Mind the Neighbors : The Impact of Productivity and Location on Firm Turnover
This paper examines the impact of firm productivity and local industrial structure on firm entry and exit in Morocco between 1985 and 2001. There is strong evidence of productivity exerting a market-cleansing role. Less productive firms are found t...
Main Authors: | , |
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Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2012
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Subjects: | |
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_20091031144309 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4294 |
Summary: | This paper examines the impact of firm
productivity and local industrial structure on firm entry
and exit in Morocco between 1985 and 2001. There is strong
evidence of productivity exerting a market-cleansing role.
Less productive firms are found to be more likely to exit -
and locations with more productive firms attract higher
rates of new firm entry. The effect of productivity operates
not only in an absolute sense; a firm s relative
productivity or distance to the local sector frontier
matters too. First, large productivity gaps are associated
with higher rates of exit, while new firms are attracted to
locations with small productivity gaps. Second, local
competition increases the probability of exit, although it
does not encourage entry. Third, there is evidence of scale
or agglomeration effects that increase firm turnover.
Fourth, measures of sector diversity are not associated with
lower turnover. Fifth, the geographic level at which
agglomeration and competition effects are defined matters
differently for exit than entry. For exit, the provincial
measures are strong, while those for communes are weaker.
For entry, it is the local productivity at the commune level
that is more significant. This implies that competitive
pressures are less geographically constrained while the
potential benefits of agglomeration and spill-overs are
indeed more local. |
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