Joint ITIM-UNU-CRIS Seminar by Pablo Muyle

Pablo Muyle will talk about “Does interaction with upstream state-owned suppliers affect productivity of private firms? - Evidence from Belgian firm-level transaction data.” 

Abstract: The past decades have been characterized by rapid product market liberalization in most countries. Previous literature found that following liberalization, firms managed to increase their productivity. These analyses mostly targeted deregulation (e.g. reducing tariffs or allowing competition), and adopted aggregate measures of liberalization. Another aspect of product market liberalization, however, is the privatization of state firms. Despite an overall trend of liberalization, state ownership has increased since 2008, leading to the question of whether the presence of upstream SOEs has an impact on the productivity of downstream private firms.

To answer this question, we utilize a rich dataset containing firm-level transactional data for Belgian firms between 2002 and 2014, allowing us to compute for each firm the share of inputs purchased from SOEs in a given year. We first produce a range of stylized facts regarding the evolution and characteristics of private firms interacting with SOEs. We then continue by estimating the causal impact of additional state inputs on the purchasing firm’s productivity. Preliminary results indicate that private firms purchasing more imports from state firms, see their productivity decreasing in the year thereafter. This effect does not seem to vary depending on whether the purchasing firm is foreign-owned or listed on a stock exchange.

This is a closed event. For further information, please contact Ruben Dewitte (Ruben.Dewitte@UGent.be) and Pascale Vantorre in cc (pvantorre@cris.unu.edu).