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on Business Economics |
| By: | David Argente; Salomé Baslandze; Douglas Hanley; Sara Moreira |
| Abstract: | We match patents to products using natural language methods applied to detailed product descriptions and patent texts in the consumer goods sector. While more than half of product innovations originate from non-patenting firms, patent filings are on average followed by subsequent product introductions. Yet this relationship weakens with firm size. Patents held by market leaders also yield revenue premiums beyond what can be explained by their own product introductions and are associated with stronger deterrence of competitors’ innovations. To interpret these findings, we develop a simple growth model in which larger firms have stronger incentives to engage in strategic patenting—filing for protection rather than market innovation—which dampens innovation and slows creative destruction. |
| JEL: | L1 O3 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34592 |
| By: | Diego Restuccia |
| Abstract: | I examine the empirical properties of firm-level productivity and distortions across countries using the newly released World Bank Enterprise Surveys (WBES). Using a standard framework of production heterogeneity, I show that the gap in productivity and distortions between high and low productivity firms is larger in developing countries, generating large aggregate productivity losses from misallocation. A key empirical property of distortions in developing countries is that they systematically weaken the relationship between firm size and firm productivity. I exploit a unique feature of the WBES data to document which specific aspects of the economic environment faced by firms, such as financial constraints, regulation, corruption, and weak infrastructure, are consistent with the empirical pattern of distortions across countries. |
| JEL: | O11 O14 O4 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34573 |
| By: | Roth, Felix; Rammer, Christian |
| Abstract: | Intangible assets have increasingly been identified as a main source of productivity gains. Since the pioneering work by Corrado, Hulten, and Sichel (2005), empirical research has largely focused on macro and industry-level studies, while firm-level studies have often been confined to a limited set of intangible assets, especially Research and Development (R&D). This paper employs a unique firm-level panel database that contains information on four types of intangible assets: R&D, software & databases (S&D), firm-specific human capital (HC), and brand value (BV). For R&D, we find much lower productivity returns than for S&D and HC. R&D even loses significance once controlling for other intangibles, except for high-tech manufacturing. In contrast to R&D, we find that S&D and HC tend to be the primary drivers of productivity gains, particularly in services. Our findings have implications for research policy, suggesting a stronger focus on supporting investment in non-R&D intangibles, including S&D and HC. |
| Keywords: | Non-R&D intangibles, productivity, R&D, digitalisation, firm-specific human capital, brand value, firm-level panel data |
| JEL: | E22 O33 O38 D24 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:333901 |
| By: | Giorgio Chiovelli; Francesco Amodio; Serafín Frache |
| Abstract: | We show that commodity export booms can propagate up the value chain, reshape production networks, and promote growth in the service sector. We study Uruguay’s beef export boom to China in the 2010s, combining customs, firm-to-firm transactions, employer-employee, and balance sheet data. Firms more linked to exporters experienced higher sales, especially in services, with associated gains in employment, wages, and sales per worker. Aggregate sales rose by 1.79%, with each export dollar generating 46 more cents in domestic sales, 10 cents in services. Over time, service firms reoriented their connections toward beef exporters, amplifying their gains from trade. |
| Keywords: | commodity exports, production network, services, China shock. |
| JEL: | F14 L14 O14 O54 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mnt:wpaper:2505 |
| By: | Talatchanant Tontiwachwutthikul; Kannika Thampanishvong; Kanis Saengchote; Krislert Samphantharak; Jirayu Chandrasakha |
| Abstract: | To mitigate the risk of carbon leakage, the European Union (EU) introduced the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to impose a fair price on the carbon emissions associated with the production of carbon-intensive goods imported into the EU, thereby encouraging cleaner industrial production. This paper combines firm-level exporting activity data and financial data in a difference-in-differences regression framework to examine the impact that the CBAM policy announcement and implementation have on Thai exporting firms. We find that the announcement of the CBAM negatively affected Thai firms' ability to export impacted goods to the EU, and these adverse effects intensified following the CBAM implementation. Treated firms’ total export revenue decreased relative to the control group and were only able to partially mitigate the impact of this shock by increasing exports of non-CBAM goods to countries outside of the EU. |
| Keywords: | Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM); Thailand, exporting firm; International trade |
| JEL: | F14 F18 Q54 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pui:dpaper:243 |
| By: | Katarzyna Segiet (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | Firms increasingly contract out a wide range of activities that were previously done in-house, such as cleaning, security, logistics, and catering. This paper provides evidence on the impact of outsourcing on workers' earnings and possible reasons that firms outsource by estimating panel data and event study models using Norwegian administrative data. Workers who become outsourced experience large earnings declines, which are driven by reductions in working hours. Firms are likely to outsource to reduce costs and reduce rigidity in contractual working hours, which is possible as contractor firms operate on lower non-wage costs and have more workers with less than full-time contractual working hours. |
| Keywords: | Domestic Outsourcing; Subcontracting |
| JEL: | J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:1030 |
| By: | Andrew Caplin; Søren Leth-Petersen; Victoria Gregory; Ida Maria Hartmann; Eungik Lee; Johan Sæverud |
| Abstract: | Worker preparedness is a missing transmission channel in macroeconomics. Alfred Marshall’s taxonomy of short-, medium-, and long-run adjustment was developed to analyse how firms respond to shocks when different inputs can or cannot adjust. We extend this logic to workers by adding an element Marshall’s framework leaves implicit: anticipation. Preparedness refers to the buffers, search strategies, fallback plans, and retraining intentions individuals form before disruption occurs. These forward-looking margins shape both microeconomic outcomes and the effectiveness of macroeconomic policy. The registry-linked Copenhagen Life Panel (CLP) provides a data architecture for making preparedness observable. By embedding belief and strategy elicitation within administrative records, the CLP makes it possible to test whether workers’ expectations and contingency plans are calibrated to the risks they face. Early evidence shows that short-run preparedness—liquidity, earnings-risk beliefs, and separation expectations—is measurable and predictive, and that miscalibration is a key source of vulnerability. The broader agenda is to measure preparedness across Marshallian runs and across the worker life cycle. In the medium run, adjustment depends on search strategies and fallback planning; in the long run, retraining and occupational reorientation determine whether technological disruption becomes renewal or decline. We outline survey instruments for each run that can be integrated with registry data, transforming preparedness from conjecture into measurable and model-ready constructs. |
| JEL: | E7 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34570 |
| By: | Ruixue Jia; David Strömberg |
| Abstract: | Moral regulation is widespread across societies, yet its consequences have seldom been examined empirically. We study the Hays Code (July 1934–1960s), which imposed systematic moral guidelines on American cinema. Using a regression-discontinuity design, with non-U.S. films providing a comparison group, we find that the moral compliance of U.S. films rose sharply after 1935 and remained high for two decades. The Code also reshaped protagonists and political tone: protagonists became less likely to be women or working class, and political tones grew more conservative. Filmmakers adapted both by increasing compliance within genres and by shifting across them: less-compliant Drama declined while more-compliant Western and Action rose. Companies with a larger market size and immigrant film directors exhibited stronger responses. These findings reveal how moral constraint, market, and identity jointly shape cultural production and how well-intentioned moral regulation can generate broad and often unintended spillovers. |
| JEL: | L51 L82 N72 P16 Z11 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34539 |
| By: | Jettawat Pattararangrong; Wisarut Suwanprasert |
| Abstract: | How rapidly can firms re-time international shipments when faced with sudden changes in trade policy? We provide new evidence on this high-frequency adjustment margin using the United States’ Liberation Day tariffs (LDT) as an unexpected policy shock, together with confidential daily customs data from Thailand. Our identification strategy exploits a novel shift–share exposure measure, the "LDT gap, " which captures product-level variation at the HS6 level in relative tariff increases faced by Thai exporters. We find that exporters adjust within days: products with higher LDT gaps experience increases in export values and quantities, with no statistically significant change in export prices, and these responses are mainly concentrated in the announcement period. The effects are stronger for agricultural than for manufacturing products. Across product use categories, the strongest responses are observed among consumer goods. The paper provides the first daily-frequency evidence on rapid shipment reallocation under sudden policy shocks and introduces a transparent exposure measure for identifying heterogeneous effects. |
| Keywords: | TradeWar; Liberation Day; Reciprocal Tariffs; Trade Policy Uncertainty; Thailand |
| JEL: | F1 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pui:dpaper:244 |
| By: | Deng, Zichen (University of Amsterdam); Luo, Weixiang (Fudan University, China); Plug, Erik (University of Amsterdam); Yu, Jia (Peking University) |
| Abstract: | We document, for the very first time, the relationship between earnings and sexual orientation in China. Using data from the 2020 Chinese Private Life Survey, we find that gay men earn significantly less than comparable heterosexual men, with the largest penalties for rural-hukou holders and among men reporting exclusive same-sex attraction. Lesbian women tend to earn more than heterosexual women, but the differences are small and mostly insignificant. The estimates for bisexual men and women are uniformly insignificant. We conclude that the gay penalties and lesbian premiums in China, albeit imprecisely estimated, mirror those observed in Western labor markets and are most consistent with explanations based on conventional gender norms and intra-household specialization. |
| Keywords: | earnings, sexual orientation, China |
| JEL: | D10 J10 J15 J30 J70 O10 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18317 |
| By: | Ahammer, Alexander (University of Linz); Halla, Martin (Vienna University of Economics and Business); Heckl, Pia (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf (Johannes Kepler University Linz) |
| Abstract: | Long-term unemployment among older workers is particularly difficult to overcome. We study the impacts of a large-scale job guarantee program that offered up to two years of fully subsidized employment to long-term unemployed individuals aged 50 and above. Using a sharp age-based discontinuity in eligibility, we find that participation increased regular, unsubsidized employment by 43 percentage points two years after the program ended. The gains are driven by transitions into new firms and industries, rather than continued subsidized employment, and we find no evidence of displacement effects for non-participants or spillovers to family members. The program had no measurable short-run health effects. |
| Keywords: | subsidized employment, temporary job guarantee, long-term unemployment, health status |
| JEL: | J64 J08 J78 I14 H51 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18322 |