Mind the Gap? A Rural-Urban Comparison of Manufacturing Firms

This paper compares and contrasts the performance of rural and urban manufacturing firms in Ethiopia to assess the impact of market integration and the investment climate on firm performance. Rural firms are shown to operate in isolated markets, ha...

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Main Authors: Rijkers, Bob, Soderbom, Mans, Loening, Josef
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
Published: 2012
Subjects:
MFI
TAX
Online Access:http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090601131719
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4141
id okr-10986-4141
recordtype oai_dc
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic ACCESS TO CREDIT
ACCESS TO FINANCE
ACCESS TO FINANCING
ACCESS TO INFORMATION
ACCESS TO MARKETS
AGGLOMERATION EFFECTS
AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS
AGRICULTURE
BANK LOAN
BANK POLICY
BANKS
BIASES
BORROWER
BORROWING
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS
BUSINESS LOCATION
BUYERS
CAPITAL STOCK
COLLATERAL
COMMERCIAL FINANCE
COMPETITIVE MARKETS
COMPETITORS
CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE
CONSUMERS
CORRUPTION
CREDIT CONSTRAINTS
CUSTOMS CLEARANCE
DEPRECIATION
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DEVELOPMENT BANK
DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
DIVERSIFICATION
DUMMY VARIABLE
ECONOMETRICS
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
ECONOMIC INTEGRATION
ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT
ECONOMIC OUTCOMES
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
ECONOMIC POLICY
ECONOMIC REFORM
ECONOMIES OF SCALE
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
EMPLOYEE
EMPLOYMENT GROWTH
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
ENGEL CURVES
ENTERPRISE GROWTH
ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE
ENTERPRISE REGISTRATION
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
EQUALITY
EQUIPMENT
EXPANSION
EXPENDITURE
EXPORTER
EXTERNALITIES
FARM ENTERPRISE
FARM ENTERPRISES
FARM INCOME
FARMERS
FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
FINANCIAL SERVICES
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
FIRM PERFORMANCE
FIRM SIZE
FOREIGN COMPANIES
FOREIGN INVESTMENT
FORMAL CREDIT
FORMAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
FORMAL LENDING
FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE
FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES
GENDER
GOVERNMENT POLICY
GOVERNMENT REGULATION
GROUP OF FIRMS
GROWTH RATE
INCOME
INCOME INEQUALITY
INCREASING RETURNS
INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE
INEQUALITY
INFLATIONARY PRESSURE
INFORMAL CREDIT
INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
INPUT PRICES
INTEREST RATE
INTEREST RATES
INTERNATIONAL BANK
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
INVESTMENT CLIMATE
INVESTMENT CLIMATE ASSESSMENT
INVESTMENT CLIMATE ASSESSMENTS
JOB CREATION
KNOWLEDGE GAP
LABOR FORCE
LACK OF COMPETITION
LAND MARKETS
LAND REGISTRATION
LARGE ENTERPRISES
LARGE FIRMS
LEVIES
LICENSING
LITERACY
LITERACY PROGRAM
LOAN
LOCAL MARKET
LOCAL MARKETS
LOW INCOME
LOWER INTEREST RATES
MACROECONOMIC INSTABILITY
MACROECONOMICS
MANUFACTURERS
MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES
MARKET FRAGMENTATION
MARKET INTEGRATION
MARKET SHARES
MARKET SIZE
MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
MFI
MICROENTERPRISES
OVERDRAFT
OVERDRAFT FACILITY
PERMANENT WORKERS
POLITICAL ECONOMY
POOR ACCESS
POOR GROWTH PERFORMANCE
PRESENT VALUE
PRICE LEVELS
PROBABILITY
PRODUCTION FUNCTION
PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS
PRODUCTIVE ENTERPRISES
PRODUCTIVITY
PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH
PUBLIC GOODS
QUESTIONNAIRE
QUESTIONNAIRES
RECENT LOAN
RENTS
RURAL MARKETS
SALE
SECONDARY SCHOOL
SMALL ENTERPRISE
SMALL ENTERPRISES
SMALL FIRMS
START-UP
SUPPLIERS
TAX
TAX RATES
TAXATION
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
THIN MARKETS
TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY
TRANSACTION
TRANSACTION COSTS
UNEMPLOYMENT
URBAN AREA
URBAN AREAS
VALUE ADDED
WAGE
WOMAN
spellingShingle ACCESS TO CREDIT
ACCESS TO FINANCE
ACCESS TO FINANCING
ACCESS TO INFORMATION
ACCESS TO MARKETS
AGGLOMERATION EFFECTS
AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS
AGRICULTURE
BANK LOAN
BANK POLICY
BANKS
BIASES
BORROWER
BORROWING
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS
BUSINESS LOCATION
BUYERS
CAPITAL STOCK
COLLATERAL
COMMERCIAL FINANCE
COMPETITIVE MARKETS
COMPETITORS
CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE
CONSUMERS
CORRUPTION
CREDIT CONSTRAINTS
CUSTOMS CLEARANCE
DEPRECIATION
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DEVELOPMENT BANK
DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
DIVERSIFICATION
DUMMY VARIABLE
ECONOMETRICS
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
ECONOMIC INTEGRATION
ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT
ECONOMIC OUTCOMES
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
ECONOMIC POLICY
ECONOMIC REFORM
ECONOMIES OF SCALE
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
EMPLOYEE
EMPLOYMENT GROWTH
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
ENGEL CURVES
ENTERPRISE GROWTH
ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE
ENTERPRISE REGISTRATION
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
EQUALITY
EQUIPMENT
EXPANSION
EXPENDITURE
EXPORTER
EXTERNALITIES
FARM ENTERPRISE
FARM ENTERPRISES
FARM INCOME
FARMERS
FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
FINANCIAL SERVICES
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
FIRM PERFORMANCE
FIRM SIZE
FOREIGN COMPANIES
FOREIGN INVESTMENT
FORMAL CREDIT
FORMAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
FORMAL LENDING
FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE
FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES
GENDER
GOVERNMENT POLICY
GOVERNMENT REGULATION
GROUP OF FIRMS
GROWTH RATE
INCOME
INCOME INEQUALITY
INCREASING RETURNS
INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE
INEQUALITY
INFLATIONARY PRESSURE
INFORMAL CREDIT
INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
INPUT PRICES
INTEREST RATE
INTEREST RATES
INTERNATIONAL BANK
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
INVESTMENT CLIMATE
INVESTMENT CLIMATE ASSESSMENT
INVESTMENT CLIMATE ASSESSMENTS
JOB CREATION
KNOWLEDGE GAP
LABOR FORCE
LACK OF COMPETITION
LAND MARKETS
LAND REGISTRATION
LARGE ENTERPRISES
LARGE FIRMS
LEVIES
LICENSING
LITERACY
LITERACY PROGRAM
LOAN
LOCAL MARKET
LOCAL MARKETS
LOW INCOME
LOWER INTEREST RATES
MACROECONOMIC INSTABILITY
MACROECONOMICS
MANUFACTURERS
MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES
MARKET FRAGMENTATION
MARKET INTEGRATION
MARKET SHARES
MARKET SIZE
MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
MFI
MICROENTERPRISES
OVERDRAFT
OVERDRAFT FACILITY
PERMANENT WORKERS
POLITICAL ECONOMY
POOR ACCESS
POOR GROWTH PERFORMANCE
PRESENT VALUE
PRICE LEVELS
PROBABILITY
PRODUCTION FUNCTION
PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS
PRODUCTIVE ENTERPRISES
PRODUCTIVITY
PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH
PUBLIC GOODS
QUESTIONNAIRE
QUESTIONNAIRES
RECENT LOAN
RENTS
RURAL MARKETS
SALE
SECONDARY SCHOOL
SMALL ENTERPRISE
SMALL ENTERPRISES
SMALL FIRMS
START-UP
SUPPLIERS
TAX
TAX RATES
TAXATION
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
THIN MARKETS
TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY
TRANSACTION
TRANSACTION COSTS
UNEMPLOYMENT
URBAN AREA
URBAN AREAS
VALUE ADDED
WAGE
WOMAN
Rijkers, Bob
Soderbom, Mans
Loening, Josef
Mind the Gap? A Rural-Urban Comparison of Manufacturing Firms
geographic_facet The World Region
The World Region
relation Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 4946
description This paper compares and contrasts the performance of rural and urban manufacturing firms in Ethiopia to assess the impact of market integration and the investment climate on firm performance. Rural firms are shown to operate in isolated markets, have poor access to infrastructure and a substantial degree of market power, whereas urban firms operate in better integrated and more competitive markets, where they have much better access to inputs. Fragmentation may also help explain why urban firms are much larger, much more capital intensive and why they produce much more output per worker. Capital intensity and labor productivity are strongly correlated with firm size. Manufacturing technology choice does not vary strongly across space and increasing returns to scale are modest at best, suggesting that rural-urban differences in output per worker are predominantly driven by differences in capital intensity and Total Factor Productivity (TFP). The average TFP of firms in rural towns is much higher than that of rural firms in remote areas, but small firms in rural towns are not significantly less productive than small firms in other urban areas. A key finding of the paper is that market fragmentation and investment climate constraints impair the growth of the rural non-farm sector. Whereas urban firms exhibit a healthy dynamism, rural firms are stagnant and lack incentives to invest. Paradoxically, limited local demand due to market fragmentation is the most pressing constraint for rural firms, even though they face more severe supply-side constraints than urban firms. Promoting market towns in Ethiopia might be an effective means of capitalizing on the gains from market integration.
format Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author Rijkers, Bob
Soderbom, Mans
Loening, Josef
author_facet Rijkers, Bob
Soderbom, Mans
Loening, Josef
author_sort Rijkers, Bob
title Mind the Gap? A Rural-Urban Comparison of Manufacturing Firms
title_short Mind the Gap? A Rural-Urban Comparison of Manufacturing Firms
title_full Mind the Gap? A Rural-Urban Comparison of Manufacturing Firms
title_fullStr Mind the Gap? A Rural-Urban Comparison of Manufacturing Firms
title_full_unstemmed Mind the Gap? A Rural-Urban Comparison of Manufacturing Firms
title_sort mind the gap? a rural-urban comparison of manufacturing firms
publishDate 2012
url http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090601131719
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4141
_version_ 1764390100735623168
spelling okr-10986-41412021-04-23T14:02:15Z Mind the Gap? A Rural-Urban Comparison of Manufacturing Firms Rijkers, Bob Soderbom, Mans Loening, Josef ACCESS TO CREDIT ACCESS TO FINANCE ACCESS TO FINANCING ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACCESS TO MARKETS AGGLOMERATION EFFECTS AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AGRICULTURE BANK LOAN BANK POLICY BANKS BIASES BORROWER BORROWING BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS BUSINESS LOCATION BUYERS CAPITAL STOCK COLLATERAL COMMERCIAL FINANCE COMPETITIVE MARKETS COMPETITORS CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE CONSUMERS CORRUPTION CREDIT CONSTRAINTS CUSTOMS CLEARANCE DEPRECIATION DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT BANK DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DIVERSIFICATION DUMMY VARIABLE ECONOMETRICS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY ECONOMIC INTEGRATION ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT ECONOMIC OUTCOMES ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE ECONOMIC POLICY ECONOMIC REFORM ECONOMIES OF SCALE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT EMPLOYEE EMPLOYMENT GROWTH EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES ENGEL CURVES ENTERPRISE GROWTH ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE ENTERPRISE REGISTRATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP EQUALITY EQUIPMENT EXPANSION EXPENDITURE EXPORTER EXTERNALITIES FARM ENTERPRISE FARM ENTERPRISES FARM INCOME FARMERS FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL SERVICES FINANCIAL SUPPORT FIRM PERFORMANCE FIRM SIZE FOREIGN COMPANIES FOREIGN INVESTMENT FORMAL CREDIT FORMAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FORMAL LENDING FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES GENDER GOVERNMENT POLICY GOVERNMENT REGULATION GROUP OF FIRMS GROWTH RATE INCOME INCOME INEQUALITY INCREASING RETURNS INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE INEQUALITY INFLATIONARY PRESSURE INFORMAL CREDIT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT INPUT PRICES INTEREST RATE INTEREST RATES INTERNATIONAL BANK INTERNATIONAL TRADE INVESTMENT CLIMATE INVESTMENT CLIMATE ASSESSMENT INVESTMENT CLIMATE ASSESSMENTS JOB CREATION KNOWLEDGE GAP LABOR FORCE LACK OF COMPETITION LAND MARKETS LAND REGISTRATION LARGE ENTERPRISES LARGE FIRMS LEVIES LICENSING LITERACY LITERACY PROGRAM LOAN LOCAL MARKET LOCAL MARKETS LOW INCOME LOWER INTEREST RATES MACROECONOMIC INSTABILITY MACROECONOMICS MANUFACTURERS MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES MARKET FRAGMENTATION MARKET INTEGRATION MARKET SHARES MARKET SIZE MEDIUM ENTERPRISES MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT MFI MICROENTERPRISES OVERDRAFT OVERDRAFT FACILITY PERMANENT WORKERS POLITICAL ECONOMY POOR ACCESS POOR GROWTH PERFORMANCE PRESENT VALUE PRICE LEVELS PROBABILITY PRODUCTION FUNCTION PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS PRODUCTIVE ENTERPRISES PRODUCTIVITY PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH PUBLIC GOODS QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTIONNAIRES RECENT LOAN RENTS RURAL MARKETS SALE SECONDARY SCHOOL SMALL ENTERPRISE SMALL ENTERPRISES SMALL FIRMS START-UP SUPPLIERS TAX TAX RATES TAXATION TELECOMMUNICATIONS THIN MARKETS TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY TRANSACTION TRANSACTION COSTS UNEMPLOYMENT URBAN AREA URBAN AREAS VALUE ADDED WAGE WOMAN This paper compares and contrasts the performance of rural and urban manufacturing firms in Ethiopia to assess the impact of market integration and the investment climate on firm performance. Rural firms are shown to operate in isolated markets, have poor access to infrastructure and a substantial degree of market power, whereas urban firms operate in better integrated and more competitive markets, where they have much better access to inputs. Fragmentation may also help explain why urban firms are much larger, much more capital intensive and why they produce much more output per worker. Capital intensity and labor productivity are strongly correlated with firm size. Manufacturing technology choice does not vary strongly across space and increasing returns to scale are modest at best, suggesting that rural-urban differences in output per worker are predominantly driven by differences in capital intensity and Total Factor Productivity (TFP). The average TFP of firms in rural towns is much higher than that of rural firms in remote areas, but small firms in rural towns are not significantly less productive than small firms in other urban areas. A key finding of the paper is that market fragmentation and investment climate constraints impair the growth of the rural non-farm sector. Whereas urban firms exhibit a healthy dynamism, rural firms are stagnant and lack incentives to invest. Paradoxically, limited local demand due to market fragmentation is the most pressing constraint for rural firms, even though they face more severe supply-side constraints than urban firms. Promoting market towns in Ethiopia might be an effective means of capitalizing on the gains from market integration. 2012-03-19T19:10:41Z 2012-03-19T19:10:41Z 2009-06-01 http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090601131719 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4141 English Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 4946 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper The World Region The World Region