Back on the Rails: Competition and Productivity in State-Owned Industry

Sanghamitra Das, Kala Krishna (), Sergey Lychagin and Rohini Somanathan

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2013, vol. 5, issue 1, 136-62

Abstract: We use a proprietary dataset on the floor-level operations at the largest rail mill in India to study the response of productivity to the threat of entry. Output per active shift increased by 28 percent over 3 years with minimal changes in physical capital and employment. By combining data on the timing of various training programs in the mill with shift-level variation in worker composition, we are able to attribute over half of the higher productivity to training specifically targeted toward improving rail output. Our work suggests high returns to knowledge-enhancing investment in emerging economies. (JEL D22, D24, J24, L23, L32, L61, O14)

JEL-codes: D22 D24 J24 L23 L32 L61 O14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.5.1.136
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Back on the Rails -- Competition and Productivity in State-owned Industry (2010)
Working Paper: Back on the Rails: Competition and Productivity in State-owned Industry (2010)
Working Paper: Back on the Rails: Competition and Productivity in State-owned Industry (2010)
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