Acquisitions, Productivity, and Profitability: Evidence from the Japanese Cotton Spinning Industry

Serguey Braguinsky, Atsushi Ohyama, Tetsuji Okazaki and Chad Syverson

No 19901, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We explore how changes in ownership and managerial control affect the productivity and profitability of producers. Using detailed operational, financial, and ownership data from the Japanese cotton spinning industry at the turn of the last century, we find a more nuanced picture than the straightforward "higher productivity buys lower productivity" story commonly appealed to in the literature. Acquired firms' production facilities were not on average less physically productive than the plants of the acquiring firms before acquisition, conditional on operating. They were much less profitable, however, due to consistently higher inventory levels and lower capacity utilization--differences which reflected problems in managing the uncertainties of demand. When purchased by more profitable firms, these less profitable acquired plants saw drops in inventories and gains in capacity utilization that raised both their productivity and profitability levels, consistent with acquiring owner/managers spreading their better demand management abilities across the acquired capital.

JEL-codes: D2 G3 L2 L6 O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-eff and nep-his
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

Published as Serguey Braguinsky & Atsushi Ohyama & Tetsuji Okazaki & Chad Syverson, 2015. "Acquisitions, Productivity, and Profitability: Evidence from the Japanese Cotton Spinning Industry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(7), pages 2086-2119, July.

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Journal Article: Acquisitions, Productivity, and Profitability: Evidence from the Japanese Cotton Spinning Industry (2015)
Working Paper: Acquisitions, productivity, and profitability: Evidence from the Japanese cotton spinning industry (2014)
Working Paper: Acquisitions, Productivity, and Profitability: Evidence from the Japanese Cotton Spinning Industry (2014)
Working Paper: Acquisitions, Productivity, and Profitability: Evidence from the Japanese Cotton Spinning Industry (2014)
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