'factoryless goods producers' outsource all physical transformation tasks to arm's-length contractors, focusing their in-house efforts on design and marketing. This distinct firm type is missing from standard analyses of manufacturing, growing in importance, and increasingly reliant on foreign suppliers. Physical transformation 'within-the-firm' thus coincides with substantial physical transformation 'within-the-country,' whereas its performance 'outside-the-firm' often also implies 'outside-the-country.' Despite these differences, factoryless goods producers and firms with foreign and domestic manufacturing plants both employ relatively high shares of US knowledge workers. These patterns call for new models and data to capture the potential for foreign production to support domestic innovation, which US firms leverage around the world.
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  • Working Paper

    On The Role of Trademarks: From Micro Evidence to Macro Outcomes

    March 2023

    Working Paper Number:

    CES-23-16R

    What are the effects of trademarks on the U.S. economy? Evidence from comprehensive micro data on trademark registrations and outcomes for U.S. employer firms suggests that trademarks protect firm value and are linked to higher firm growth and marketing activity. Motivated by this evidence, trademarks are introduced in a general equilibrium framework to quantify their aggregate effects. Firms invest in product quality and engage in both informative and persuasive advertising to build a customer base subject to depreciation. Persuasive advertising induces a perception of higher quality. Firms can register trademarks to reduce customer depreciation and enhance product awareness. The model's predictions about trademark registrations, firm growth, and advertising expenditures align with the empirical evidence. The analysis shows that, compared to the counterfactual economy without trademarks, the U.S. economy with trademarks generates higher average product quality but lower variety, ultimately resulting in greater welfare and higher industry concentration. While informative advertising improves welfare, persuasive advertising reduces it. Nevertheless, the positive welfare impact of trademarks outweighs the negative effects of persuasive advertising.
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  • Working Paper

    The Characteristics and Geographic Distribution of Robot Hubs in U.S. Manufacturing Establishments

    March 2023

    Working Paper Number:

    CES-23-14

    We use data from the Annual Survey of Manufactures to study the characteristics and geography of investments in robots across U.S. manufacturing establishments. We find that robotics adoption and robot intensity (the number of robots per employee) is much more strongly related to establishment size than age. We find that establishments that report having robotics have higher capital expenditures, including higher information technology (IT) capital expenditures. Also, establishments are more likely to have robotics if other establishments in the same Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA) and industry also report having robotics. The distribution of robots is highly skewed across establishments' locations. Some locations, which we call Robot Hubs, have far more robots than one would expect even after accounting for industry and manufacturing employment. We characterize these Robot Hubs along several industry, demographic, and institutional dimensions. The presence of robot integrators and higher levels of union membership are positively correlated with being a Robot Hub.
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  • Working Paper

    Grouped Variation in Factor Shares: An Application to Misallocation

    August 2022

    Working Paper Number:

    CES-22-33

    A striking feature of micro-level plant data is the presence of significant variation in factor cost shares across plants within an industry. We develop a methodology to decompose cost shares into idiosyncratic and group-specific components. In particular, we carry out a cluster analysis to recover the number and membership of groups using breaks in the dispersion of factor cost shares across plants. We apply our methodology to Chilean plant-level data and find that group-specific variation accounts for approximately one-third of the variation in factor shares across firms. We also study the implications ofthese groups in cost shares on the gains from eliminating misallocation. We place bounds on their importance and find that ignoring them can overstate the gains from eliminating misallocation by up to one-third.
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  • Working Paper

    Decomposing Aggregate Productivity

    July 2022

    Working Paper Number:

    CES-22-25

    In this note, we evaluate the sensitivity of commonly-used decompositions for aggregate productivity. Our analysis spans the universe of U.S. manufacturers from 1977 to 2012 and we find that, even holding the data and form of the production function fixed, results on aggregate productivity are extremely sensitive to how productivity at the firm level is measured. Even qualitative statements about the levels of aggregate productivity and the sign of the covariance between productivity and size are highly dependent on how production function parameters are estimated. Despite these difficulties, we uncover some consistent facts about productivity growth: (1) labor productivity is consistently higher and less error-prone than measures of multi-factor productivity; (2) most productivity growth comes from growth within firms, rather than from reallocation across firms; (3) what growth does come from reallocation appears to be driven by net entry, primarily from the exit of relatively less-productive firms.
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