Reallocation and Technology: Evidence from the U.S. Steel Industry

Jan De Loecker and Allan Collard-Wexler ()

No 9331, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: We measure the impact of a drastic new technology for producing steel, the minimill, on the aggregate productivity of U.S. steel producers, using unique plant-level data between 1963 and 2002. We find that the sharp increase in the industry's productivity is linked to this new technology, and operates through two distinct mechanisms. First, minimills displaced the older technology, called vertically integrated production, and this reallocation of output was responsible for a third of the increase in the industry's productivity. Second, increased competition, due to the expansion of minimills, drove a substantial reallocation process within the group of vertically integrated producers, driving a resurgence in their productivity, and consequently of the industry's productivity as a whole.

Keywords: Competition; Productivity; Reallocation; Technology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L1 O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eff and nep-his
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Reallocation and Technology: Evidence from the US Steel Industry (2015)
Working Paper: Reallocation and Technology: Evidence From The U.S. Steel Industry (2013)
Working Paper: Reallocation and technology: evidence from the U.S. steel industry (2013)
Working Paper: Reallocation and technology: evidence from the U.S. steel industry (2013)
Working Paper: Reallocation and Technology: Evidence from the U.S. Steel Industry (2013)
Working Paper: Reallocation and Technology: Evidence from the U.S. Steel Industry (2012)
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