TY  - JOUR
AU  - Pavcnik,Nina
TI  - Trade Liberalization, Exit, and Productivity Improvements: Evidence from Chilean Plants
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 7852
PY  - 2000
Y2  - August 2000
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7852
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7852.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Nina Pavcnik
Department of Economics
6106 Rockefeller Center
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH  03755
Tel: 603/646-2537
Fax: 603/646-2122
E-Mail: nina.pavcnik@dartmouth.edu
AB  - This paper empirically investigates the effects of trade liberalization on plant productivity in the case of Chile. Chile presents an interesting setting to study this relationship since it underwent a massive trade liberalization that significantly exposed its plants to competition from abroad during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Methodologically, I approach this question in two steps. In the first step, I estimate a production function to obtain a measure of plant productivity. I estimate the production function semiparametrically to correct for the presence of selection and simultaneity biases in the estimates of the input coefficients required to construct a productivity measure. I explicitly incorporate plant exit in the estimation to correct for the selection problem induced by liquidated plants. These methodological aspects are important in obtaining a reliable plant-level productivity measure based on consistent estimates of the input coefficients. In the second step, I identify the impact of trade liberalization on plants' productivity in a regression framework allowing variation in productivity over time and across traded- and nontraded-goods sectors. Using plant-level panel data on Chilean manufacturers, I find evidence of within plant productivity improvements that can be attributed to a liberalized trade policy, especially for the plants in the import-competing sector. In many cases, aggregate productivity improvements stem from the reshuffling of resources and output from less to more efficient producers.
ER  -