Changing Business Dynamism and Productivity: Shocks versus Responsiveness

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2020
Volume: 110
Issue: 12
Pages: 3952-90

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 4 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

The pace of job reallocation has declined in the United States in recent decades. We draw insight from canonical models of business dynamics in which reallocation can decline due to (i) lower dispersion of idiosyncratic shocks faced by businesses, or (ii) weaker marginal responsiveness of businesses to shocks. We show that shock dispersion has actually risen, while the responsiveness of business-level employment to productivity has weakened. Moreover, declining responsiveness can account for a significant fraction of the decline in the pace of job reallocation, and we find suggestive evidence this has been a drag on aggregate productivity.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:110:y:2020:i:12:p:3952-90
Journal Field
General
Author Count
4
Added to Database
2026-01-25